Texas A&M Battling 4 SEC Rivals For Top Transfer Portal Offensive Lineman

Can the Texas A&M Aggies outlast their competitors and land their top option on the line?

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko walks off the field after defeating the Samford Bulldogs 48-0 in a game at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Buvid-Imagn Images | Joseph Buvid-Imagn Images

After their premature exit from the College Football Playoff thanks to a 10-3 loss to the Miami Hurricanes, the Texas A&M Aggies now fully shift their focus to the 2026 season in hopes of building an even better team that is capable of making it even further in the postseason.

Mike Elko and his new team of coordinators will have to work some magic in the transfer portal, which includes some off-field competition with some schools to draw players in.

And in this case, it's not just the Aggies trying to outdraw four other teams, it's trying to outdraw four other teams from their own conference.

Texas A&M vs. Ole Miss vs. Georgia vs. Kentucky vs. Arkansas

Just under two weeks before the LSU Tigers were set to take on the Houston Cougars in the Kinder's Texas Bowl, offensive lineman Carius Curne announced that he would be entering the NCAA transfer portal whenever it officially opened on January 2, not interested in taking part in whatever Lane Kiffin will have to offer in his first season in Baton Rouge.

LSU Tigers offensive lineman Carius Curne (57) waits for the snap during the first quarter against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The top targets for the freshman offensive lineman now all sit in the Southeastern Conference, with the Texas A&M Aggies, Ole Miss Rebels, Georgia Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats, and Arkansas Razorbacks all jockeying to land the Hughes, AR native.

Given that the big man is from "The Natural State," it almost seems like a no-brainer that he would want to move back home up north one state with the Razorbacks, who could certainly use some protection as quarterback Taylen Green was sent scrambling for his life and putting his dual-threat abilities to work over the season.

But Arkansas isn't in the upper tier of the conference like the Bulldogs, Aggies, or Rebels were this season.

As a matter of fact, they finished dead last in the SEC, with a winless conference record and a 10-game losing streak during their 2-10 2025 season.

The possibility of a national championship lies more with one of the aforementioned teams, considering they were three of the five SEC teams that were named to the 12-team CFP this year.

The Wildcats aren't exactly on par with the three playoff-caliber teams, but they did much better than the Razorbacks, and took a ranked Texas Longhorns team to the limit even though they came up short to Steve Sarkisian's team in overtime, 16-13.

With the number of seniors and graduates the Aggies had up front protecting Marcel Reed, which especially served well when they played Curne and LSU last October, the Aggies could use a little more youth on the front lines, where the freshman, would-be sophomore would definitely play his part.