The 2023 college football season is officially underway, as Week Zero presents several interesting matchups, but let’s be honest, next weekend’s Week One slate is when the real action begins, including Texas A&M’s season opener vs. New Mexico inside a packed Kyle Field to kick off Jimbo Fisher’s redemption tour.
Within the exciting return of the always entertaining College GameDay on ESPN, the charismatic Heisman Winner Desmond Howard is apparently the antithesis of CFB foresight, predicting the Aggies to make the 2022 College Football Playoffs, who, as we all remember, went an embarrassing 5-7 (2-6 SEC) last season; leading to an offseason of ridicule and recycled jokes galore.
However, Jimbo Fisher’s 2023 roster is filled with a bevy of talent and experience, including a bulk of the historic 2022 recruiting class who endured their own “baptism by fire” last season due to extensive playing time amid a rash of injuries and poor play. This all leads to Howard’s 2023 CFB Playoff picks, including Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, and Texas (sorry, Longhorns,) but who is his surprise team to crash the party? That would be Texas A&M—and this time—it makes sense.
College GameDay Just asked who could be this years TCU & make the College Football Playoffs:
Desmond Howard: Texas A&M
Pat McAfee: Wisconsin
Kirk Herbstreit: FSU
— Nick McCardell (@UKhoops1_BBN) August 26, 2023
Purely basing the Aggie’s potential success on the numbers game, Jimbo Fisher’s squad leads the SEC in returning starters with 19, while key veterans such as Ainias Smith (WR), Demani Richardson (S), McKinnley Jackson (DT), and Layden Robinson (RG) return to lead what is still a relatively young roster, the quarterback battle between sophomore Conner Weigman and the experienced Max Johnson will soon reveal an answer this coming week.
Not to mention the potentially prodigious impact new OC Bobby Petrino could bestow upon Texas A&M’s new-look offense, which isn’t short of weapons in the receiving core, a borderline elite unit featuring Evan Stewart, Moose Muhammad III, Spring MVP Noah Thomas, and of course, do-it-all swiss army knife Ainias Smith.
Credit to Desmond Howard for sticking to his intuition for consecutive seasons, but if I’m a Longhorns fan, beware of the hype!
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