It’s been a long offseason, but the first game of your Texas A&M Aggies’ season is now less than a week away. So with the 2018 campaign imminent, our crack team of football morons (except mattywatty01) sat down to tell you how they think the first year under Jimbo Fisher will shake out.

MY CUP RUNNETH OVER

mattywatty01

Record: 10-3
Bowl prediction: Win over Florida State in the Citrus Bowl

I can’t give an honest take in which A&M beats either Clemson or Alabama, so a 2-2 start is probable, but I do believe A&M will play Clemson close due to Jimbo Fisher’s familiarity with the Tigers and an Aggie defense that is better than most people expect. I see that game, even if it’s a loss, being a key factor in making the Aggies gel as a team and buy in to what Fisher is selling. The three game road trip in the middle is a brutal one, but I think A&M manages to win two of them, and then finishes strong, beating LSU to cap off a positive year. I initially had the Ags slotted for 8 wins, but looking through the schedule, I don’t fear Arkansas or Kentucky or Ole Miss, and I don’t buy the South Carolina hype either. Mississippi State and Auburn are both good but beatable, and LSU is like, you know, they’re like, oh I don’t know, shut up, you’re not my real dad, we’re going to beat them somehow. This is the year.

MY GLASS IS HALF FULL

Rush Roberts

Record: 9-4
Bowl Prediction: Win over Nebraska in the Music City Bowl

September is rough. Both quarterbacks continue to split time well into conference play. Things are bleak when the team falls to 5-4 after losing to Auburn the first weekend of November. There is rumbling about Jimbo Fisher from a malcontent fanbase. He stuns everyone by trotting out a Five Tight End Offense at home against Ole Miss (Landis Durham and Tyrel Dodson become two-way players) and hammers out a rugged 13-6 win. The team cruises past UAB and then beats LSU by a field goal to close out the year. Fisher is given a six-year extension and demolishes Scott Frost in the wing-eating challenge during bowl week festivities and the squad ends up ranked in the final poll for the first time in five years. Everyone lives happily ever after, the end.

whoopy

Record: 9-4
Bowl prediction: Win over Florida State in the Belk Bowl

Jimbo makes it to the first weekend of October at 3 wins and 2 losses. Alabama and Clemson both prove to be too much; however, the streak continues against Arkansas in Jerry World. October starts with a win against Kentucky at home. Then the Aggies go three straight games on the road to close out October and into the first weekend of November. The Aggies go 1-2 through this stretch due to some injuries. The Aggies get healthy and finish out November with three straight wins; including finally beating LSU. In spite of having played in the Belk Bowl the previous year, it cannot pass up on the matchup with Jimbo facing his former team.

I HAVE A GLASS

gigthem08

Record: 8-5
Bowl Prediction: Win over Michigan State in the Music City Bowl

This season will definitively prove that all 8-5 seasons are not created equal. We’ll struggle in September with those pesky games against the top two teams in the nation, we’ll drop a tight one in Columbia, and we might even stumble during post-Alabama recovery week against Arkansas. But then, with rock bottom looming, we’ll finally see something we’ve been waiting for since 2011: a team that improves during the second half of the season.

We’ll sweep the state of Mississippi, lose the road game to Auburn... and finally (FINALLY) take care of business against LSU at home. It’s not perfect, but for year #1... it’s enough.

Robert Behrens

Record: 8-5
Bowl Prediction: Win over Michigan in the Gator Bowl

I’m gonna be honest, guys, September is gonna sting. After the inevitable losses to Clemson and Alabama, the Aggies will do the unthinkable and lose to Arkansas for the first time since joining the SEC. Then right the ship against Kentucky to get back to .500, but the subsequent three straight road games at South Carolina, Mississippi State and Auburn see the Aggies limping back to Kyle Field with a 4-5 record to face Ole Miss on Nov. 3. Aggies are despondent. But this is where the turnaround begins. Two straight wins over the Rebels and UAB give A&M just enough confidence going into the final weekend to - at long last - beat LSU (adios, Coach O) and finish at 7-5. The SEC drools over the prospect of a Harbaugh/Fisher bowl matchup and sends the Ags to Jacksonville, where they manage a narrow victory that gets them to eight wins and ends the year on a four-game win streak.

stringsays

Record: 8-5
Bowl Prediction: Win over Oklahoma State in the Texas Bowl

I have no idea how this season is going to go. I think we’ve got the talent to be pretty good but we’ve also got the schedule and the youth to be not so good. It certainly feels like the entire SEC west save for us, Arkansas and perhaps LSU are on the upswing right now. Given our question marks at OL I dont see us beating Clemson or Alabama, but I do think we’ll get over the LSU hump and finish out the season with a strong sense hope for the 2019 season. Swing games, for me, are South Carolina and Ole Miss. Win both of those and we could be talking about a pretty dang exciting season.

Shooter Flatch

Record: 7-6
Bowl Prediction: Win over Oklahoma State in the Texas Bowl

The good news is A&M will go 6-1 at Kyle Field this year with our only home loss to Clemson. The bad news is we won’t win a single game away from Kyle Field. The Aggie Fanbase Weekly Happiness chart looks like my last EKG after a trip to the Hungry Heifer. Arkansas pops us the week after traveling to Alabama and the meat grinder of the top two teams in the country in September. Auburn breaks the home losing quirk in this series. Muschamp claims the John Bonham drummer trophy. Nick Fitgerald runs wild against our starting linebacker corps of two walks on and a 9 year old kid with gum in his hair. However, Fisher rights the ship and we roll out three wins at home in November and finally get that win over LSU. Our young guys are playing well at the end and despite the rough first year, we go into 2019 with some actual momentum with four straight wins to close out the season.

I SHATTERED MY GLASS ON THE GROUND AFTER I DRANK ALL THE FIREBALL

cuppycup

Record: 5-7
Bowl Prediction: N/A

Texas A&M posts a disappointing first season under Jimbo Fisher. The team shows improvement by the end of the campaign, but this is overlooked by hoards of angry internet Aggies. On the bright side, A&M mostly holds together its recruiting class and the offseason transfer controversy subsides. Good Bull Hunting becomes a Sylvia Plath inspired outpost once again and Hot Reelz source material is drawn strictly from Russian melodramas. Alabama and Clemson meet in the National Championship game and most of the highlight footage comes from their matchups against the Aggies. Eat at Arby’s.