Season Preview

By Will James

Texas A&M has ahead of it one of the toughest seasons this year ever seen by an Aggie squad. They play 8 teams that finished out the 2008 season ranked in the top 25. They have a tough season ahead, but if they can pull out all the stops, they could put together an extremely impressive resume going into the National Tournament. The season will certainly prepare them to play the best come May.

Texas A&M will open up the season away for the second year against the Rice Owls. Texas A&M is 10-0 against the Rice Owls in the last 9 years. Although the Owls traditionally give the Aggies more trouble than their performance against other opponents indicates that they should, the Aggies should have no problems here, and absolutely must open their season with a win if they expect to go anywhere.

The next Saturday night the Aggies will play the Texas Tech Red Raiders at home at the Aggieland Classic for the third straight year. The Aggies are 2-0 in the last two years, 9-3 in the last 9 years against Texas Tech. In fact, the Aggies have never lost to the Raiders at Home, their three losses coming in 2005 and 2006 in Plano twice and Georgetown once. The Aggies need a solid win at home in front of the big crowd to build momentum for the next weekend where they travel to Tallahassee, FL to play some big names.

On Friday, February 20th, the Aggies will take on the long standing SELC powerhouse Florida State University, who finished out 2008 ranked 12th. The last time the Aggies and the Seminoles met, on a rainy evening on the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta in 2006, the Seminoles defeated the Aggies 15-7. The Aggies will have to throw everything they've got at the Seminoles early in order to get the upper hand.

The next day A&M will play the University of Southern California. The Trojans and the Aggies have not met in recent years. USC struggled slightly in their difficult WCLL conference going 5-11, and finishing outside the top 25. They were ranked 58 by the Laxpower computer ranking, around the same level as SMU and Texas Tech. However, a team playing in a tough conference such as the WCLL should never be underestimated, and the Aggies absolutely must win this game if they plan on having even a slightly successful weekend in Florida.

To finish out the weekend A&M will play a much anticipated game against the Georgia Bulldogs, a classy team who finished out 2008 with a bang against Michigan in the MCLA Quarter Finals, eventually losing 10-8. The Bulldogs finished 2008 ranked 9th. There's no telling what graduation or recruiting has done for this team, but this game will be certainly not be an easy one for the Aggies. I expect that this will be a fairly exciting game as the Bulldogs play with a similar level of athleticism to the Aggies.

Upon returning home the Aggies will have a short 4 days to prepare for a home matchup versus the Lindenwood Lions, who finished out 2008 ranked 16. The Aggies struggled vs. the Lions last year in St. Louis, as that was the third game in a trip of three games in three days, but they will look to avenge that loss with a strong showing at home.

Then the next day the Aggies take on the LSU Tigers at home. Expect beautiful weather, a good turn out, and a nice tail gate after the game.

Finally to finish out the weekend the Aggies will take on the Tulane Green Wave on Sunday.

Then the Aggies have yet another short week to prepare for a huge trip to Colorado.

There they will face yet another long standing MCLA powerhouse Colorado State at home in Fort Collins, CO. The Rams finished out 2008 ranked 7th in the Nation with a loss to Chapman in the second round of the National tournament in Dallas. The Aggies should expect them to have improved over last year, as they are used to being in the top 2 or 3. The Aggies must play their top game versus the Rams if they expect to win.

The next day the Aggies will drive from Fort Collins down to Boulder to face Montana on neutral turf. Not much is known about these Buffalos who fare from Montana, but they finished out last year ranked 32 by Laxpower's reckoning. This is a solid ranking, not to be scoffed at or ignored, and the Aggies must take this team seriously to get a win out of it, or they could be surprised.

To finish out their tough Colorado trip Texas A&M will face the Colorado Buffs. Colorado has been weaker in the last two years than traditionally, but they are likely to improve on a #20 ranking that they finished last year out with.

Upon returning home, the Aggies will have two days of rest before facing Boston University at home on March 11, followed immediately by Arizona State. Boston University finished last year out ranked 38 by Laxpower's standards. They will play the Aggies as the third day of a Texas trip that includes Texas State and Texas. The Aggies should play conservatively, but with fundamentals, to reserve their energy for the tough game the next day.

Arizona State finished 2008 in the Semi-Finals vs. Chapman when they gave up a large lead to lose 18-15 and finished ranked 6th. They are taking no risks in Texas and playing Texas A&M two full days after playing the University of Texas. This will be the Aggies toughest home opponent, and possibly their toughest opponent all year. They must step up to the plate and use their experiences thus far in the season to lead them through.

Finally the Aggies get a well deserved Spring Break, before gathering in Dallas on Saturday, March 21st to play SMU at their home. The Aggies are 5-0 against the Mustangs in the last 9 years. SMU always has a lot of promise opening the season, and one should expect no different this year. However, by this point in the season it should be clear what this match up will look like going into it. The Aggies should be able to take the nationwide experience they will have gained by this point and use it to put together a solid win.

Two days later, on Monday, the Aggies will fight the Illinois Fighting Illini at home in College Station. The Aggies defeated the Illini in 2008 in a close battle in St. Louis, and will look to repeat this year. The Illini finished 2008 ranked 21st.

Then they will get a short week of practice to prepare for the now all too familiar Santa Clara Broncos hailing from the Bay Area in California. The Aggies are 4-0 vs. the Broncos in the last 5 years, but the Aggies should not be cocky going into this match up as the Broncos are an athletic opponent, traditionally match up well with the Aggies.

The Aggies will then enter the home stretch of their season playing out the rest of their conference schedule against TCU, Baylor, Texas and Texas State. It is crucial that the Aggies use what experience they've gained be it good or bad to their advantage.

The Aggies drive up to Fort Worth to play TCU the day after Santa Clara, March 28th, a Saturday. The Aggies have only met the Horned Frogs 4 times in the last 9 years, but were victorious every time, sometimes by bordering on disrespectful margins.

To finish out their three day home weekend Texas A&M will take on Baylor in Waco on their way back to College Station on Sunday the 29th. The Aggies are 6-0 vs. Baylor in the last 9 years, and although the Bears have been improving of late, the Aggies superior experience at this point in the season will likely lead them to victory.

The next Friday night, April 3rd, the Aggies play the University of Texas Longhorns at home. The Aggies are 11-4 against the Longhorns in the last 9 years, but this game is always close regardless of the relative parity of the two teams. This will be a ferocious matchup, and baring any lighting incidents, should be a great game.

In the final weekend of the regular season, on Saturday night April 9th, the Aggies will play Texas State. The Aggies have won 7 out of 8 meetings between the two teams over the last 9 years, and will look to repeat again this year in this final home game match up. It's essential that they win in order to maintain momentum going into the playoffs.

All in all, this looks to be one of the toughest seasons ever played by an A&M team, considering the overall league improvement and the lack of long breaks. However, should the Aggies use this tough season to their advantage, their position will be extremely strong going into the post season. It will be tough for them to maintain an unbeaten record through the early part of the season, given the number of big games stacked in a row. However, it is essential that they not let tough losses on the road or at home devastate their entire season, but instead use each game to further the ultimate goal. If they can learn from losses rather than let them fester, this team will be extremely successful this year.

The Aggies would love your support at any games this year. Be looking for game preview articles and player spotlights in the near future. Thanks, and Gig 'em Aggies!

All statistics were gathered from laxpower.com

Friday, January 30, 2009

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