Tag: sec football predictions

Paul Finebaum discusses renewed rivalry between Texas, Texas A&M

Paul Finebaum and Billy Liucci discuss the bizarre insistence that Texas should first play Texas A&M at Kyle Field.

Texas A&M is making unreasonable demands and counting on Texas and the SEC to cave. We’ve discussed what the team is asking for at length. The Aggies want to host consecutive home matchups against the Longhorns.

TexAgs executive editor and co-owner Billy Liucci joined the Paul Finebaum show to discuss what the Aggies are expecting from the SEC when the schedule is unveiled.

“(Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork) has drawn his line in the sand that the first game is going to be played right here across the street at Kyle Field. Chris Del Conte acts like he’s not aware of that at all.”

Finebaum then asked Luicci if the insistence on playing Texas at home first was because of frustration with the Longhorns joining the league. Luicci concurred, saying:

“It’s almost like, hey, you owe us one after all that. And I don’t think that the SEC would think of it that way, … but it sure seems to me like the A&M athletic director has been led to believe … or even told … that first game is going to be there.”

The SEC certainly isn’t going to feel indebted to a team to which it threw a life raft ahead of the 2012 expansion of the conference. If anything, the league probably wants to pacify A&M and allow the school to feel it has some control.

One thing is for sure: Texas A&M isn’t the only SEC school in Texas now. Given the trajectory of each program and regardless of where the first game is played, you have to like the Longhorns chances when the rivalry resumes.

Constructing a potential eight-game SEC schedule for Texas in 2024

Texas’ 2024 SEC schedule could bring an exciting matchup every Saturday.

Texas is going to face an eight-game SEC schedule in 2024. We eagerly await the announcement of which teams the Longhorns will face.

Based on recent comments by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, we expect to know who the team will play by mid-June. Sankey implied that the conference would announce the scheduled opponents without date designations on the SEC Network on June 14.

There are several matchups we look forward to watching ahead of the team’s transition to its new league. Former conference battles with Arkansas, Missouri and Texas A&M are likely to be renewed sooner than later.

Potential budding rivalries also come to mind as Texas is set to share a league with several teams who have competed for and won national championships. Games against LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Auburn should add plenty of excitement for season ticket holders looking to attend high profile games.

Here’s an idea of what the Texas schedule could look like after the anticipated announcement date on June 14.

Texas to play an eight-game SEC schedule in 2024

We should know Texas’ 2024 conference opponents in an SEC Network schedule reveal on June 14.

The SEC announced this week that it would continue to play an eight-game conference schedule in 2024. That’s not great news for the Lone Star Showdown as an annual rivalry.

Under the eight-game format, the league is expected to feature one protected rival while facing the rest of the SEC every other year. That means Texas would have to choose between Oklahoma and Texas A&M as its featured rival.

It’s clear which rivalry would win out in that battle. Red River is certainly the more important rivalry, so Texas vs A&M would likely be relegated to an every-other-year scheduled matchup. The Aggies have also developed a strong border rivalry with the LSU Tigers over the past few seasons.

It’s possible the teams could still play annually. If the conference were to allow it, Texas could schedule A&M as an out-of-conference game. Unfortunately, that would put the teams at a disadvantage with the rest of the league likely scheduling a late season tune-up game in that place.

We expect to know more about who Texas will play in its first season in the league on June 14. After SEC commissioner Greg Sankey hinted at a schedule reveal, Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman reported that the 2024 scheduled opponents will be announced without specific dates on the SEC Network. Texas will face its last Big 12 schedule in 2023.

Longhorns aren’t the SEC school in Texas trying to throw weight around

Texas A&M is the only SEC school from Texas that appears to be making demands.

An SEC school in the state of Texas is making demands, albeit not the school you might expect. Many anticipated Texas would try to control their future conference the way some claimed they bullied the Big 12.

In reality, it’s Texas A&M elevating its interests over SEC foes.

At the SEC’s spring meetings, Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork continued to insist the Aggies and Longhorns would first meet in College Station.

Bjork appears to be trying to seize any degree of control he can after the conference refused to honor his wishes to keep Texas out of the league. Bjork’s exact words were, “We want to be the only SEC program in the state of Texas.”

Clearly, his fellow league members did not feel the same way. Now, Bjork appears to be using the power of the media to insist Texas resumes the rivalry on the same campus it ended on in 2011. It seems strange that the Aggies want to play back-to-back home games in the rivalry, but we haven’t received word that Texas would play A&M twice in a row in Austin.

A&M’s petulance might help them skip a trip to Austin that is more than 10 years overdue, but it will come at a cost. What little respect they may have earned from the league might be lost after how the school handled Texas’ entry.

Texas A&M is certainly making demands, and might win this one. Nevertheless, the program’s influence is dwindling. For that reason, the Aggies are the only Texas team that the SEC has given a reality check. It’s likely there could be more of that for Bjork and company in the coming years.

How SEC football looks a season before Texas joins

Here’s a look at how this season could unfold for the Longhorns’ new conference a year ahead of their entrance.

The Southeastern Conference is excelling across multiple sports a year ahead of the Texas Longhorns’ entrance to the conference. Baseball immediately comes to mind as we enter the NCAA Tournament over the weekend. Nevertheless, the money maker in the conference is football and that will be the case again in 2023.

The conference is usually top heavy, but this year things could be leaner at the top. There’s a shift in the balance of power in the conference after the Georgia Bulldogs have won two consecutive national titles. Tennessee looks to be right behind Georgia in the East with South Carolina on the rise and Kentucky a consistent bowl contender.

The West is wide open. There’s a vacuum at the top with Alabama underperforming last season and losing a host of key contributors. LSU is viewed as a favorite for the division, but somehow managed to lose four games last season.

There are several wild cards in the conference led by Texas A&M, Auburn and Ole Miss among others. Here’s a look at how this season could unfold for the Longhorns’ new conference a year ahead of their entrance.

Josh Pate: Texas is in better position to win SEC football title before Texas A&M

College football analyst thinks its more likely Texas wins the SEC before Texas A&M.

It’s been over a decade since the Texas A&M Aggies left the Big 12. The program is still yet to appear in an SEC title game in football. Next year’s SEC entrance for the Longhorns begs the question, will Texas or Texas A&M win an SEC title first?

SEC podcaster Michael Bratton and national college football analyst Josh Pate explored that question in Bratton’s podcast. Texas A&M fans won’t like Pate’s answer.

“I think Texas is in a better position. … I don’t know that there are offensive minds in the country that I have more respect for than Steve Sarkisian.”

Pate cites marked improvement in the trenches as reason to believe in the Longhorns. He also views the quarterback and wide receiver positions as places where Texas will not lack for the foreseeable future. Pate notes that if starting quarterback Quinn Ewers goes down, Maalik Murphy appears ready to step in and win for the team.

As for Texas A&M, the 2022 season functioned as a wet blanket on the momentum its historic recruiting class kindled. The team’s inability to win consistently with superior talent was noted as cause for concern.

“If you have bigger, faster, stronger players, you should never have cold streaks. A game should never be put in that questionable a position in the fourth quarter (with a noticeable talent advantage). Texas A&M should have been able to do that last year. They should have been able to do it the last few years, and they haven’t been.”

Pate fairly notes that Texas could be in the same position as A&M if it isn’t able to capitalize with wins this season. And while there’s plenty of reason to doubt the Aggies, new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino had the Aggies offense rolling in the spring. The 2023 season will reveal plenty in regard to which team has the upper hand moving forward.

Ranking the top ten non-conference games in the SEC for 2022-2023 season

Which OOC matchup in the SEC are you looking forward to?

The SEC has a variety of different and unique atmospheres that present some of the most intriguing games each and every year. Over the past few years, several of the teams from the league have had very action packed-games. Several of the games over the years that come to mind are Penn State-Auburn in Happy Valley, Clemson–Georgia in Charlotte, and Arkansas–Texas in Fayetteville. Of course, there are other games that could be mentioned. Those are just a few of the games that the conference has provided for the league thus far.

This season will also have some action-packed games as well. With numerous programs showing hope for the future, it will be interesting to see how each of them fair in their non-conference matchups. Today, we will preview the top ten non-conference matchups that SEC teams will have in the ’22-’23 season. Read along and see what you think about the league’s best non-conference games.

Early 2022 SEC football record predictions for each team

Auburn Wire predicts the records of every SEC team for the 2022 season here:

In 2021, we saw a flurry of different things throughout college football. More specifically, the Southeastern Conference. An unranked Texas A&M team defeated the No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in College Station. Many thought that Alabama would not be able to recover. However, they proved everyone wrong and made it to the national championship to face Georgia.

The Bulldogs, led by head coach Kirby Smart, were remarkably one of the best teams in college football history. Their defense was a force to be reckoned with. Other teams like Ole Miss and Kentucky showed some hope early in the season, but the two teams fell off towards the end of the season.

Auburn was never able to create any stability at the quarterback position which ultimately led to the Tigers’ downfall. Other teams like Mississippi State and Missouri were explosive on offense but couldn’t hold up on the defensive side of the ball resulting in the two teams having average seasons. Arkansas was a surprising team as head coach Sam Pittman showed promise for the future.

Both LSU and Florida finished with 6-7 records which ultimately led to the firing of Ed Orgeron (LSU) and Dan Mullen (Florida). In his first year at Tennessee, Josh Heupel was able to turn things around from a 3-7 season in 2020 to 7-6 in 2021. Surprisingly, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer was able to turn the program around in Columbia. They went from 2-8 in 2020 to 7-6 in 2021. Lastly, Vanderbilt first-year head coach Clark Lea struggled to find any consistency as the Commodores finished 2-10.

Today, we will predict each team’s record for the 2022 season.

Predicting the outcome of each SEC football game in Week 8

It’s going to be a relatively quiet week in the conference.

Coming off a week with the virtual SEC East championship game with Georgia and Kentucky, it’s going to be a relatively quiet week in the conference. Only nine teams are going to be in action (Arkansas has a nonconference game) and the other five will take their bye week.

LSU’s trip to Oxford to face No. 12 Ole Miss will be the highlight matchup as CBS is in town. Former quarterback Eli Manning will have his jersey number retired as well.

A cross-division “rivalry” between Texas A&M and South Carolina takes place, while an actual rivalry in Alabama-Tennessee is also on the schedule. Both will be a part of the night slate.

Here is the full SEC schedule for Week 8. All times are central.

  • Arkansas PB at Arkansas at 11 a.m.
  • LSU at No. 12 Ole Miss at 2:30 a.m.
  • Mississippi State at Vanderbilt at 3:00 a.m.
  • Tennessee at No. 4 Alabama at 6:00 p.m.
  • South Carolina at No. 17 Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m.

An exciting slate is ahead of us! Here are my predictions for every single SEC game on the schedule Saturday:

Predicting the outcome of each SEC football game in Week 4

The full swing of SEC play is getting underway, with five conference games heading into the weekend. Here are predictions for every single game on the schedule Saturday:

The full swing of SEC play is getting underway, with five conference games heading into the weekend. The biggest of which is Arkansas and Texas A&M facing off each other in Arlington on CBS.

Alabama is one of three teams playing a nonconference matchup this weekend. Alongside in-state rival Auburn, the Crimson Tide will have a lesser opponent in town. Missouri is the other, traveling to the northeast to face off against Boston College.

Here is the full SEC schedule for Week 4. All times are central

  • Missouri at Boston College at 11 a.m.
  • Georgia at Vanderbilt at 11 a.m.
  • LSU at Mississippi State at 11 a.m.
  • Texas A&M vs Arkansas (Arlington) at 2:30 p.m.
  • Georgia State at Auburn at 3 p.m.
  • Kentucky at South Carolina at 6 p.m.
  • Tennessee at Florida at 6 p.m.
  • Southern Miss at Alabama at 6:30 p.m.

An exciting slate is ahead of us! Here are my predictions for every single SEC game on the schedule Saturday: