FOX Sports’ Stewart Mandel picks Texas A&M 3rd in SEC West with 9 wins

Prognostications are dropping left and right, so it’s nice to see one with the Ags in the top half of the division once in a while. Here’s how Stewart’s got the SEC West shaping out:

• LSU and Alabama are basically 1a and 1b at 11-1, but Alabama wins the head-to-head.
• The Ags are a notch back at 9-3. He’s counting on Trevor Knight being a steady hand for the offense and the defense improving even more than last year.
• Arkansas is right behind us at 8-4. Slow, plodding improvement by BERT and the gang, and he doesn’t think they’ll miss a beat with a new QB.
• Ole Miss is next at 7-5. Stewart trolls Rebel fans to perfection by saying this is a “small step back” after 19 wins in the past two seasons.
• Mississippi State and Auburn are each sitting at 6-6. Too much uncertainty at quarterback.

The western half of the conference is still tough as hell in this scenario, with all seven teams going bowling. But Texas A&M getting some separation from Ole Miss here and establishing ourselves as a solid third in the conference after some time in the bottom half is something we’d all love to see happen. Let’s hope it comes true.

Do you like Stewart’s optimism here?