3 Opponents Texas A&M Football Cannot Overlook

When the football schedule is officially released every season, there are circled games that everyone looks at when it comes to multiple different topics of conversation.

One might surround must-win games. One might surround must-see TV games, and another might be games that a team cannot overlook.

For Texas A&M this upcoming season, every single game on the 2026-27 schedule is going to just mean more, whether it is against a non-conference opponent or whether it is against an SEC program. These games that fell on this year’s slate of games are ones that it cannot overlook, or else it will find itself in a hole it is trying to climb out of.

Arizona State

Flashback to a couple of years ago. It was Texas vs Arizona State in the College Football Playoff. The head coach in that game was Kenny Dillingham, and his roster was stacked for a deep run. Unfortunately for his program, it fell just short of the mark but had something to build off of the next several seasons.

Fast forward to now, Dillingham has a new group of men that have their differences from that CFP team. After a down year where the Sun Devils finished 8-5 overall and had a handful of injuries, this year might be the year shaping up to be Dillingham’s best if he can find ways for both the offense and defense to execute.

At quarterback, Arizona State has Cutter Boley likely to take over duties under center with plenty of transfer weapons to toss the football to. There are also a few returners on the defense, like CJ Fite and Zyrus Fiaseu, who will apply pressure to quarterback Marcel Reed. This defense will be playing in a hot, rowdy environment and has a chance to stamp a colossal victory early on.

With plenty of playmakers, this Sun Devils team knows how to cash in, creating turnovers and plenty of points. It averaged 33.9 points per game and recorded 19 total turnovers. It will find ways to do both, so A&M must respond, or else it’s trouble.

South Carolina

The 12th Man knows what happened last season when they saw the Gamecocks, and it was one of those games that nearly killed hopes of a berth into the playoffs. It went down as one of the most remarkable comeback games in Aggie football history, and head coach Mike Elko & Co. found a way to come back after trailing by too much at halftime.

Simply put. That cannot happen this year, which is why this is an easy argument for one of the opponents to make this list. Head coach Shane Beamer nearly pulled off one of the biggest wins of the season for his program and saw it wiped away in a hurry.

This year, he is seeing key returners back to operate under his system, in an effort to replicate what it did a few years back, when it almost made the playoffs with quarterback LaNorris Sellers. He is back along with edge rusher Dylan Stewart and wide receiver Nyck Harbor, who all experienced that heartbreaking loss last year at Kyle Field, so they are going to be out for revenge this time.

A&M was not as prepared as it should have been in the first half of that game. Everyone knows it. That second half was a different story. This time, the coaching staff has to have the entire team fully locked in and ready to go because that morning, it almost got caught sleeping, which could’ve gone down as a horrible loss.

Arkansas

It is a rivalry that goes back a long time. This meeting used to take place at AT&T Stadium, but it has now returned to the college campuses. It will be the first time in a minute that the Razorbacks have played at Kyle Field, and it will be a reminder of why it is such an important game, no matter what is at stake.

Without a doubt, Arkansas is always a team that puts up a fight against A&M no matter who is the head coach or the quarterback. It has been a lopsided series recently, but last season was another great example of why it is not over until the whistle is blown. It was a 45-42 win for A&M, but Arkansas never quit in the game.

Under center this season might be the frontrunner, KJ Jackson. He has competition, but he is projected to win the job. He has a newly hired head coach, Ryan Silverfield, leading the team, and a small amount of returning production from a year ago.

There are pieces of the puzzle that were not reconstructed, as defensive end Quincy Rhodes is back, along with center Caden Kitler and running back Braylen Russell. It isn’t a ton to work with, but with the people Silverfield recruited, there are plenty of options who all want a chance to beat the Aggies and will have their chance to do so. Mark it down as tricky to game plan for with all of the question marks surrounding this roster, even if 13 of the last 14 games have belonged to the Maroon and White.

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