When we started this blog, I thought there would be a lot more games like this one -- a dramatic top-10 showdown with national implications. Here are the current standings in the SEC:
EAST:
(9) Tennessee: 2-0, 5-0
(18) Florida: 2-1, 4-1
Georgia: 1-2, 3-2
Kentucky: 1-2, 2-3
S. Carolina: 1-3, 2-3
Missouri: 0-2, 2-3
Vanderbilt: 0-2, 2-3
WEST:
(8) Texas A & M: 3-0, 5-0
(1) Alabama: 2-0, 5-0
Louisiana St: 2-1, 3-2
Auburn: 1-1, 3-2
(14) Mississippi: 1-1, 3-2
Mississippi St: 1-1, 2-2
(16) Arkansas: 0-1, 4-1
So this is an enormous game for both teams -- and in fact, the ESPN Gameday is in College Station for this game. It is also CBS's SEC Game of the Week, so it gets the prime position of 2:30 Central Time.
Texas A & M has a long history of playing a team known as "UT" with orange and white as its colors; but the Aggies have only played the University of Tennessee twice, both in bowl games. In 1957, Bear Bryant's Aggies appeared to be loaded -- they roared out to an 8-0 start and were ranked number-one in the country, before losing their last two games in heartbreaking fashion. They were edged 7-6 at Rice, and beaten 9-7 by Texas. Their 8-2 record sent them to the Gator Bowl, where they lost 3-0 to Tennessee. That was the last game Bear Bryant ever coached for Texas A & M -- and one of the last he lost to Tennessee. The next year he went to Alabama, and four years later Alabama had the National Championship. A & M fell to 4-6 in 1958, and their program hasn't been ranked number one since.
The two teams also met on January 1, 2005, in the Cotton Bowl, where Tennessee drilled A & M 38 to 7. That's the last meeting between these two squads.
Today, however, A & M is expected to win. They are a 7-point favorite in a game where 60 points are expected. That would work out to something like a 33-27 Aggie win.
Personally, I think this is a very difficult game to call. Both of these teams have played to the level of their opposition all year, which means that they should play very well today.
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