Amidst the discussion of preseason football favorites, one name you don't hear very often is the Texas A&M Aggies After all, the Aggies are losing likely Top 5 overall pick Von Miller to the NFL, and none of their other players has much star power right now. Despite the much more highly touted Oklahoma Sooners getting rave reviews for who they've got coming back (Landry Jones and Ryan Broyles, to name two), ESPN's football scientist, K.C. Joyner, thinks the Aggies have settled in under the spotlight (Insider) despite being a legitimate national title contender:
↵↵↵Oklahoma does have 17 returning starters, but the Aggies bring back 19. It also is worth noting that the Sooners' personnel losses include three of their top five tacklers from last season, two of their top three sack leaders and two of their top five interceptors.
↵...
↵The schedule also looks to be more favorable for the Aggies. Texas A&M has only four true road contests this season, and three of those (Texas Tech Red Raiders, Iowa State Cyclones and Kansas State Wildcats) are against foes that had a combined 9-15 record in Big 12 games last season.
↵Oklahoma's schedule has five true road games, and two of those (at the Florida State Seminoles and Oklahoma State Cowboys) will be tough tests for a team that is 4-5 over the past two seasons in true road games (and there's reason to believe the Seminoles could be in for a special season).
↵
The schedule will definitely break in favor of the Aggies this season. The one problem that Joyner doesn't mention? Their fourth true road contest. In Norman. Then again, it's not totally out of the realm of thought that A&M could lose that game, win the rest, and watch Oklahoma fall behind them in the standings. Joyner crafts a compelling argument for the Aggies, who appear to have lost much less to graduations and the NFL on paper, despite Miller being a likely top five pick. Still, so much rides on that game in Norman.
↵