Texas A&M could maybe be one of the most slept-on teams in the entire country next year with the way they’re currently being discounted by many members of the media. This is an Aggie team that is set to take strides forward after being on the brink of an SEC championship berth last year— albeit with an easier schedule than they’ll have in 2025, but the point stands.

With so many factors favoring a big season for the Aggies, it’s puzzling that there’s not more public momentum around them being a dark horse candidate to make some postseason noise. They certainly cut the profile of a team that could do so, but you wouldn’t know it by surveying the headlines.

One veteran of the league, though, has his eye on the Aggies to do more than make a little noise— he sees them getting to the playoff. Rusty Mansell, a longtime insider for the Georgia Bulldogs, has made the call that the Aggies will be a part of the College Football Playoff in 2025.

Rusty Mansell predicts Texas A&M football to make College Football Playoff in 2025

One of the most trusted voices covering the Georgia Bulldogs for years, Mansell has been around this conference for quite some time. Diving into the Aggies apparently gave him some maroon and white optimism, as he told Michael Bratton while at SEC Media Days.

Mansell was impressed by what the Aggies have going into next year and when asked for a bold take by Bratton on the “That SEC Podcast,” he ventured that A&M would be part of the 12-team group. “They’ve got enough,” he said, calling Marcel Reed a “problem” for opponents.

He and Bratton agreed that Reed was overlooked and underrated, with Bratton comparing Reed to a media darling in DJ Lagway. Mansell mentioned Reed’s accuracy as a plus— something that Aggie fans know he showcased well down the stretch after it being a question mark earlier on.

Hopefully time will prove Mansell right. He has a good outlook here and I think he’s diagnosed things correctly for the Aggies. Don’t be surprised if, come November, these discussions are far louder than they are right now.

Ben Roethlisberger expresses concern about the impact of college NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals on the love of the game, suggesting that financial incentives may diminish genuine passion among players. While he acknowledges the benefits, such as improved financial literacy and the ability for players to support their families, he worries that the emphasis on money could lead teams to prefer less talented but more motivated players. He reflects on historical sentiments about amateurism in college sports and suggests the need for guardrails in the evolving NIL landscape to protect players and maintain the essence of competition.

By the Numbers

• Highly touted OT recruit Felix Ojo secured a three-year deal worth $5.1 million with Texas Tech.
• The NIL model is generating significant earnings for college athletes that were previously kept under the table.

State of Play

• NIL deals have blurred the lines between amateur and professional sports, changing recruitment dynamics.
• Players are entering the NFL with previous financial experience from NIL, altering team drafting strategies.

What’s Next

Moving forward, the college football landscape may see increased regulations to manage NIL deals and protect both players and institutions. As this situation evolves, it will be critical to maintain a balance between financial opportunities and preserving the competitive integrity of the sport.

Bottom Line

Roethlisberger’s insights highlight a crucial tension in modern college athletics: the need for compensation versus the preservation of passion for the sport. Stakeholders must consider how to navigate these changes without compromising the essence of college football.

A Georgia football player is facing charges after he was arrested on Wednesday. Sophomore offensive lineman Jahzare Jackson was charged with felony possession of marijuana of more than one ounce, according to a report from the Athens Banner-Herald.

Marc Weiszer of the Banner-Herald reports that Jahzare Jackson now faces an additional three drug-related charges. In addition to the charge above, he also faces possession and use of drug-related objects, possession of marijuana less than an ounce and holding or supporting a wireless device with any part of his body. All three of those charges are misdemeanors.

Jackson was booked into the Clarke County Jail on Wednesday evening just before midnight and spent roughly four and a half hours there. He was released on bonds totaling $5,030, per the Banner-Herald.

Jahzare Jackson is not the first Georgia player to run afoul of the law this offseason. In March, receiver Nitro Tuggle and offensive lineman Marques Easley were suspended following traffic-related infractions.

Meanwhile, a current Georgia commitment is facing charges related to an alleged domestic battery. That news broke on Saturday.

Seven Cloud arrested on domestic battery charge

Jahzare Jackson was the second player or commitment in as many days to make headlines for a recent legal issue. Georgia JUCO commit Seven Cloud is facing charges regarding domestic battery that stem from an April incident in Butler County. The defensive lineman appeared in front of a judge on Monday, July 14, where he was formally charged.

According to the Butler County Times Gazette, Judge Chad Crum found probable cause to charge Cloud and ruled him to have no contact with the victim moving forward. It is a Class B misdemeanor and he will be back in court on Sept. 22.

The report states that the incident occurred on April 20. The Butler County Sheriff’s office was called to the scene of an altercation between Cloud and his significant other. He was arrested and subsequently bonded out. Police allege that Cloud “did knowingly cause physical contact with another person, in a rude, angry or insulting manner.”

This is not the first incident where the police have been involved with Cloud and his significant other. On March 27, Cloud was charged with disorderly conduct after allegedly destroying her cell phone. That is also classified as a misdemeanor and both charges came from the BCC Department of Public Safety.

While Cloud has not yet joined the Georgia program, Jahzare Jackson played in every game last season. He was expected to compete for a backup job on the offensive line this fall.

On3’s Barkley Truax also contributed to this report.

Did SEC football programs learn how to schedule from last season’s CFB Playoff Selection Committee? Though few games are added less than a year out, appearances are that some SEC teams believe scheduling as many cupcakes as possible is the way to go.

Recently, On3’s Pete Nakos picked 11 teams with the weakest out-of-conference (OOC) schedules in the 2025 season. Six of the 11 are SEC football teams. One of the six, Vanderbilt, gets a pass. Thanks to the Commodores’ SEC schedule, ESPN Analytics ranks Vanderbilt as having the nation’s second-toughest 12-game schedule. Another SEC team, Georgia, is rated as the 8th-toughest FBS schedule, with Alabama and Texas playing in Athens. Nakos included Auburn in the weakest OOC schedules, but with the Tigers not being a legit playoff contender, the weakness is not material.

Three of the other SEC teams are playoff contenders. For each of the three a big reason why is their out-of-conference schedule.

The three SEC football teams hoping to cakewalk to a Playoff at-large bid are Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Missouri. The three fanbases will loudly contend their teams are SEC championship contenders. But ESPN gives the Vols a 4.2% probability of winning the SEC. Ole Miss is at 2.8% and Missouri is at 0.6%. The realistic playoff goal for each team is a 10-2 or 9-3 season. None of them can afford to lose an out-of-conference game.

Using an Athlon ranking of the 136 FBS teams, Missouri has a greater risk than the Vols or the Rebels to lose an out-of-conference game. In Week 2, Missouri hosts a home game against No. 35-ranked Kansas. The Tigers open with FCS, Central Arkansas, and have two more catwalk games against No. 92 Louisiana and No. 135 UMass.

Tennessee opens with No. 57 Syracuse, in Atlanta, in what is almost a home game for the Vols. In addition, Tennessee plays FCS, East Tennessee State, No. 125 UAB, and No. 132 New Mexico State.

Four games into the Ole Miss season, Tulane (No. 48) plays the Rebels in Oxford. Ole Miss also plays FCS, The Citadel, No. 97 Washington State, and No. 112 Georgia State.

Ole Miss and Missouri have no road, out-of-conference games. Tennessee can’t claim one either.

SEC Football requires at least one non-SEC Power Opponent

For the record, Alabama Football also has two cupcakes: FCS Eastern Illinois and No. 116 ULM. But, the Crimson Tide plays two non-SEC Power teams in FSU (No. 42) and Wisconsin (No. 45), with the FSU game in Tallahassee.

July 20 marks the commitment date for five-star running back Derrek Cooper. Throughout the past few months Georgia has been one of his top teams if not the team leading in his recruitment. However, the last few days have seen multiple recruiting experts predict Cooper to Texas.

There theoretically is still time for Georgia to come back and win this recruitment, but that seems nearly impossible at this point. So what went wong for Georgia in this recruitment?

It’s hard to know exactly how Georgia lost this recruitment, but a few experts have hinted at the sole reason being financial.

Cooper trending to Texas because of NIL offer

Two recruiting insiders on Sunday hinted on social media that the reason Cooper is likely to pick Texas is because of the financial package offered to him by the Longhorns.

The first report indicating Cooper’s decision is being heavily influenced by money came from Rivals insider Geoff Ketchum. It’s important to not that Ketchum is a Texas insider with Rivals, so he likely is the most knowledgeable person at Rivals about Cooper’s recruitment.

Georgia insider Radi Nabulsi also weighed in on this recruitment by sarcastically crediting the amazing relationship Texas formed with Cooper.

Regardless of the reason, it’s unfortunate that Cooper appears to be heading to Texas instead of Athens. Blaming the loss on a massive NIL offer is an easy excuse for fans to make when losing a recruitment, but that’s just the name of the game nowadays.

Whether Georgia likes it or not, recruiting is heavily influenced by money. So if Georgia wants to win more of these recruitments, they might have to up the NIL they’re willing to offer.

At the end of the day though, Kirby Smart has shared he will not overspend for any recruit out of high school. He’d rather reward his upperclassmen financially who have earned it over multiple years at Georgia.

So far this strategy has worked at Georgia during the NIL era, and as long as UGA keeps winning on the field then losing these recruitments isn’t so bad.