10 Things for Tuesday

Here’s your latest edition of 10 Things for Tuesday, sponsored by Brent Campbell:

1) I suppose I should be upset about the Texas A&M basketball team losing in double overtime, and I am — just not with them. Once again, SEC officiating has scraped to the bottom of the barrel and attempted to dig even further with a performance tonight that can only be considered utter incompetence. Fifty-three total fouls called, three Aggies fouled out and some utterly butchered decisions on loose balls. It’s just disgusting. It’s the same in football, where unaccountable officials butcher games and don’t have to answer for a darned thing.

Ken Williamson got canned after horrific officiating in the Auburn-Georgia game, but it’s hard to take that seriously since he had already announced he was retiring at the end of the season. That’s a gentle shove. It’s time for the iron boot up the orifice that rhymes with grass.

2) Honestly, it’s hard to be upset with how the Aggies played tonight. Tennessee was actually kind of desperate and couldn’t afford to start 1-3 in conference, and they played hard. Buzz’s teams tended to go to Knoxville and get slaughtered, so going to double OT against a top-25 team says good things about Bucky McMillan’s crew. This ballgame also proved the Aggies can hang around in gritty, physical, defensive battles (and, if you have an 87-82 game after 50 minutes, that’s a brawl). Hopefully the team takes the positives from this and realizes that they’ll normally shoot better, could have won if a couple of guys had their regular nights, and that they are a team that is rapidly improving defensively.

3) One of the big takeaways from this one is the possibility that A&M has their point guard. Jacari Lane led the Aggies with 20 points and was one assist away from a double-double. He also had 2 of A&M’s 12 steals. This team has needed consistency at the point and they may have finally found it tonight. We’ll see if Lane can keep it up.

Now, switching gears to football..

4) I guess the Aggies aren’t going to get into the Jordan Seaton sweepstakes after all. If the rumors were right and the bidding starts at $2.5 million, that would give me — a big proponent of going after him — pause. A&M already has their starters for next year at tackle and likely the years after that. Seaton is a luxury if you’re the Aggies; for Texas and Oregon, the need is far more pressing. For the same reason, I would expect LSU to get involved too.

5) There are three days left for players to enter the transfer portal (unless they play at Ohio State, Miami or someplace with a very recent coaching change) and you see teams still trying to lure players into the world between worlds. I won’t name names, but they’re the usual suspects. I think credit should go to Mike Elko and his staff for identifying people early and moving quickly to lock them down. Most of their work was done in the first week, and they’ve been able to snag to players they decided they needed (CJ Mims and Isaiah Horton) swiftly if the entered later in the process. They may not have gotten players with a national following, but all of them are solid (at worst) and fill glaring needs.

6) If A&M is out on Seaton, and I think they are, they may want to take a final look at available power running backs and call it a day. My big concerns going into the portal season were offensive tackle, defensive tackle, defensive end, offensive guard and corner. They brought in multiple players and likely starters at every position save corner, where they only got one — and Rickey Gibson is rated as one of, if not the, best corner available.

7) Last year, I said I was worried about defensive tackle because they were thin and inexperienced after Albert Regis, Tyler Onyedim and DJ Hicks. They ended up getting through nearly the entire season injury-free and were all very good. But, as feared, the dropoff was considerable. Dealyn Evans was below average in his playing time and was outshown by true freshman Landon Rink. Flash forward a year and defensive tackle is about as deep as any position group, even with the loss of Regis and Onyedim to the NFL and Evans to Mississippi State. Working quickly, the Aggies picked up Mims, Angelo McCullom and Brandon Davis-Swain — all of whom have starting experience — to go with Hicks and Rink. DJ Sanders also got some playing time last season, so he’s not completely wet behind the ears. Now A&M can go five deep at tackle and know they’ll at least be ok.

8) Cassius Howell was fantastic last year. I think everyone recognizes that. But after him, the Aggie pass rush dropped off a good bit. Dayon Hayes was a guy I championed from the day he signed, and he did have a career high in sacks — 4.5, with a team-high 6 QB hurries — that’s still a big falloff from 11.5 sacks from Howell and he would vanish for games on end. Marco Jones looks like he’s the real deal, and he had 2.5 sacks in limited time. So that’s good.

What’s even better is the fact that A&M went out and got two veteran players who have proven they can pressure the quarterback as well. Anto Saka and Ryan Henderson both had nice seasons last year and are classic pass rushers — tall, lean and explosive off the snap. They’re also both in the 255 to 260 pound range, so they may get more playing time beyond pure pass rush situations (though I still think Jones and TJ Searcy will start). Once opponents started keying on Howell, the A&M pass rush suffered. With Saka, Henderson and Jones on the field at the same time, the Aggies may be able to create more havoc with less blitzing.

9) Outside of Marcel Reed, I think the player that could have the most impact on the 2026 season is new addition Ray Coney. As discussed ad nauseam, Coney put up huge numbers at Tulsa last year. But with Taurean York gone, Coney’s now the quarterback of a defense he hasn’t played in. I’m not going to sugarcoat it; that scares me. After seeing the troubles Solomon DeShields had figuring it out two years ago to the point he was benched, I’ve been worried about a repeat. Then again, he has already succeeded in two previous systems at Tulsa and East Tennessee State, so maybe my concerns are overblown.

10) I’m really curious to see how the cornerback situation plays out. Dezz Ricks is certainly a starter, and if Gibson is healthy (he tore his ACL in the first half of the season opener), he probably gets the edge of Julio Humphrey. But those are likely the three guys for next year, just as Ricks, Will Lee and Humphrey were last year. But what about guys like Adonyss Currie, Brandon Arrington or Vic Singleton? Can they work their way into playing time as well? There are three positions where I think pure athleticism can get freshmen on the field more than the rest — running back, wide receiver and corner. Either you got it or you don’t. Currie didn’t need to play last year since the big three stayed healthy, but he would have been the next man up. Arrington just locked down some of the nation’s best receivers in the Navy All-American Game and Singleton was considered one of the best cover guys in the 2026 class. If they don’t push for a starting job, can they (or some of the other guys) at least perform at a level where the A&M coaching staff isn’t sweating if they have to come on the field?

Our sponsor

Sponsored by Brent Campbell, Fighting Texas Aggie Class of 1998. Brent is a Commercial Real Estate Broker, serving all of Central Texas and specializing in sales, leasing & development. He leads a retail acquisition and sales team and was recognized by the Austin Business Journal as a Commercial Real Estate Heavy Hitter in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 & 2023.

In the last 22 years, he has closed deals with a total transactional value of over $375 million and has leased more than 4.5 million square feet. Brent currently serves as the president of the board of directors for Habitat Homes, Inc. and Pathways Youth and Family Services. He is a former president of the Heart of Round Rock Neighborhood Association and a former member of the Round Rock Zoning Advisory Committee, the Round Rock Business and Retention Committee, and the City of Round Rock Ethics Commission, which has led him to begin developing in Williamson and Travis County.

An Austin native, Brent lives in Round Rock where he and his wife have raised four boys. Brent works for Don Quick and Associates, Inc. in Round Rock, TX and can be reached at [email protected].