It’s officially August, and Texas A&M’s preseason will kick off on August 5th, while third-year coach Mike Elko will speak to the media on Tuesday afternoon before the team’s first practice the following Wednesday.
Football season is here (kind of), but the preseason predictions have not slowed down, as On3 analyst J.D. PicKell, who has championed the Aggies going back to being one of the only national analysts to predict A&M would make the College Football Playoff, isn’t buying that the Elko’s 2026 roster match last season’s 11-2 record, primarily due to a schedule that includes road games vs. LSU, Missouri, Alabama, South Carolina, and Oklahoma.
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While PicKell believes the Aggies will start off with a 3-0 record, defeating Missouri State, Arizona State and Kentucky at home, he has joined the long list of nationaly analysts who feel last season’s 49-25 beatdown of LSU in Baton Rouge won’t be repeated under new head coach Lane Kiffin, feeling that will be a close game that ultimately goes in the home team’s favor.
However, after defeating Arkansas and Missouri, Texas A&M is predicted to defeat Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and would enter the South Carolina road test at 6-1 with everything on the line.
After SEC analyst and host of Locked on Gamecocks’ Chris Marler unsurprisingly picked the Gamecocks to potentially “blow out” the Aggies in Williams-Brice Stadium, PicKell also believes that, after South Carolina’s embarssing loss in Kyle Field after leading 30-3 at the half last season will result in sweet revenge.
Sitting at 6-2, PicKell predicts wins over Citadel and Tennessee at home before falling to Oklahoma in Norman, which is completely understandable that late in the season, but at 8-3, even though the On3 feels Texas A&M will defeat Texas at home for the first time since the Longhorns joined the SEC, ending the year at 9-3 and more than likely missing out of the CFP would feel like a waste based on the Aggies’ talent and depth at every position.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: On3’s J.D. PicKell predicts Texas A&M’s 2026 record
