Latest news with #SECMike
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
'I think Texas A&M makes the playoff': SEC football analyst predicts Aggie CFP bid
While many media members at the Southeastern Conference's media days predicted Texas A&M to finish in the middle of the pack in league play this season, one college football analyst made a bold prediction for the Aggies to reach this year's College Football Playoff. Rusty Mansell, co-owner and publisher of DawgsHQ, joined Michael Bratton (SEC Mike) on "That SEC Podcast" to talk SEC football following a packed week in Atlanta, Georgia. With the league's annual preseason meetings concluding and fall camp set to kick off shortly, SEC Mike asked Mansell to provide the boldest take heading into the 2025 campaign. Mansell's response? He believes that the Aggies are primed for a CFP bid this season, which would mark the program's first playoff appearance if those hopes come to fruition. Here is the full clip from "That SEC Podcast" where Mansell and SEC Mike discussed Texas A&M's potential heading into the second year under head coach Mike Elko: Whether the Aggies will reach the CFP will be determined by how the program handles one of the toughest schedules in the country. Ranked as the No. 9 slate by ESPN metrics, Texas A&M will have road tests against Notre Dame, LSU and Texas, all of which will have massive postseason implications. Having a talented gunslinger at the helm will help the Aggies stay on course, however. Marcel Reed enters his sophomore year in College Station after throwing for 1,864 yards and 15 touchdowns in 11 games played last season. The two-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree (Sep. 16 and Oct. 28) also recorded 547 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. With experience under his belt and targets like former ACC Freshman Offensive Player of the Year KC Concepcion surrounding him, Reed has all the pieces to complete the puzzle and lead the Aggies to the CFP in 2025. While the Texas A&M secondary has been a weak spot of the defensive unit for a long time, that could soon change as well with the return of Will Lee III and the addition of transfer standouts Julian Humphrey (Georgia) and Jordan Shaw (Washington), rounding out the Aggie secondary this season. Can the Aggies defy the odds and reach the 2025-2026 CFP? The Maroon and White faithful will have to wait just 41 more days before those answers begin to unfold on the gridiron at Kyle Field. Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Dylan on X: @dylanmflippo.
USA Today
30-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
SEC analyst predicts OU QB John Mateer will score more TDs than Texas' Arch Manning
Texas quarterback Arch Manning will enter the 2025 season as one of the favorites, if not the favorite, for the Heisman Trophy. He may not even end up being the best quarterback in the SEC. Oklahoma's new signal-caller, John Mateer, is ranked as one of the top five quarterbacks in the country and the No. 1 transfer-portal recruit. His sophomore season in 2024 at Washington State, Mateer threw for 29 touchdowns and ran for 15 more, leading the nation in total scores. At least one SEC media personality thinks he'll top Manning in the former again, too. "My bold prediction," SEC Mike, otherwise known as Michael Bratton, said on his podcast. "John Mateer scores more touchdowns than Arch Manning. How about it? I mean, c'mon, is that even a bold prediction?" More: SEC quarterback rankings for the 2025 season It isn't that bold, frankly. Mateer has more weapons in Norman than he did in Pullman, Washington, with the Cougars last year. He's also getting to work another year with offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, who actually left the Paloose for OU first. Arbuckle was a big reason the Sooners ended up landing Mateer out of the transfer portal over the winter. Oklahoma also picked up former first-team All-Pac 12 running back Jadyn Ott to keep teams from selling out against Mateer's arm. Still, Mateer doesn't find himself on many preseason top 10 lists for Heisman favorites like Manning does. The Texas quarterback is the top choice in June, according to DraftKings' list. Manning played significantly in just three games for the Longhorns last year, serving mostly as a backup to Quinn Ewers. Oklahoma and Texas will meet in the annual Red River Rivalry in Dallas on October 11. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.
USA Today
04-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Oklahoma football picked for upsets over Texas, Tennessee by SEC podcast.
Oklahoma football picked for upsets over Texas, Tennessee by SEC podcast. The measuring stick for what qualifies a win as an upset depends on perspective. That's especially true for predicted college football upsets this time of year, when teams are in the midst of spring camp. Although the Oklahoma Sooners are coming off their worst season since 1998, Sooners fans may consider any SEC win for their favorite team an upset. To make things a bit more concrete, That SEC Podcast picked their 10 most likely upsets in league play this season and Oklahoma owns two of them. That's more than any other team in the SEC. To be clear, OU is predicted to pull off an upset. The man known as SEC Mike (Michael Bratton) has OU-over-Texas as his No. 2 most likely upset and OU-over-Tennessee as his No. 8. If you ask Oklahoma football fans which two teams they most want to beat on the schedule in 2025, Texas and Tennessee are likely to be two of the top three, if not the top two, period. The Longhorns rolled over OU 35-3 last season. Two weeks before, the Volunteers provided the Sooners with their first loss, 27-17. These were the first two losses of Oklahoma's season, a season in which Brent Venables and his team finished 6-7. Bratton initially published the post on April 1, April Fool's Day. It's accordingly unclear whether he thinks the upsets are going to happen or if they are just his most likely upsets to happen, sans guarantee. Regardless, the suggestion itself that the Sooners could be even modestly likely to change their fortunes against either program likely has OU fans feeling at least a little better. On the flip side, Bratton's pinned post on X is of his SEC Power Rankings. It's from January, so plenty has changed, but the Sooners are No. 14 in the 16-team league. They're one spot ahead of Kentucky and one spot behind Arkansas. Oklahoma will play Texas on Oct. 11 in its second SEC game of the year and will play Tennessee on Nov. 1 in its fifth. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.
