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The Texas A&M board of regents announced approval of the redevelopment of Kyle Field with plans to expand capacity to 102,500, making it the largest stadium in the SEC and the third-largest stadium in college football.

Only Michigan and Penn State have greater capacity, and A&M's construction -- scheduled to be completed in 2015. will just surpass Tennessee's 102,455 capacity at Neyland Stadium.

Alabama might have fallen to No. 2 in ESPN colleague Mark Schlabach's Way-Too-Early Preseason Top 25, but I'd like to think that most of the college football world still considers the Crimson Tide to be the favorites to win the national championship again.

Alabama lost nine draft picks, including three first-rounders, but Nick Saban has a host of talent returning on both sides of the ball, and the Tide's schedule isn't too daunting after the first two games.

But there are teams that will test the Tide's road to a national championship trifecta in 2013. Colleague Travis Haney picked five teams from around the country that could challenge Alabama's title hopes this fall. Ohio State topped his list, while Texas A&M made it from the SEC.

No surprise there with the Aggies. Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel returns with a bundle of riches to accompany him in the Aggies' backfield.

Johnny Football might not have Luke Joeckel protecting him, but Jake Matthews provides quite the safety net with his move to left tackle, and there is still talent and experience up front. Mike Evans leads a young but talented group of pass-catchers.

The defense is a concern, with five members of last season's front seven gone, but the Aggies will still be equipped to win most shootouts.

A&M benefits from getting Alabama at home early in the season, but has to play Arkansas, Ole Miss, LSU and Missouri on the road. Even beating Alabama early doesn't guarantee the Aggies will make it to Atlanta over the Tide.

One of the most promising developments this spring at Texas A&M was the way junior Floyd Raven took to the free safety position.

Raven was a backup at cornerback last season and moved to safety this spring. The Aggies thought about moving the 6-2, 190-pound Raven to safety last fall, but coach Kevin Sumlin said they didn’t feel as if he’d have enough time to get comfortable at safety.

“It was a heck of a lot easier to put him in and blitz and play man-to-man (as a corner),” Sumlin explained.

But with Steven Terrell departing, the Aggies were looking for a full-time free safety. Raven, with his size and athletic ability, made perfect sense.

He made a ton of plays this spring and helped to solidify the Texas A&M secondary, especially with junior Howard Matthews and senior Toney Hurd Jr., returning at safety.

“He’s a physical guy who just needed to learn the position and has tremendous range and the right size and the right attitude to be a really, really good safety,” Sumlin said. “For him to get all the reps he got this spring really helps us. With Howard Matthews coming back, and he played very well for us at the end of the year, that helps Floyd, too, to have some guys who it’s not their first time back there.”

Sumlin said the summer months will be equally valuable for Raven as he continues to develop the right rapport and communication with his secondary mates.

“Through the summer with players organizing 7-on-7’s, we look for him to get better and better as he goes, and certainly the consistency back there this spring with he and Howard at the safety position makes you feel a lot better as coaches now than we did at the beginning,” Sumlin said.

“We knew he had the talent and knew he had the skills, and after coming through the spring and seeing the way he practiced, we’re pleased with his progress.”

There's still a long way to go, but when it comes to the 2014 recruiting class, everybody's chasing Texas.

The Longhorns have the nation's biggest class and with the debut of our ESPN class rankings today, they also have the best class, edging out Florida at No. 2 and some other team the Longhorns might recognize, Texas A&M, at No. 3.

The Longhorns-Aggies battle will be really interesting to watch over the next 9.5 months until signing day, but give Texas the edge for now.

Texas is the only Big 12 team in the top 15, but you can see the full rankings here.

At Jon Gruden's QB Camp, former Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel discusses blitz pickup and being a nasty offensive lineman.

We almost had quite the quarterback matchup on our hands this fall.

According to ESPN's Brett McMurphy, Texas A&M and Louisville were in discussions to open the 2013 season at Houston's Reliant Stadium. That would have given us Johnny Manziel vs. Teddy Bridgewater. Or, Johnny Football vs. Teddy Ballgame.

Unfortunately, things just didn't get worked out between the two parties, so we're left with the Aggies taking on Rice at home on Aug. 31. It just won't be the same as seeing the Aggies take on what should be another talented Charlie Strong-led Louisville squad. And after what the Cardinals did to Florida in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Louisville is a hot ticket and qualifies as must-see TV.

Oh, the early Heisman talk that would come out of that game, too.

"It would have been a great experience to play against last year's Heisman Trophy winner and arguably the best player in college football," Bridgewater said. "He lays it on the line like I do. It would have been a great matchup."

Louisville is clearly looking to sit at the big boys' table, because the Cards not only tried to play the Aggies, but they also wanted a neutral-site game with the defending champs ... and almost got it.

According to McMurphy's report, Louisville almost played Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta. Virginia Tech, which will face Alabama on Aug. 31 at 5:30 p.m. ET inside the Georgia Dome instead, was ready to back out of the game if quarterback Logan Thomas made an early jump to the NFL. If Logan had skipped his senior year, the Cardinals would have replaced the Hokies in Atlanta.

However, Thomas opted to stay, so Alabama will start the season against Virginia Tech, which isn't a bad matchup at all.

We might get to watch Johnny Football take on Teddy Ballgame, but there are some pretty exciting nonconference games that SEC teams are involved in this fall. Here are five (outside of Alabama-Virginia Tech) that I'm most excited about:

LSU vs. TCU (Arlington, Texas), Aug. 31: The Tigers did just fine last time they were in this building, but after losing a chunk of defensive talent, LSU has to face a TCU team that returns nine offensive starters and will be less than 20 miles from campus.

Georgia at Clemson, Aug. 31: The Bulldogs will be without 12 players who either started or saw significant time on defense in 2012. Clemson, led by quarterback Tajh Boyd and wide receiver Sammy Watkins, should provide problems with its offense. However, Georgia should like its offensive matchup with a Tigers defense that surrendered nearly 400 yards a game last season.

Mississippi State vs. Oklahoma State (Houston), Aug. 31: Mississippi State's defense has a lot of questions to answer up front and in the secondary, and its first test comes against the Big 12's top scoring offense from a season ago. Seven OSU starters return on an offense that averaged 547 yards last season.

Florida at Miami, Sept. 7: Miami isn't close to the power it once was, but taking an offense that has a lot of questions surrounding it on the road early will make this quite the test for the Gators. The good news for Florida is that Miami returns nine starters on a defense that was last in the ACC in total defense, passing defense and rushing defense in 2012.

Ole Miss at Texas, Sept. 14: Players in Oxford are already talking revenge after getting blown out by 35 against the Longhorns at home last season. Both sides of the ball should be improved for the Rebels this fall, and even though the jury is still out on Texas, the Horns return 19 total starters.

Johnny Manziel has always played football like he didn’t have a care in the world.

It’s one of the many things that makes him so good, so instinctive and so entertaining.

Hey, it works for him.

So as he embarks on life after the Heisman Trophy (both on and off the field), he’s not going to change a whole lot.

In fact, he’s going to endeavor to be himself more than ever going forward.

“It’s hard sometimes, but I’m at the point now that I don’t care what people say,” Manziel said. “Everybody’s watching, and I understand that. For me, the spotlight wasn’t there at all, and then just like that, it was everywhere I went. It took some getting used to, but it’s getting better.

“I’m not going to quit being me and quit doing all the things I love, but I check with a lot more people now before I do anything.”

In other words, Manziel rarely leaves campus without first checking in with Texas A&M’s compliance officials.

He’s also sought assistance on how to deal with the unrelenting requests for autographs and pictures. He’s taking online courses only this semester and won’t start back taking classes on campus until the summer session.

“No matter how badly you want to, you can’t make everybody happy,” Manziel said. “They brought in somebody to help me with that, learning how to say no, and yet, still be polite.”

There's been progress. Manziel said he and his roommate and best friend, Steven Brant, recently went to a restaurant to eat and walked in and walked out without much disturbance.

“Every day, it gets a little better,” said Manziel, who doesn't apologize for being one of those people who loves to have a good time.

On a college campus, how many people don't fall into that boat?

He’s become a celebrity among the celebrities. Rapper Drake tweeted at Manziel last week, and Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin joked that Manziel has LeBron James on speed dial.

Manziel has also become friends with several other high-profile college football players and is a huge fan of the game. He and Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron talked about hanging out together at spring break. But their breaks were one week different, and it didn’t work out.

Manziel has also developed a friendship with USC receiver Marqise Lee, and when it comes to watching college football, two of his favorites are Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota and Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd.

This week, with the Aggies having wrapped up spring practice, Manziel is going back home to Kerrville, Texas, for a ceremony to honor him.

“It’s the first time I’ve been back in a while, and it will be good to see everybody,” he said.

He’s fresh off throwing for 303 yards and three touchdowns in Texas A&M’s spring game last weekend. Granted, Manziel was going against the second-team defense, but he looked more polished in the pocket.

“I’m still going to be looking to make plays and still get positive yardage any way I can, but I want to play more within the system,” Manziel said. “I’ve honed in on my mechanics and honed in on the little things that make you a good quarterback.”

That said, don’t think for a minute that the streetball version of Johnny Football is going anywhere.

“I call it Michael Vick ball, and that’s always going to be a part of my game,” Manziel said.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- In all its crystal glory, college football's national championship trophy made a brief stop at Kyle Field on Saturday.

Parked on the sideline for a live television shot during Texas A&M's Maroon-and-White spring football game as well as for photo opportunities for those who walked by, it was a seemingly symbolic placement of the sport's most coveted piece of hardware, mere feet from a team that might have a realistic chance to hoist it next January.

Yes, it currently belongs to Alabama, the reigning BCS champions, and it will remain that way for the months to come. However, the Aggies were the only team in 2012 to defeat the Crimson Tide, and if they are able to repeat that accomplishment in September, the Aggies should control their own destiny in the title chase.

But that's many months away. In the meantime, the nation got its first extended glimpse of the 2013 Aggies, a team that could be ranked in the preseason top five come August. The score was Maroon (offense) 43, and White (defense) 23, but that mattered little. What the record crowd of 45,212 came to see were how the Aggies looked and, more specifically, what their reigning Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Johnny Manziel, would do.

Johnny Football didn't disappoint. He was 24 of 30 for 303 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions against an overmatched second-team Aggies defense. He got out of the pocket and scrambled a few times (three carries, 18 yards) but that was not going to be part of the show today in interest of keeping him healthy. Nobody was going to touch Manziel, although he almost found himself in harm's way anyways when he tried to throw a cut block on sophomore defensive back Sam Moeller to pave the way for a Brandon Williams touchdown.

Just one of those Johnny Football moments for the redshirt sophomore.

"I went up and apologized to Sam after it," Manziel said. "The way I am and the way my motor drives me, it was just an instinct play. As much as Coach [Kevin] Sumlin was shaking his head and wasn't happy about it, it was more of 'Hey, in a game, this is how it would have been.' It just naturally took over for me."

He stayed healthy, as did most of the rest of the players who played. The only notable injury to come out of Saturday's scrimmage was an MCL sprain for junior linebacker Tommy Sanders, who'll be ready in the fall.

Several other things about the 2013 Aggies became clear on Saturday. Williams showed why he was such a coveted recruit coming out of Brookshire (Texas) Royal High School, racking up a team-high 59 rushing yards on seven carries and catching three passes for 29 yards while recording a rushing and a receiving touchdown. The Aggies' starting running back from 2012, Ben Malena, is back, as is Trey Williams, who contributed as a true freshman. Adding Williams and Oregon transfer Tra Carson to the mix (both sat out per NCAA transfer rules last season) adds more dimensions to the Aggies' backfield and their offense.

"Brandon Williams is very talented. He's a home run threat from anywhere on the field," Texas A&M offensive coordinator Clarence McKinney said. "We plan on [using all four backs]. ... It's a good problem to have. The thing about those four guys, is that they all bring something different to the table."

While the defense didn't have its best of days, it can be taken with a grain of salt with three surefire starters sidelined by injury and another two defensive linemen who have taken first-team reps also sitting out. The unit out there Saturday isn't exactly what will suit up for the Aggies this fall.

What the Aggies are hoping to develop is leadership. Defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said that safety Howard Matthews is emerging as a leader, as is middle linebacker Donnie Baggs. Having that presence is critical because the Aggies waved goodbye to two of their best defensive leaders, linebackers Sean Porter and Jonathan Stewart, who both graduated.

But plenty of the signs Aggies fans were looking for were present on Saturday. Manziel looked in top form. So did sophomore receiver Mike Evans. The offensive line -- though missing soon-to-be first-round pick Luke Joeckel and graduated center Patrick Lewis -- is coming together well. The remainder of a top-10 recruiting class is on the way in the fall and could produce a few more quick contributors.

Manziel will go back to work and team up with George Whitfield Jr., the private quarterback coach he worked with last summer. Manziel said he's ready to eliminate any doubts about what is ahead for him and this year's Texas A&M squad.

"The big conversation that [Whitfield and I] had before Alabama was 'Be a dragon slayer, slay the dragon,' " Manziel said. "Now there's a big dragon out there for us with all the people that are doubting A&M and all the people that are doubting me that last year was a fluke. So that's a chip on my shoulder and that's a dragon we need to slay this year."

The first week of the “College Football Live Spring Bus Tour” wraps up with a Friday visit to College Station, Texas, to check in with Texas A&M. We’ll huddle with the Aggies throughout the day, checking in with coach Kevin Sumlin, QB Johnny Manziel and more.

Watch "SportsCenter" throughout the day for updates from Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. You can also catch them breaking down their visit with the Aggies on “College Football Live” at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Johnny Manziel's legend in the realm of the college football world grows by the day. With all his celebrity appearances and spring storylines, the Heisman winner's image just continues to expand.

But his legend is growing within the high school ranks as well. Mitch Sherman of ESPN's RecruitingNation explains how Manziel is being looked up to by youngsters attempting to follow in his footsteps:

IRVING, Texas -- A young trio of quarterbacks stared in awe. They listened intently, almost afraid, it seemed, to open their mouths.

Among them was John Lovett of Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic, who came here Saturday to compete against the nation's reputed best, and 6-foot-5 gunslinger David Cornwell of Norman (Okla.) North, the eventual MVP of this Elite 11 regional.

In just whose presence, exactly, were they standing near the center of the practice turf at Valley Ranch, the Dallas Cowboys' facility?

Tony Romo? Maybe Trent Dilfer, the former Super Bowl-winning QB who coaches this roster of future big-name field generals? Or George Whitfield, the California-based guru who makes every stop on the Elite 11 circuit and counts a growing list of QB greats among his students?

No. This was better. This was Johnny Manziel.

He's just three years older than the kids in the Class of 2014, but they see something in Manziel that no one else here could match.

The way they stared, it was as though Manziel, the Texas A&M redshirt freshman who's still white-hot four months after he won the Heisman, was carrying the trophy under his right arm.

"He is their Tom Brady," said Whitfield, who coached Manziel for 10 days last summer in San Diego and escorted him around the Valley Ranch facility Saturday.

To read more of Sherman's piece on Manziel, click here.

In order to help limit distractions, Johnny Manziel is temporarily leaving Twitter. With all the fun pictures that have shown up on his account in the past few months, Johnny Football certainly will be missed in the Twitterverse.

Texas A&M's gun-slinging quarterback has been the talk of the country for months and months, and every little thing that he does has been scrutinized. With photos of him at NBA games, Mardi Gras, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and the Super Bowl, Manziel's Twitter timeline has been busy, and it was gaining too much popularity.

"I've kind of just shut it all off," Manziel told ESPN's Mark Schlabach. "With how the media has been with me for a while, I just shut everything off. As of [Monday], I said I was done with [Twitter] for however long. It's fun to have, but it can get to be distracting at points."

Fun Twitter time has ended, and Manziel is trying another approach to limit distractions and focus more on football. Some might consider this a minor way of shielding yourself from trouble, but it's like Manziel can't win when it comes to the whole distractions subject.

First, he was ridiculed for flashing his fun all over the Internet. Then, people chastised him for trying to limit the circus feel when he's on campus by staying out of the classroom and taking all online classes this semester. Now, his plan to stay away from our favorite narcissistic social-media platform has people saying he isn't doing enough.

Apparently, Manziel can do no right.

But whatever steps he feels are necessary for him to devote his attention to being a student-athlete, so be it. Should we even care that Manziel won't be on Twitter? Do our lives revolve around him that much?

Sure, his off-field adventures are fun to follow, but his decision to stay away from Twitter is probably a good thing for Manziel. Everything he does (like shoving a graduate assistant during practice) gets overblown and overanalyzed. Whatever he posts receives a truckload of responses -- good and bad, but probably mostly bad.

So why not just be proactive, shut things down and not risk things? It's not throwing your social card away, but it is keeping your business away from strangers. Manziel doesn't need everyone monitoring him.

Keeping his personal life to himself for a while isn't a bad thing for college football's most popular/interesting man.

A lot can (and will) change before we get into the teeth of the 2013 season, but who would you take right now as the top receiving duo in the SEC?

The most productive receiving tandem in the league a year ago was the Vanderbilt combo of Jordan Matthews and Chris Boyd. They combined for 2,097 receiving yards, 144 catches and 13 touchdown receptions.

The good news for the Commodores is that they’re both back.

It’s tough to pick against a proven twosome like Matthews and Boyd, but Texas A&M also has a tandem to watch next season.

Mike Evans/Malcome Kennedy (Texas A&M): The Aggies also signed a trio of talented freshmen who will be on campus this summer. Evans has built off a terrific redshirt freshman season and has been a force this spring. He had more than 200 yards receiving in the scrimmage last weekend. Kennedy had the big catch against Alabama last season and is one of those guys who could really blossom as a fourth-year junior.

In keeping with our March Madness theme, I decided to take a look at one area everyone loves about the Big Dance and translate it to the football field: upsets.

We saw some good ones last year, like Louisiana-Monroe upending Arkansas, Texas A&M knocking off No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa and Louisville embarrassing Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

Since anything -- and everything -- can happen on any given Saturday, we'll probably see some fun upsets yet again this fall.

Here are some potential upsets involving SEC teams to look out for in 2013:

TCU over LSU, Aug. 31: The Tigers have a lot of holes to fill on defense, and TCU just happens to bring back nine offensive starters. Plus, quarterback Casey Pachall is back. This game will also be played in Arlington, Texas, which is less than 20 miles away from TCU's campus.

Ole Miss over Texas A&M, Oct. 12: The Rebels choked away a second-half lead in this game last year, so there's plenty of motivation on Ole Miss' side. This game is in Oxford again, too. The Aggies have to replace five starters in their front seven, and the Rebels' explosive offense, which returns eight starters, could be a bad matchup for a younger defense like that.

Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds made headlines this week when he reiterated his stance against playing Texas A&M any time in the near future, though he admitted the game would likely happen at some point. Who gets to decide when?

"They're the ones that decided not to play us. We get to decide when we play again. I think that's fair," he said.

Another old Texas A&M rival from the Big 12 has struck a different tune, though. Texas Tech wants to play Texas A&M, and it doesn't sound like it'll be too long before it happens.

"I would think soon,” Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal of the renewal's timeline. “(Athletic director) Kirby (Hocutt)’s excited about it. I’m excited about it, so hopefully we can come to an agreement and get that thing rolling. I just think it’s a great thing for the state. It’s a great rivalry, a great football game and it would be great for Texas."

He added that he'd "love to be a part of that again."

At last week's Big 12 basketball tournament, Hocutt expressed a desire to resume the series in a meeting with media.

"We would welcome the opportunity to play Texas A&M in every sport," Hocutt told reporters. "It was a fun rivalry, a good rivalry and one in the future that we can begin again."

It's great to hear talk like that, and just like the Texas series, A&M's rivalry with Texas Tech will be a great game to get renewed. It's not the crown jewel like the Thanksgiving tradition between the state's two biggest football rivals, but it's a step in the right direction for sure.

Texas A&M and Missouri's 2011 exit to the SEC, less than a year after the Big 12 momentarily stabilized with 10 teams, inspired plenty of bad blood across the Big 12, but those feelings shouldn't stop rivalry games that helped make college football great from happening again. Texas Tech isn't Texas A&M's chief rival, but both programs love beating the other, and it can only help marquee rivalries like Texas and Texas A&M and Missouri and Kansas to resume before long.

Kingsbury, who took the head coaching job at Texas Tech after just one season as Texas A&M's offensive coordinator, joked that the Red Raiders should wait to schedule the game until Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel packs his bags and leaves A&M's campus.

The Red Raiders open spring practice on Friday, and Kingsbury met with reporters after throwing out the first pitch -- he says it was a strike -- at Texas Tech's baseball game against Arizona State on Tuesday.

The Journal noted that Hocutt spoke last fall of beefing up the nonconference schedule, but that it wouldn't be a possibility until 2015 of 2016, when the schedule was a bit clearer.

That would be fine with me, but the sooner Texas A&M gets to take the field against its old rivals from the Big 12, the better.

Lost in Texas A&M's mighty move to the SEC last year literally was its heated rivalry with Texas.

For the first time in what feels like forever, the Aggies and Longhorns didn't meet last season, and as Big 12 blogger David Ubben puts it: "Thanksgiving weekend just didn't seem the same without the two Lone Star rivals going head to head."

I've only experienced this rivalry from the outside, but I've seen my fair share of games between these two schools, and not seeing them play last year really was a shame.

So, could that be changing soon? Well, according to Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds, it could be, but only on Texas' terms.

Here's Dodds' feelings on the two schools playing again from The Daily Texan:

“They left. They're the ones that decided not to play us. We get to decide when we play again. I think that's fair. If you did a survey of our fans about playing A&M, they don't want to. It's overwhelming. I know. I hear it. Our fans are important to us. I think there's got to be a period where things get different. I think there's too many hard feelings.”

Now, that's a Texas-sized ego right there.

Basically, because Texas A&M decided its future was brighter in the SEC, Texas now has all the power when it comes to these two schools getting together. Pride is getting in the way of a great rivalry. Texas is mad at Texas A&M for leaving the Big 12, while Texas A&M has made it perfectly clear that it's content with playing the Longhorns.

Dodds added that he doesn't know when the two schools will play again but that he expects "we'll play sometime."

But only if the Longhorns want to, I guess.

It's petty, but now that Texas would have to directly compete with an SEC team every time it faced the Aggies, I can see why Dodds would be hesitant about reviving this rivalry. Think of the recruiting victories for the winning team. Does Texas want to take a chance on losing the type of prospects it's used to getting to the Aggies if it loses to them? And with A&M gaining even more steam after last year, Texas would just hate to have a potential BCS run thwarted by the Aggies.

But, hey, the same could be said for the Aggies, too.

The Horns might be thinking that the negatives outweigh the positives, but you're also taking this away from the players. (Remember, it's all about the kids!) Erasing this rivalry means kids who grow up in Texas and decide to play for either program won't get to play in this storied rivalry. It just doesn't seem right.

What do you guys think? Should Texas swallow its pride and get this rivalry going again? I think so, but let us know how you feel about this Texas-sized mess.