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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.

There's a new member of the $3 million club in the SEC.

Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin will earn $3.1 million in 2013 after signing a new deal that will run through the 2017 season. He received a $1.1 million raise after making $2 million last year, which placed him among the three lowest-paid coaches in the SEC.

The Aggies are coming off an 11-2 season, including a win against Oklahoma in the AT&T Cotton Bowl.

Sumlin is now just ahead of Tennessee's Butch Jones as the fifth-highest paid coach in the SEC. Jones' deal will pay him $3 million per year.

In fact, eight of the 14 head coaches in the SEC are to earn $3 million or more per year.

• Nick Saban, Alabama -- $5.6 million
• Les Miles, LSU -- $4.3 million
• Steve Spurrier, South Carolina -- $3.3 million
• Bret Bielema, Arkansas -- $3.2 million
• Mark Richt, Georgia -- $3.2 million
• Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M -- $3.1 million
• Butch Jones, Tennessee -- $3 million
• James Franklin, Vanderbilt -- $3 million-plus*

* Vanderbilt is a private institution and not required to release salary figures, but sources have told ESPN.com that the new deal Franklin signed following his first season at Vanderbilt pays him in excess of $3 million per year.

The booming “S-E-C” chants that rang throughout South Beach during Alabama’s 42-14 romp against Notre Dame immediately served as another harsh reminder to the college football world that the SEC is still king.

Alabama’s utter domination of the No. 1 team in the country gave SEC commissioner Mike Slive and his league one more crystal ball to add to a stellar collection. It made seven BCS titles in row for the SEC, and continued to show the massive stronghold the SEC has built in college football.

Alabama’s win also gave the league a 6-3 bowl record, which was the best of any AQ conference. The last time the SEC failed to have a winning record in the postseason? Well, you have to go back to 2005 (3-3). The last time the SEC had a losing record: 2002 (3-4).

More importantly, the league has more crystal hardware for the rest of the nation to glare at.

Alabama’s win helped the SEC’s perception after a few sluggish bowl performances from the Tide’s peers.

Only days before Nick Saban's squad won its second straight national title and third in four years, fans from all over took to social media to berate the SEC for its bowl shortcomings, thanks to flat performances by Florida, LSU and Mississippi State. It didn’t matter that the SEC entered the final weekend of the bowl season with a winning record, those three losses had people screaming that the SEC wasn’t the beast it -- and the media -- portrayed it to be.

Sure, six teams finished the regular season ranked inside the top 10 of the BCS standings, but two fell at the hands of teams deemed inferior. First, it was No. 8 LSU, which appeared to have the Chick-fil-A Bowl in hand late in the third quarter before No. 14 Clemson roared back with three straight scoring drives to win 25-24 on a last-second field goal.

The next day, Northwestern blasted Mississippi State 34-20 before No. 3 Florida was run out of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome by No. 20 Louisville in a 33-23 loss in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2.

Those three games had the SEC temporarily hunched over with its tail between its legs, but there was much more to the bowl season than just three losses.

You had Vanderbilt’s 38-24 win against NC State in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl in which the Commodores dominated just about every moment of the game. Tenth-ranked South Carolina registered a thrilling, last-minute Outback Bowl win against No. 18 Michigan, while No. 7 Georgia won a back-and-forth game with 16th-ranked Nebraska 45-31 in the Capital One Bowl to take some pride away from the Big Ten.

That was all before Johnny Manziel and his ninth-ranked Aggies rolled past No. 11 Oklahoma 41-13 in the AT&T Cotton Bowl, and Ole Miss creamed Pittsburgh 38-17.

Still, it took an Alabama beatdown for the rest of the country to quiet down about all the overrated talk. Did the SEC come up short in a couple of games? Absolutely. Florida and LSU were the more talented teams, but laid eggs for the league, while Mississippi State looked lost from the start against Northwestern.

The league was far from perfect, but it led BCS conferences in bowl wins and captured the biggest one of all -- for the seventh straight year -- to once again leave the rest of the country looking up at the South.

The University of Texas football program in 2011-12 generated the most revenue and highest profit among all programs, but the rest of the top 10 saw some changes. Michigan football replaced Penn State in second place with $14.8 million more in profits than in 2010-11.

David Ablauf, associate director of media and public relations for Michigan, says there were a number of reasons for last year’s increase. Having one additional home game accounted for about $6 million in additional revenue. Also, ticket packs were sold for the first time, and Michigan had its first night game at Michigan Stadium. During that game, the team wore throwback uniforms, which, combined with the unique bowl uniforms they wore in the Sugar Bowl, resulted in higher licensing royalties when fans purchased the new looks.

Perhaps most glaringly absent from the top 10 most profitable programs is Penn State, which held the second spot just a year ago and third the previous year. After a tumultuous year off the field, Penn State fell to 11th place with $66.2 million in revenue, a $6.5 million reduction. However, it’s important to note that Penn State hosted an additional home game in 2010. Based on data provided to the NCAA, Penn State averaged $4.5 million in ticket revenue per home game in 2010, which could explain a large portion of the revenue decrease last year.

Even with the reduction, Penn State posted the eighth-highest revenue for football last year.

Revenue among FBS football programs ranged from a high of $103.8 million at Texas to a low of $3.6 million at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. The average FBS football program brought in $25 million, with a median of $19.9 million.

It should come as no surprise that the top revenue producers also led the FBS in average attendance in 2011. The top 10 programs in attendance also fell within the top 25 in revenue.

The largest revenue producer in a non-automatic BCS-qualifying conference was TCU, which joined an automatic-qualifying conference this season. Independents Notre Dame and BYU both finished above the median, No. 7 and No. 52.

Texas didn’t top every list. The highest expenses for a football program went to the University of Alabama, which has the nation’s highest-paid head coach, Nick Saban. For the 2011-12 season, Saban took home a $4.8 million paycheck. Total expenses for the football program ran to $36.9 million.

Ohio State, Auburn, Penn State and Oklahoma State rounded out the top five in terms of expenditures on football. The FBS average was $14.6 million, with a median of $14 million. TCU was again the highest-ranked program from a non-automatic qualifying conference, coming in sixth.

Every football team that played in a BCS bowl for the 2011-12 season fell within the top half of all FBS programs for football expenditures. Six of the 10 fell within the top 20.

The SEC was 5-2 in bowl games a year ago, which includes Alabama's 21-0 win against LSU in an all-SEC affair in the BCS title game.

Can the SEC better that mark this season? We’ll start to find out Dec. 31 when Vanderbilt takes on NC State in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl.

Here’s a look at the best-case/worst-case scenarios for SEC newbie Texas A&M this bowl season:

TEXAS A&M

Best case: The Aggies complete a dream first season in the SEC by beating up old Big 12 foe Oklahoma in the AT&T Cotton Bowl to win their 11th game and send a final resounding message that they’re going to be a serious player in the SEC.

Worst case: After all the Johnny Football hype that goes along with winning the Heisman Trophy, Johnny Manziel finally plays like a redshirt freshman. The Aggies can’t stop the Sooners in a disappointing season-ending loss in Cowboys Stadium.

After a wild Saturday in the SEC, here’s a look at what we learned in Week 11:

1. SEC’s streak in jeopardy: The SEC’s national championship streak is in serious jeopardy. Texas A&M’s 29-24 victory over Alabama means the league’s going to need some help to even make it to the Discover BCS National Championship Game this season. With everybody in the SEC now saddled with at least one loss, the only way for Alabama to climb back into one of those top two spots in the final BCS standings is for two of the three unbeaten teams (Kansas State, Notre Dame and Oregon) to lose. It will be interesting to see how far Alabama falls in the polls and whether Georgia passes the Crimson Tide. Alabama’s loss Saturday didn’t help the Bulldogs’ chances of playing their way into the BCS National Championship Game, either. Georgia, with an ugly 35-7 loss to South Carolina earlier this season, needed to have Alabama unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the SEC championship game, and then a win over the Tide would have carried more weight with the voters. The other ironic thing to consider is that the SEC’s chances of making it seven straight national championships could now rest in the hands of Lane Kiffin, who made a few enemies in the SEC during 14 turbulent months at Tennessee before bolting to USC. Kiffin’s Trojans face Notre Dame in the regular-season finale and could also get a second shot at Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game.

2. Props to the Aggies: There’s sure to be a lot of people around the country trumpeting how overrated Alabama was in the aftermath of the Crimson Tide’s home loss to Texas A&M on Saturday. And no, Alabama’s not ready to line up and beat any NFL teams anytime soon, as Steve Spurrier suggested a few weeks ago. But the real story here is Texas A&M and what a fabulous job Kevin Sumlin has done in his first season as coach and the Aggies’ first season in the SEC. Everybody wondered how they would hold up in the SEC. It’s safe to say that they’re going to hold up just fine, and a better question might be: Once Sumlin gets a few more recruiting classes under his belt, especially in that talent-laden state, how is the rest of the SEC going to hold up against the Aggies? Johnny Manziel is absolutely worthy of Heisman Trophy consideration, and he’s playing behind an offensive line that made a pretty convincing statement Saturday that it’s in a league of its own. And finally, that same Texas A&M defense that was shredded last month in a 59-57 win against Louisiana Tech made one key stop after another Saturday and has improved by leaps and bounds.

3. Muddled bowl picture: Good luck in figuring out the SEC bowl picture. It’s a given that the SEC will still get two teams into BCS bowls even if the league is shut out of the Discover BCS National Championship Game. The intrigue will revolve around which two teams. As many as six SEC teams could stake a claim. If nobody makes it into the national title game, the winner of the SEC championship game would go to the Sugar Bowl. So right now, that looks like it will be the Alabama-Georgia winner. The loser of that game would still be in play, but so would an 11-1 Florida team as well as LSU, South Carolina and Texas A&M if they all win out and finish 10-2. Florida still has to go to Florida State in the regular-season finale, while South Carolina plays at Clemson to close the regular season. Both the Gators and Gamecocks could help their cases with wins over top-10 teams. The AT&T Cotton Bowl would love to get its hands on the Aggies, but they could also get snatched up by a BCS bowl, especially with Manziel putting up Heisman Trophy numbers.

4. Don’t sleep on the Dawgs: Granted, Auburn is terrible. But it looks like Georgia is starting to play its best football at just the right time. The Bulldogs are closing in on the eighth 10-win season in Mark Richt’s 12 years at the school and clinched their second consecutive trip to the SEC championship game with their 38-0 rout of the Tigers. Richt has had his share of critics, and he’ll continue to have them. But he’s done an excellent job each of the past two seasons of keeping his team focused despite bad early-season losses. The schedule has been a factor, no question. But Richt didn’t make it out, nor did any of his players. Florida had its shot against Georgia and lost, and the Bulldogs have proved that they don’t roll over and play dead just because they lose a game early.

5. Dooley’s days are numbered: It’s not a matter of “if,” but rather “when” for Tennessee coach Derek Dooley. The Vols’ 51-48 loss to Missouri in four overtimes Saturday was almost certainly the knockout blow for Dooley, who’s now lost 13 of his past 14 SEC games. The Vols blew a 14-point lead in the third quarter at home, and Dooley made some questionable decisions down the stretch. But over and above what happened in Saturday’s game, it’s a Tennessee program that is hemorrhaging on several different fronts. If fan apathy hadn’t already set in, it has now, and there’s just not a lot of hope on Rocky Top that Dooley will ever be able to stop the bleeding. He walked into a mess in 2010 when he took the job and has done an admirable job of strengthening the roster. But Tennessee has gone from a top-tier program that had obviously dipped toward the end of Phillip Fulmer’s tenure to a program now that’s totally irrelevant. There really is no decision now for Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart. The only question is if he’ll announce that he’s making a coaching change this week or the next.

Nick Saban made something perfectly clear to his players about Saturday’s game against No. 15 Texas A&M.

“This is either going to bring out the best in you or the worst in you,” Saban said.

And he’s right.

Fresh off last week’s draining win on the Bayou, No. 1 Alabama (9-0, 6-0 SEC) must now turn around and host red-hot Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2). The Aggies own the SEC’s best offense and one of the nation’s most exciting players in quarterback Johnny Manziel. The Aggies have the kind of up-tempo offense that gets under Saban’s skin, and it’s equipped with the right offensive weapons to exploit the Tide’s defense more than LSU did.

Everything that Alabama has worked for to this point could all go away at the click of Johnny Football’s heels.

But the Tide really couldn’t ask for a better matchup. We’ll really find out what this team is made of Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa because it might have to play an even better game than it did last week.

“We realize that these are the types of games that we have to win,” Crimson Tide linebacker Nico Johnson said. “It’s probably more important than last week’s game.”

Alabama is in must-win mode every week if it's going to make it to South Beach for the Discover BCS National Championship Game. A loss on Saturday wouldn't put the SEC West out of reach, but it probably would end Alabama's national championship aspirations. It also would validate the points made by the recent naysayers who are calling the Tide “beatable.”

Every team is beatable, but that sort of language has Alabama players steaming. See, they understand LSU played its best offensive game of the season, but Johnson said the Tigers capitalized on Alabama’s procedural mistakes. There were too many communication and mental errors, busted plays and missed tackles.

Johnson said that the mistakes are correctable and that this week has been used to fix things. Now the Tide are ready to show the country again that they're for real.

“We want to go out another week and let everybody know that we are not a fluke,” Johnson said. “We didn’t play to our best last week, and we know that.

“We understand that we’re not going to be perfect every night. Every game is not going to go our way. We just have to fight through adversity and come out on top, and that’s what we did.”

Defensively, Alabama showed holes we hadn’t seen before against the Tigers. It struggled in man coverage, wasn’t very aggressive and watched LSU convert too many third downs. LSU, which was just trying to keep its offense afloat heading into last week’s game, registered 435 yards of total offense, including 139 on the ground, snapping a streak of 11 games in which Alabama held FBS opponents under 100 yards rushing, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

The Aggies are averaging 559.6 total yards of offense and 251.3 rushing yards per game. Say what you will about the majority of defenses A&M has faced, but that’s still pretty good for a team that has a new offensive staff and a rookie quarterback.

That rookie quarterback ranks second nationally in total offense and has had four games this season in which he has run for 100-plus yards and passed for 200-plus yards.

Johnson knows that stopping Manziel is the key to slowing this offense, but he also realizes that the mistakes from the LSU game have to disappear. It’s as much about keeping the defense focused as it is about containing Mr. Football.

“We don’t want that type of game to happen again where we pretty much beat ourselves,” he said. “We want to come out and prove to everybody that we’re just as good as any other week. Just because we didn’t have a good week doesn’t mean we fell off.

“We just want to go out and dominate our opponent -- Texas A&M.”

Saban might not have been pleased with last week’s defensive effort, but he’s been happy with how his team has practiced this week. The focus he wanted was there, and the attitude never faded.

Saturday, Saban wants to see that same persona on the field.

“Now, we have to focus on trying to get things right and doing things better, because this is a really good team that we’re playing this week,” he said. “Our players need to understand that and appreciate it and get in the right frame of mind that they’re going to have a very difficult, 15-round fight coming up.”

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Tuesdays aren't Spencer Nealy's favorite.

The Texas A&M defensive tackle doesn't always look forward to practices on Tuesday. But with Alabama, the No. 1 team in the country, on deck for a showdown with the Aggies on Saturday, his feeling was different.

"We usually hate Tuesday practices and I'm pretty amped up right now," Nealy said Tuesday. "I don't like taking on those double-teams as much on Tuesdays, but today, we've got to get after them. I'm jacked."

Coach Kevin Sumlin has been adamant about having a consistent approach weekly and keeping the team's routine the same. But there's no denying that the feeling in the pit of the Aggies' stomachs is just a little different with the opportunity that awaits at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

When it comes to playing Alabama, the team that has won two of the past three BCS championships and annually produces numerous NFL draft picks, there's often a David-versus-Goliath feel. Coming into this season, that would have applied for Texas A&M, too, when observers looked at the schedule and saw the trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium coming as the third of a three-game SEC road swing.

Expectations for the Aggies weren't extremely high. A seven-win season would have been considered respectable by many pundits nationwide, considering the caliber of the league Texas A&M entered. The Aggies have already met that total and are staring at the possibility of a nine or 10-win campaign.

And what once might have been considered a sure Alabama win is now a game that could very well be anybody's come Saturday.

"It's a big challenge for us," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "They've got a really good team on both sides of the ball. Really explosive on offense, probably the best offensive team in our league, especially in their presentation, and their quarterback has played phenomenally well for them. Very athletic and it's going to be a real challenge. I think it's a real challenge for anybody that plays against them."

Sitting at 7-2 and second place in the SEC West (4-2), the Aggies have been lauded for what they've done so far but might still be flying under the radar. They're behind three other two-loss teams (LSU, South Carolina and Oklahoma) in the human polls (No. 15) and also behind Stanford in the BCS rankings (also No. 15). They aren't considered juggernauts by any stretch of the imagination.

Part of that could be attributed to the fact that their two losses came at home to two teams that are now ranked in the top 10: Florida (No. 6 BCS, No. 7 AP) and LSU (No. 7 BCS, No. 9 AP). But make no mistake, the Aggies showed they were capable of going toe-to-toe with each.

In both instances, the Aggies led those teams by double digits. In the season opener against Florida, the Aggies took a 17-7 lead in the second quarter. Against LSU, they jumped out to a 12-0 lead. Each team came back to take control, but the Aggies remained in the game until the final minute both times.

With a redshirt freshman at quarterback (Johnny Manziel) and receiver (Mike Evans) and two true freshmen starting on defense (defensive end Julien Obioha and cornerback De'Vante Harris), it hasn't always been perfect. There have undoubtedly been mistakes made, and that's part of the deal when you have young players in key spots, particularly when new schemes are installed, which the Aggies did on both sides of the ball this season. Turnovers were an issue against LSU. Against Florida, the offense stalled and there were many missed tackles on defense.

This is a different team now than it was in Week 1, or even on Oct. 20 when it faced LSU. Sumlin said the Aggies were able to take away something positive from both games.

"I think if there's anything out of it that we've gotten as a team, even though we were disappointed to lose those two games, I think that there's a little bit of confidence out of our football team from being able to handle the physical nature of this league," Sumlin said. "Understanding that Florida and LSU had a lot to do with the mistakes we made, but we can certainly play better. Our guys understand that.

"We haven't played a complete football game yet. I'm not talking about playing a perfect game, I'm talking about playing a complete game. Some of our games, our starters have been out in the third quarter. Other games we've turned the ball over and won or found a variety of ways to win, but we still haven't played a complete game yet. If we can do that, I think we can be dangerous for anybody."

Their past two outings have been resounding road victories at Auburn and Mississippi State. This Saturday's affair will be a completely different animal altogether. The Crimson Tide are the nation's best and right now are the gold standard in college football. Just the thought of the matchup has Nealy and his teammates fired up.

"We talked about it; we haven't played a No. 1 team ever [in our careers]," Nealy said. "Oklahoma State last year, we played them and they were No. [7], but it didn't feel like that. This is the No. 1 team. We've played the No. 5 team, which was cool. But this is big time, and we need to come out there and shock the world."

Johnny Manziel's numbers this season cause you to sit back and kind of go, “Wow!”

He’s been that explosive, and so has the entire Texas A&M offense, which is fifth nationally in total offense.

But to have the kind of success Texas A&M has had in its first season in the SEC doesn’t happen if you’re not good up front offensively.

The Aggies aren’t just good. They’re outstanding, and they’re led by the best offensive tackle tandem in college football in juniors Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews.

“They’re very, very good, and probably as a pair, as good as anybody we’ve played this year,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said.

It’s one of the matchups that makes Saturday’s Alabama-Texas A&M game so intriguing.

Joeckel and Matthews have the strength, size, quickness and talent to buy Manziel the kind of time that very few offensive lines have been able to buy for their quarterbacks against Alabama’s defense.

“The thing about Alabama is their depth,” said Matthews, the Aggies’ right tackle and son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews. “They just roll guys in. It’s not like the first group is the only good group. They’ve got guys coming in just as good as the guys that were on the field before.

“We feel like our tempo should help us out, trying to keep those other groups off the field and wearing them down.”

Everybody wondered back in the summer how equipped Texas A&M would be to come into the SEC and hold its own this first season. The Aggies were moving from a pro-style offense under the old regime to Kevin Sumlin’s up-tempo, spread attack, and they were also transitioning on defense from a 3-4 to a 4-3.

What was probably overlooked, though, by a lot of people was how rock-solid the Aggies were in their offensive line.

It’s not just Joeckel and Matthews, either. Senior center Patrick Lewis has been a force in the middle of that line after moving over from guard prior to the 2011 season.

“Everything starts with our center, Patrick Lewis,” Joeckel said. “He makes every call, every check. He’s the heart of our offense. He does a great job of getting us ID’d on who we need to be on. It helps having two good tackles, but it all starts with Patrick.”

Still, there’s no substitute in this league for having a pair of bookend tackles that can neutralize game-changing defensive ends and outside linebackers.

Even before the LSU game, Joeckel was considered one of the best left tackles in the country. But he didn’t give up a sack against Sam Montgomery, and his stock is soaring every time he takes the field.

The 6-foot-6, 310-pound Joeckel is plenty big enough, but he also has great balance and footwork. ESPN’s Mel Kiper said this week that Joeckel’s in the mix to be one of the first three players selected in April's NFL draft.

In his latest Big Board of the top 25 prospects for the 2013 draft, Kiper has Joeckel No. 5 and Matthews No. 21.

Obviously, both Joeckel and Matthews would have to give up their senior seasons to turn pro. But if they do, there’s a very good chance that both would be drafted in the first round.

Only once in the last 30 years have two offensive linemen from the same SEC team both been selected in the first round of the same draft. In 1991, tackles Charles McRae and Antone Davis of Tennessee went No. 7 and No. 8, respectively.

The thing that’s so impressive about Joeckel and Matthews is how versatile they’ve been. They haven’t missed a beat despite going from a pro-style offense to a spread offense this season.

“It was a lot harder than a lot of us thought it would be with the up-tempo offense and running up to the ball and getting on the ball right away,” Joeckel said. “It was different than last year, and the blocking schemes were different, a lot more pass protection and a lot more two-point stances.

“But when it comes down to it, it’s the same technique, the same blocking. You’ve still gotta be a tough guy, still gotta cover your man up. It comes down to the simple things.”

There’s nothing simple about blocking the pass-rushers in this league. You’re going against a future pro just about every week.

“You have to be on top of your game every Saturday,” Joeckel said.

The Aggies have watched enough film to know what’s coming this Saturday. The Crimson Tide will come after Manziel from every conceivable angle. They’ll disguise and jump out of one look and into another, and they’ll also probably take a page from the book Florida (in the second half) and LSU used against Manziel.

They’ll look to take away his running alleys and try to keep him in the pocket.

“The thing about Johnny is that if you give him a little extra space or give him an extra second, you know he’s going to make plays,” Joeckel said. “It’s our job to do that.”

As good as the Aggies have been this season on offense, they were held to fewer than 20 points in both of their losses. It just so happens that both of those losses came against the two best defenses they’ve faced -- Florida and LSU.

In both of those games, Texas A&M went belly-up offensively in the second half.

What’s more, Alabama hasn’t given up more than 17 points to an FBS team since the end of the 2010 season.

“The biggest thing coach Sumlin has been pushing is that if we can play a complete game, it’s going to be hard for anyone to beat us,” Matthews said. “The thing that slows us down is ourselves. If we’re getting penalties and having mental errors, that’s the biggest thing that slows our offense down.

“We have the ability and the talent to go out and beat any of these SEC teams, and we’re looking forward to proving that.”

No. 20 Texas A&M has become a fascinating team.

The Aggies are thrilled to be in the Southeastern Conference, but their approach is still very much Big 12.

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Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin looks ahead to Saturday's matchup against No. 6 LSU, the health of the team, becoming acclimated to the SEC and more. Listen

When Texas A&M hosts No. 6 LSU and the Tigers' nasty defense Saturday, the Aggies will get a chance to prove what so many Big 12 fans have thought all along: Those big, bad SEC defenses wouldn't look quite so tough if they had to face high-powered Big 12 offenses every week.

SEC fans scoff at this, insist defense wins championships, and point to the six straight national titles the conference has won as proof.

As with many arguments, there is truth on both sides. But the debate seems to be more heated than ever because there is such a clear style difference between the top teams in the SEC (Alabama, LSU, Florida and South Carolina) and those in the Big 12 (especially West Virginia, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech).

Texas A&M can score a victory of sorts for the conference it left behind over the next few weeks.

The Aggies lead the SEC and are tied for sixth in the nation in total offense at 543 yards per game, behind fabulous redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel (aka Johnny Football). They average 47 points, run a fast-paced spread offense and are everything that makes fans (and coaches) of a more traditional approach to football cringe.

The Aggies lost 20-17 to open the season against No. 3 Florida, coached by former defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. Chalk one up for old-school football. Since then they've scored 88 points combined in victories against Arkansas and Mississippi, two teams that prove not everybody in the SEC plays big-time defense.

After LSU, A&M plays three straight road games against Auburn, No. 15 Mississippi State and No. 1 Alabama.

Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban made news a few weeks back when he responded to a question about up-tempo offenses by suggesting there were safety issues to consider when teams run so many plays, especially for defenses that can't substitute as often.

"I just think there's got to be some sense of fairness in terms of asking, `Is this what we want football to be?" he said.

Aggies first-year coach Kevin Sumlin, who served as an assistant for seven seasons in the Big 12 before becoming the head coach at Houston, was asked about the fairness of the no-huddle. His dismissive response was, basically, his team plays by the rules.

Saban is not the only defensive-minded coach feeling a bit, well, defensive these days.

You can be certain that those on that side of the ball will push for some rules changes in the next few years to slow things down a bit. And you can be just as sure that the guys on the offense side will push back.

Whether it goes anywhere, who knows?

Grant Teaff, the former Baylor coach who now heads the American Football Coaches Association, said his group annually surveys coaches for ideas about tweaking rules.

"It's a legitimate concern our defensive coaches have about being able to substitute," Teaff said. "But that's part of the challenge. The game changes; offenses catch up to defenses.

"That's what football is. It's in a constant cycle of change."

Though defensive coaches are correct to contend it's been cycling in favor of offense for years.

"The thing I hear from my defensive friends is all defensive coordinators are either on the way in or on the way out (of a job)," Teaff said. "Defensive coordinator is a tough job in some leagues right now."

It's almost time for hundreds of media folk to pile into a swanky ballroom and kick off another year of SEC media days.

The festivities begin Tuesday at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala., and last until Thursday afternoon. The event serves as the unofficial kickoff to SEC football season.

So what should we be on the lookout for this year?

Well, the biggest news is all the star power that won't be making the trip. Two of the league's top rushers -- Marcus Lattimore and Christine Michael -- won't be in town. Yes, they are both coming off season-ending injuries, but so is Arkansas' Knile Davis, and he'll be in attendance.

One of the league's best, Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray won't be in Hoover, either. Nor will Bulldogs wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell.

Some other big names not on the list include Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and Missouri quarterback James Franklin.

There are a lot of interesting storylines revolving around all those players, who serve as faces for their respective programs, and it's disappointing that they won't be around this week.

However, some quality names are on this year's roster, including Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones, Alabama offensive lineman Barrett Jones, Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson, Texas A&M linebacker Sean Porter, Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray and South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw.

I'm sure they'll all have plenty to say and should keep us all entertained.

Here are some other things to keep an eye on this week:

• If you're coming into town, make sure you bring your protective gear for Thursday. That's when Alabama's up, and you'd better believe the lobby will be jam-packed with Tide fans. They come out in full force and expect things to be even tighter this year after that championship.
• Arkansas players will have to answer a lot of questions surrounding their former coach, Bobby Petrino. How much of a distraction will his exit be this fall?
• Also, what will new Arkansas coach John L. Smith say? He sure knows how to make a news conference exciting, so don't expect anything to be different in front of all those SEC scribes.
• One coach not afraid to put on a show while at the podium is South Carolina's Steve Spurrier. The Head Ball Coach has been chirping this year, and he probably won't stop in Hoover.
• Last year, there were a lot of questions about the quarterback talent in this league. This year, that isn't the case, as the league is as plentiful at the position as it has been in years.
• Although only Davis will be in town, expect a lot of talk about three of the league's best running backs all coming off major, season-ending injuries.
• Georgia has had an eventful offseason away from the field, and it's time to see how players and coach Mark Richt are feeling about all of the silly distractions. Also, what's in store for the Bulldogs' running game now that Isaiah Crowell is gone?
• I wonder how many times Nick Saban and his players will be asked questions about comparisons to the 2010 team. You know how much Saban loves comparison talk. ...
• Tennessee coach Derek Dooley should field a lot of questions about his job security this week. Regardless of how you feel about the time he's had and all the issues he's had to deal with, his seat is hotter than ever.
• Texas A&M and Missouri are now officially members of the SEC. How will their players and coaches react to being surrounded by all those SEC writers? And how many more questions will they get about adjusting to their new conference?
• LSU was on top of the college football world until last year's national championship. The Tigers bring back a boatload of talent, but can they finish things this year?
• The good news for Auburn, South Carolina and Tennessee is their coaches won't have to deal with NCAA questions, unlike last year.

We're always looking for the next best thing. The coaching world isn't any different.

Who's the next Urban Meyer? The next Chris Petersen? What about another Brady Hoke?

Who's that next great assistant who rises up the ranks and takes over a major program ... and succeeds?

I'm not completely sure, but I have a few ideas. Here are some coaches lurking in the SEC who could be on their way to bigger and better things or are ready to take the next step with their current teams:

Head coaches

• James Franklin, Vanderbilt: Franklin became the only first-year coach in Vandy history to guide the Commodores to a bowl game. He surpassed the program's win totals in each of its previous two seasons and signed arguably the school's best recruiting class in 2012. He brought attitude, confidence and a bit of swagger to the program. He could have left after one year but is really looking to turn things around at Vanderbilt.
• Dan Mullen, Mississippi State: Bulldogs fans probably don't like hearing this, but Mullen is becoming a hot name among the coaching ranks. In his three seasons in Starkville, he has guided Mississippi State to two straight bowl wins. In 2010, he led the Bulldogs to nine wins for the first time since 1999. Mullen says he is happy in Starkville, but if he continues to win, bigger schools won't hesitate to go after him.

Assistants

• Shawn Elliott, South Carolina offensive line coach/running game coordinator: Steve Spurrier has raved about Elliott's impact on offense and bringing in the zone read package. Elliott has done wonders for South Carolina's offensive line, which was a continual sore spot in Spurrier's early years at the school. Elliott is also a dogged recruiter. Having grown up in Camden, S.C., Elliott is somebody to watch when Spurrier hangs it up. If he doesn't get that job, somebody is going to snap him up.
• Rodney Garner, Georgia defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator: He has been at Georgia for a while and has been wooed several times by other schools. LSU went after him several years ago, and Lane Kiffin was interested in bringing him to Tennessee. In the past 12 years, he has coached plenty of NFL talent, including four first-round draft picks. He has consistently been one of the league's best recruiters as well.
• Todd Grantham, Georgia defensive coordinator/associate head coach: He could start getting more looks for head-coaching gigs. He has vast NFL experience, including being a defensive coordinator at that level, and more schools are looking for coaches with NFL experience. Grantham has proven himself as a recruiter and worked under two of the best in the college ranks -- Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech and Nick Saban at Michigan State. He has made a tremendous difference in turning around Georgia's defense and has an edge about him that successful head coaches possess.
• Chris Kiffin, Ole Miss defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator for defense: He is one of the bright young names among the assistant ranks. As the defensive line coach at Arkansas State, he coached up Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Brandon Joiner, who tied for third in the nation in sacks and 10th in tackles for loss. Arkansas State also led the conference and ranked eighth nationally in tackles for loss (7.62 per game) and tied for 15th in sacks (2.69 per game). He is a tremendous recruiter and helped bring in a solid defensive class in a short amount of time this spring.
• Kliff Kingsbury, Texas A&M offensive coordinator: After being a standout quarterback at Texas Tech, he is considered one of the top young assistants in college football. He came over with Kevin Sumlin from Houston, where he helped guide the Cougars' offense to its record-setting year in 2011. Houston led the nation in total offense, passing offense and scoring in 2011 behind quarterback Case Keenum. The Cougars averaged 599.1 total yards per game, including 450.1 through the air, while scoring more than 49 points per game.
• Paul Petrino, Arkansas offensive coordinator: He came over to help run Arkansas' offense with his brother, but after Bobby Petrino was fired this spring, Paul Petrino assumed the role as primary playcaller. In 2010, he guided an Illinois offense that broke school records for total points (423) and points per game (32.54). The Illini averaged 42.1 points and 448.9 total yards over the final seven games of the season. If he can keep Arkansas' offense going this year, his phone might start ringing a little more.
• Bob Shoop, Vanderbilt defensive coordinator/safeties coach: He has been a head coach at Columbia and is innovative on defense, playing the kind of attacking style that attracts great players. He helped orchestrate one of the most impressive defensive turnarounds in the country last year, as Vanderbilt ranked ninth nationally in pass defense efficiency and 18th in total defense. Vandy's defense also ranked among the nation's top units in interceptions, points allowed and rush defense.
• Kirby Smart, Alabama defensive coordinator: He is one of the best defensive coordinators around, and it seems like only a matter of time before he is a head coach somewhere. Smart has already passed on a few head-coaching opportunities. He is making $950,000 a year and is in a position to be picky with coaching jobs.
• Trooper Taylor, Auburn wide receivers coach/assistant head coach: He is one of the hottest and most successful recruiters in the SEC. He brought in and trained some elite receivers at Oklahoma State and Tennessee before making his way to Auburn. He is continuing that trend and has turned Emory Blake into one of the SEC's best pass-catchers. He was co-offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, and if Auburn's receivers make another jump, Taylor could be waving his towel elsewhere soon.
• Frank Wilson, LSU running backs coach/recruiting coordinator: He has emerged as one of the sport's top recruiters. As a running backs coach, he has done a tremendous job with the Tigers. Last season, LSU averaged 202.6 rushing yards per game and tied a school record with 35 rushing touchdowns. Three backs eclipsed the 500-yard rushing mark. Wilson commands tremendous respect from his players.
• David Yost, Missouri offensive coordinator/recruiting coordinator: He has been at Missouri for 11 years, but he has to start getting more attention as an exceptional playcaller. He has a great eye for talent and pointing out mismatches in his spread scheme. In 2011, Mizzou ranked ninth nationally in rushing (244 yards per game) and had one of the most balanced offenses, as Mizzou was one of only two schools in the country to average at least 230 yards rushing and passing in each game.

Texas made its second coaching hire in three days, adding Nick Saban disciple Bo Davis as defensive tackles coach Tuesday.

Davis had been the defensive line coach at Alabama. He worked under Saban for eight of the last nine years at Alabama, LSU and the Miami Dolphins.

"He is a tremendous young coach who brings energy, enthusiasm and toughness to our program," Texas head coach Mack Brown said.

"He's a guy I've really respected and enjoyed getting to know," Davis said of Brown. "He and Coach Saban are legends in this sport. Just to have the chance to work with coaches like that is something any coach in America would want to experience."

On Sunday, Texas hired Darrell Wyatt as wide receivers coach/co-recruiting coordinator.

Coming off a disappointing 5-7 season, the Longhorns are still in the market for new offensive and defensive coordinators.

Texas’ Mack Brown and Alabama’s Nick Saban sit down to talk before the BCS title game