Missouri at No. 24 Texas A&M (-4) 7:30pm SEC Network
Daniel: This a microcosm of the SEC this year. The first-place team in the East is a fairly significant underdog to a team tied for second-to-last in the West. What are we supposed to make of A&M now? They went belly-up for the middle portion of their schedule and then, after looking like a Sun Belt team two weeks ago against Louisiana-Monroe, they knocked off Auburn on the road last week. And speaking of enigmatic, who knows what Missouri will do, particularly on offense. I guess I’ll bye the A&M hype after last week and say that new quarterback Kyle Allen gets it done against a stingy Mizzou defense. Winner: A&M 27-23
Houston: Finally, we get to see what Missouri is made of this week. The Tigers are coming off of a bye, but the Aggies are riding high after a nice win on the plains against Auburn last week. Freshman quarterback Kyle Allen looks to have all of the potential in the world and the Aggie defense showed against Auburn that they can make some plays when they need to. Missouri is bringing in a strong defense, but can their offense put up enough points to keep pace with the Aggies on their home turf? I have to give the nod to the Aggies in this one. I just think that the momentum and confidence gained against Auburn will carry them to another big win this weekend. Winner: Texas A&M 31-20
Reed: Finally we get to see Missouri’s inept offense (ranked 13th in the SEC) against Texas A&M’s inept defense (also ranked 13th in the SEC). Missouri hasn’t been able to get out of its own way on offense, but somehow they’re leading the SEC East. The Aggies haven’t been great at home under Sumlin, but they have the talent edge and look to be finding their stride a bit. Missouri gets a defensive score but the Aggies win and the Tigers finally takes a step back in the SEC East race. Winner: Aggies 31-24
Seth: There are a lot of talented “bad” teams in the SEC this season, and these are two of those. A&M has been embarrassed most every week since trouncing South Carolina to open the season, and Mizzou lost at home to Indiana early this season yet is first in the East. This one is a very tough game to call. Mizzou’s offense cannot really move the ball consistently but A&M’s defense refuses to stop opposing offenses. The Tigers’ defense features two very stout pass rushers in Shane Ray and Markus Golden to combat a potentially explosive A&M offense now led by Kyle Allen. This is a tough game to pick but I’m going with the home team. A&M seemed to have put it together against Auburn last week and should continue that against this group of Tigers. Winner: Aggies 38-24
