1. This week is the annual SEC meetings in Destin, Fla. Today the coaches and some athletic directors met with the media today and when Mike Elko was up, he was asked about the size of the College Football Playoff.

“What does Mike Elko want (for size of the CFP)? 40. Then I won’t get fired,” he quipped. “None of us are answering for the good of the sport. We’re answering for the good of ourselves.”

More seriously, he made a point that echoed the thoughts of many people when he gave an answer that showed opposition to a 24-team playoff.

“I don’t know why we’re trying to become a trophy sport,” he said. “We don’t have to find a number that lets everybody get in… It’s OK to make it hard to get into the playoffs.”

Even though he said that nobody cares what the coaches actually think on the CFP, it’s refreshing to hear someone take a stand against something that is not in the best interests of the game itself.

2. Elko was equally blunt about the current state of college football, and he’s not exactly thrilled about it. The lack of regulation and enforcement has gotten out of control, and again, he was one of the few to have the guts to actually say it. 

“How about a billion dollar industry has a CEO?” He said. 

Good question. Elko gave a dire prediction if college sports aren’t firmly regulated and violations enforced.

“If we don’t find a way to create some level of regulation in the market, a lot of people are going to go bankrupt pretty quick,” he said. “We’re two-and-a-half years away from having an NIL budget that’s greater than the TV revenue for our entire university.”

3. Elko wasn’t the only person representing A&M at the meetings who had a gloomy prediction for the future of college sports. Athletic Director Trev Alberts said the lack of self-awareness of many programs is putting the whole thing in jeopardy.

“Do we want to be governed or not? College athletics is sending a strong message we don’t want to be governed,” he said. And, unfortunately, he’s right. There are so many programs, including some in the SEC, who think they can buy their way to a national championship while screwing the sport itself.

4. The football preview magazines are starting to be released and nearly all of them have A&M between third and fifth in the SEC and going 9-3 or 8-4. What’s the logic? “Because.”

Because what? And here, again, is the issue with national people who don’t know much about teams they’re covering pontificating about anything.

Here’s A&M’s situation: they have more weapons on offense. They have a dual-threat quarterback entering his second full season as a starter. They have more speed pass rushers than before. They’re loaded at defensive tackle. They’ve got a strong secondary. But, since they’re quite and don’t go looking for hype, they don’t get any.

Because.

5. On Friday, the Aggie baseball team will face Lamar, a team they beat 25-5 in seven innings back in February. But the Cardinals will almost surely start their ace, Chris Olivier. Olivier sports a record of 7-4 with a 2.66 ERA and was named the conference Pitcher of the Year, so he’s not exactly sliced bread. A&M is probably going to start Ethan Darden unless they decide to mix things up, with the hope Aiden Sims is ready for USC in Game 2. That’s a bit of a gamble, but probably the right course of action — if the Aggies can bash their way to a win.

6. If the Aggies have Nico Partida back this weekend (which they should), then the Aggies will have their full lineup back again. Gavin Grahovac is on an epic tear, Caden Sorrell is out of his slump and Chris Hacopian has turned it on. But all the bats needs to be ready to go this weekend, otherwise A&M doesn’t advance. That’s just a fact. Obviously, you have to have offense to get out of a regional, but the Aggies need more than most.

7. Five-star offensive guard Albert Simien has moved up his official visit to A&M to this weekend, and I think that’s probably a good thing. I think he may be eager to finish things up and commit somewhere, and he’s wanting to give A&M that last look before he pulls the trigger. When it’s all said and done, I think he’ll be 5-star number six for the 2027 class.

8. Another 5-star, cornerback John Meredith, will visit this weekend as well. I hope it’s a good visit, but I don’t think Meredith will end up an Aggie. It seems like the Aggies share that sentiment, because they’ve really picked up the effort with another 5-star, Josh Dobson. Dobson, for his part, will visit on June 5.

9. Obviously, Meredith’s visit is a huge one, but A&M will have another 5-star in this weekend and his visit may be just as important. Wide receiver Eric McFarland will be visiting, and he’s another A&M lean. A good visit may not lead to an immediate commitment, but it could be decisive.

10. When Felix Rosenqvist crossed the finish line first in the closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history, he did it wearing a helmet with a Texas A&M University decal on it. CFP appearance, baseball regional, round of 32 in men’s basketball, top 10 finish in men’s tennis, top 10 teams in Track & Field and national championships in volleyball and women’s tennis and now an Indy 500 win?

We bad. Yeah, we bad.

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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 and can be reached at brent@donquick.com.