SEC Preseason Preview: Can Texas A&M succeed out west?

On July 1st, Texas A&M was officially recognised as a SEC school. To go with the big-time money that the Aggies will receive from being a SEC school – along with the celebration-by-association of six straight National Championships- Texas A&M fans now believe that they can attract top talent from Texas to College Station. But can they be a force in the SEC West, the SEC, and on the National Grid? What happened in 2011? Despite having 18 returning starters and an expectation that they would challenge Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas for a Big XII Championship, Texas A&M entered the land of Chokeaholics Anonymous. The Aggies led 11 games by double digits – YES, ELEVEN – but they were

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Quick reflection on SEC Media Days: Why didn’t people mention soft scheduling?

This is going to sound really nasty bearing in mind that this is a blog on the SEC and the fact that we are read by SEC fans, but we’ve been looking for the ‘juiciest’ (trust me, there aren’t very many) quotes from the SEC Media Days, and we struggled to get anything that kept us particularly awake. However, like the ghost that haunts us and never seems to give up, we couldn’t help but think: Why on earth did NO-ONE ask either Commissioner Slive or any of the SEC head coaches about Non-Conference scheduling? Here is why: When the 2014 play-offs come along and the Committee -whoever they might be – are deciding ‘strength of schedule’, they hopefully will

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SEC Media Days: Les Miles’ best quotes

LSU coach Les Miles was his usual quotable self at his SEC Media Conference his Hoover, Alabama. Here are a list of some of the more juicy things he said in what was an unusually straight press conference. About the Alabama National Championship Game Loss: “‘I’ve seen [the game] a couple times. There weren’t that many plays for us on offense for me to spend that much time [on]. On his EA commercial: “I really thought that Mike the Tiger stole the show. We didn’t get along on the set. He was kind of working the camera. It was really a difficult time”. On Tyrann Mathieu and (yet another) Twitter outburst on July 13th: “I didn’t get the Twitter rant exactly.

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Sumlin suspends two A&M players

Kevin Sumlin, the new Texas A&M coach, has wasted no time as a disciplinarian, suspending two starters for the first game of the season. Junior linebacker Steven Jenkins and defensive back Howard Matthews  were each given a one game ban for violating team policy. What they did is not quite clear. Matthews had 28 tackles and two sacks in his first season for the Aggies, while Jenkins had 61 tackles and 1 sacks in 2011. One A&M fan tweeted: “Well, that was quick. Two difference makers on the defense out for a game. I would say Sumlin has sent a message.” BOTTOM LINE: Texas A&M had one of the Big XII’s worst defenses last year (which was saying something) and this news – if

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Recruiting: Texas A&M grabs new WR commit

Texas A&M continued its recent excellent run of commitments by grabbing former wide receiver commit Kyrion Parker. The 6 ft 3, nearly-200 lb player  from Texas had previously committed to LSU before de-committing to play for Sumlin instead. “I just loved the coaching staff there,” Parker reportedly told 247sports.com in an interview. “Coach Sumlin is a great guy. He’s a down-to-earth coach and he’s funny. It was so welcoming there and I just love the program.” “Plus the way they run their offense, I think my game fits perfectly into that spread. I also really wanted to play in the SEC because that’s where the best competition is and that’s where you’re going to get better at.” Parker’s reason for

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Recruiting: Top CB commits to Texas A&M

Top Texas cornerback Tavares Garner has committed to Texas A&M, it has been widely reported. Garner, who is a four-star cornerback according to Rivals, spurned offers from a number of Big XII schools as well as Mississippi State, de-committed from Texas Tech prior to his decision to move to College Station. According to ESPN Insider, Garner decided not to play for Tech on Friday. It’s been a big week for the Aggies, who saw linebacker Reggie Chavis decide to play SEC football at Kyle Field on Tuesday. Texas A&M now has 19 commitments.

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Note to SEC: Texas A&M needs another Thanksgiving Rival

As y’all know by this blog, we love the SEC and we’re really happy that two teams have been added to the SEC schedule. Missouri’s going to be a  cold and difficult place for rivals to play in the East, and Texas A&M’s going to be a deafening place to play in the West. But let’s be honest – when it became known that Texas A&M was not going to play Texas anymore, it ripped a lot out of college football’s soul. For over 118 years, Texas and Texas A&M beat the crap out of each other. Even if both sides weren’t good, they were got off the turf for The Thanksgiving Game of All Thanksgiving Games. Fanbases may not

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Scheduling: SEC games open ESPN’s CFB season

ESPN will be showing two SEC games on the first night of the season, the network announced. South Carolina’s tricky trip to Vanderbilt and Texas A&M first game of its SEC existence – against Louisiana Tech- will be shown on ESPN and ESPNU respectively. We’ll go out on a limb and say that we expect the Aggies- yes, even with THAT defence – to win that one comfortably. You should also keep an eye out for September 13th, when former Auburn offensive co-ordinator Gus Malzahn takes his Arkansas State team on the road to noisy Lincoln, Nebraska for a showdown with the mighty Nebraska Cornhuskers. Later that day, Mississippi State go to Troy (you can watch it online on ESPN3).

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Schedule Special: Team-by-team fixtures list

Today was the official releasing of the SEC schedules, and here is a breakdown of each team’s fixtures list. The SEC Football Blog will have breakdown of each team’s schedule in our preview for the season, but right now, here’s a taster of what’s to come. And yes, we know that the No.1 game on everybody’s list is going to be Alabama’s trip to LSU on November 3rd, which will be shown live on CBS at night – an arrangement which was actually agreed last year during the fiasco of the LSU-Alabama game in 2011. The home games are IN CAPS – just in case any of you though Alabama was scheduling a trip to Ole Miss for the second

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SEC finalizes 2012 schedule

The SEC released its 2012 schedule. We’ll be going through it at a later date, but right now, read, digest, and imagine. And cancel your Saturday weddings. Aug. 30 South Carolina at Vanderbilt Texas A&M vs. Louisiana Tech (Shreveport, La.) Aug. 31 Tennessee vs. N.C. State (Atlanta, Ga.) Sept. 1 Alabama vs. Michigan (Arlington, Texas) Jacksonville State at Arkansas Bowling Green at Florida Buffalo at Georgia North Texas at LSU Central Arkansas at Ole Miss Jackson State at Mississippi State Southeastern Louisiana at Missouri Auburn vs. Clemson (Atlanta, Ga.) Sept. 2 Kentucky at Louisville Sept. 8 Auburn at Mississippi State Florida at Texas A&M Georgia at Missouri Western Kentucky at Alabama Louisiana-Monroe at Arkansas (Little Rock) Kent State at Kentucky

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