Texas A&M Experts Predict Aggies vs. Missouri State Opener
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There isn’t much mystery surrounding the prediction for Texas A&M vs. Missouri State on Saturday night.
The No. 8 Aggies open the 2026 season at Kyle Field against a Missouri State team entering only its second year at the FBS level, and virtually every major national projection points the same direction: Texas A&M should win comfortably. AggiesWire compiled the predictions of several notable college football analysts.
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That doesn’t mean Mike Elko’s team has nothing to prove.
The Aggies are coming off an 11-win season and their first College Football Playoff appearance, but this opener is less about the final score than what happens inside it.
Texas A&M is replacing several pieces up front, and Elko has spent the preseason trying to identify the best five-man combination on the offensive line.
That matters because quarterback Marcel Reed is now firmly established as the face of the offense. Reed enters his second full season as the starter with a 15-6 record as QB1, while receiver Mario Craver returns after catching 59 passes for 917 yards and four touchdowns in 2025.
Against Missouri State, those skill players should have opportunities. The bigger question is whether the Aggies dominate the trenches the way a top-10 SEC team is supposed to.
Missouri State isn’t walking into College Station without offensive weapons. New coach Casey Woods inherits an attack that ranked 15th nationally in passing last season at 279.7 yards per game.
UTEP transfer quarterback Skyler Locklear has accounted for 34 touchdowns in 23 career games, while veteran receiver Jmariyae Robinson enters the year with 128 career catches, 1,722 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.
That’s enough experience to punish sloppy defense.
It also gives new Texas A&M defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill a useful opening test.
Missouri State’s tempo and willingness to spread the field should force the Aggies to communicate, tackle in space and avoid busted assignments.
Still, the talent gap is obvious.
CBS Sports analysts Tom Fornelli, Chip Patterson and Brandon Marcello all picked Texas A&M. So did Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon and College Football News’ Pete Fiutak.
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The real drama probably isn’t whether Texas A&M wins.
It’s whether the Aggies look like a team ready to build on last season, or one that still has September problems to fix before the SEC schedule arrives.
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