1. After one week, Texas A&M’s defense sits at the top of several categories in the national rankings. The Aggies are first in yards per play allowed against an FBS opponent, first in total defense and first in passing yards allowed. And, of course, first in scoring defense.

2. The big news of the day is the amended lawsuit by the SEC against the LSU and Lane Kiffin in particular. The changes included the addition of the nuclear option: a Thursday meeting between members of the conference on the possibility of expelling LSU from the league. LSU fan seems to think this is about two players who weren’t rostered after taking part in NFL training camps. This now about the conference’s belief that Kiffin and LSU were actively supporting the lawsuits against the NCAA and SEC in state court — conveniently located in Baton Rouge. The SEC also believes the attorney general and governor of the state were actively involved in the plot, while the university president and athletic director have “no meaningful control over Coach Kiffin or the football program.”

LSU’s unchecked arrogance got them into this position by acting brazenly against the rules and daring the SEC to do something about it. And now the SEC is doing something about it — something it believes is well within its rights as a conference to do. Will the other 15 schools kick LSU out? I seriously doubt it, but I would say the chances are greater than 0%. Maybe significantly more than that. LSU has pissed off a lot of people with the way they’ve acted the last couple of months.

3. In the unlikely case that LSU does get the boot from the SEC — or decides to leave — their fans appear to be under the delusion that they can get their own TV contract comparable to Notre Dame’s. I think they’re going to get a rude awakening if that’s the avenue they want to take. The TV contract that the SEC has with ESPN/ABC may be what keeps LSU in the conference, but they’re not a big enough product to get a massive TV deal on their own. Here’s reality: New Orleans is the 50th-largest TV market in America and Baton Rouge is 94th. We’re not talking about a product with Chicago built into its backyard, much less a national fanbase.

4. Clemson is in no danger of being kicked out of the ACC, but Dabo Swinney may be in danger of getting the gate. Like another national championship-winning coach we know of, Swinney has been too proud or arrogant to adapt to the changing world of college football and has been left behind. We know Kiffin is an egomaniac and people hate him for it; Swinney is a more subtle egomaniac so he doesn’t draw as much attention. But his complaints about the transfer portal and how his program does things the right way — insinuating others don’t — hasn’t done him any favors. If you say all that and win 51-10, that’s one thing. If you go out and lose 51-10, look completely outclassed and play like dog crap, people really don’t want to hear about you squeaky clean you are (allegedly).

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5. Starting in the late spring and into the summer, we heard a lot about the rapid improvement of Terry Bussey at receiver. One game in and we can already see that wasn’t smoke. Bussey’s numbers don’t look astounding — three catches, 34 yards — but he had a great catch going to the ground along the sideline thrown by Marcel Reed as he (Reed) was rolling to his left. With the ball slightly tailing away from him, Bussey got to the ground, got two hands under the ball and made sure the catch was not in doubt. That’s an impressive play and one that only a receiver comfortable in what he’s doing can make.

6. We may see a major change in the running game by the time the season’s over. Rueben Owens ran well and ran tough Saturday night and Jamarion Morrow is already an excellent receiver, but KJ Edwards and Carsyn Baker were true eye-openers (not that I’m telling you anything you don’t already know). They’re dynamic. Last year, the Aggies used four backs and went with the hot hand after Le’Veon Moss went down; it may be a good idea to repeat that with Owens, Morrow, Edwards and Baker.

7. The Aggie offensive line didn’t play well for 25 minutes, but then picked things up after that. The last time A&M had a negative play was at the 4:44 mark of the second quarter. They had one penalty, a false start on Lamont Rogers, after that. We will know more this week, but maybe the line, which had a lot of players rolling in and out throughout the game, may have just needed to get the nerves out of the way.

8. The 5 for 5 rule has already had an effect on the way things are done for college football programs. For instance, the Aggies played 21 true freshmen Saturday night. They didn’t have to. But why not? There are no more redshirts to worry about — which does kill a weekly story, but otherwise, no biggie — so you’re only hurting yourself if you don’t play talented players. There’s no conserving them for another year anymore. If you’ve got ‘em, use ‘em. Maybe they all would have played anyway, but I tend to think you’ll see more of them out there as the season progresses in situations you wouldn’t have in the past.

9. Arizona State is up next for the Aggies and they demolished Morgan State 70-7 last Saturday night. Which, for me, begged a question: who is Morgan State and where are they from? I figured they were a small school in Utah or Nevada or someplace out west. Nope, they’re a school in downtown Baltimore that I’ve never even heard of. They also went 2-10 last year in the MEAC, an FBS conference. They beat North Carolina A&T 17-7 to start this year, but were outgained significantly. So, while ASU gets talked up and A&M’s work gets poo-pooed, it’s pretty clear who had the better opponent. If you’re behind honest with yourself, at least.

10. The College Football Playoff has opened its 30-day negotiating window with ESPN to discuss expanding the CFP to 24 teams. I may be in the minority on this, but I think going to a playoff of that size is a big mistake. There aren’t 24 teams that deserve to be in the CFP and it devalues both that product and the regular season at the same time. It’s like taking a bottle of very good single malt scotch and replacing it with Natty Lite.

(Note: I thought about adding one more in Michigan’s honor, but decided against it.)

Our Sponsor

10 Things for Tuesday is 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, 2024 & 2025.

In the last 22 years, he has closed deals with a total transactional value of over $400 million and has leased more than 4.75 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 currently on the Downtown Round Rock Task Force.  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.