Game Time: 7:00 p.m. Central | TV: Fox Sports Net | Location: Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, Texas

In the past, TCU has opened the season by taking the field opposite of some pretty big names. In 2015 it was Minnesota. In 2013 it was LSU. In 2011, prior to TCU joining the Big 12, they opened the season with Baylor, and in 2010 they opened against Oregon State.

This year doesn’t reflect those years, as the premier non-conference matchup takes place in week 2 of the season. Instead, TCU opens with Division 1 FCS foe South Dakota State.

Who is South Dakota State? The Jackrabbits are a member of the Missouri Valley Conference along with the likes of Montana State, Illinois State, South Dakota, and FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. The Jackrabbits have made the FCS playoffs each of the past four seasons, and in 2015 they knocked off TCU’s Big 12 bunkmate Kansas in Lawrence. The Jackrabbits were also eighth in the FCS in scoring defense, allowing opposing teams to score just 17.3 points per game.

SDSU returns quite a few key pieces to their offense in 2016. The Jackrabbits ground game was a three-headed monster in 2015, as two backs, Brady Mengarelli and Kyle Paris, and QB Taryn Christion all ran for 480+ yards and 5+ touchdowns on the season. All three return this season. Christion split time at QB with junior Zach Lujan, who is also returning this season.

A few other interesting notes:

• Jackrabbits head coach John Stiegelmeier is entering his 19th season at the helm, and he carries with him a career 126-88 record.
• South Dakota State was the collegiate home for Adam Vinatieri, as well as more than 30 other NFL players over the years.

After winning last year’s conference title and making an appearance in the 2015 College Football Playoff semifinals, Oklahoma has been chosen as the favorite to win the 2016 championship by media representatives who cover the league. This year marks the fourth since 2011 in which the Sooners topped the preseason rankings. They have captured a Big 12-record nine league titles.

OU garnered 24 of 26 first-place votes and tallied 258 points. TCU picked up the other two first-place votes and totaled 222 points. Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas rounded out the top five followed by Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kansas State, Iowa State and Kansas.

2016 Big 12 Football Media Preseason Poll

1. Oklahoma (24) 258

2. TCU (2) 222

3. Oklahoma State 202

4. Baylor 156

5. Texas 151

6. Texas Tech 141

7. West Virginia 126

8. Kansas State 88

9. Iowa State 59

10. Kansas 24

first-place votes in parentheses

Oregon State has released their “Fall Depth Chart” for the defensive and specialists side of things and despite some small tweaks, the basic look of the upcoming Beavers is beginning to take shape. Heading into Fall Camp, the defense is led by inside linebacker Caleb Saulo, and defensive backs Treston Decoud and Devin Chappell.

The depth chart is as listed below:

DEFENSIVE END
95 Baker Pritchard (Junior)
OR 90 Phillip Napoleon (Junior)
96 LaMone Williams (Sophomore)
98 Andrew Iademarco (Redshirt Freshman)

NOSE TACKLE
94 Sumner Houston (Sophomore)
OR 99 Elu Aydson (Redshirt Freshman)
91 Noke Tago (Senior)

DEFENSIVE TACKLE
97 Kalani Vakameilalo (Sophomore)
92 Paisa Savea (Junior)
57 Chris Mengis (Redshirt Freshman)
56 Thor Katoa (Redshirt Freshman)

DEFENSIVE END
53 Isaac Garcia (Freshman)
OR 34 Kenny Turnier (Freshman)
OR 52 Joah Robinett (Freshman)
OR 54 Shemiah Unutoa-Whitson (Freshman)
48 Reed Woodward (Freshman)

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER (F)
47 Bright Ugwoegbu (Sophomore)
41 Shemar Smith (Freshman)
43 Adam Soesman (Sophomore)
42 Doug Taumoelau (Freshman)
OR 37 Ke Whetzel (Freshman)

INSIDE LINEBACKER (M)
55 Manase Hungalu (Junior)
32 Jonathan Willis (Sophomore)
58 Hamilton Hunt (Redshirt Freshman)
51 Luke Leonnig (Freshman)
44 Ricky Liuchan (Redshirt Freshman)

INSIDE LINEBACKER (R)
35 Caleb Saulo (Senior)
50 Wesley Payne (Junior)
OR 5 Kyle Haley (Senior)
45 Kiahve Dennis-Lee (Freshman)

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER (B)
93 Titus Failauga (Junior)
49 Andrzej Hughes-Murray (Freshman)
OR 59 Hamilcar Rashed Jr. (Freshman)

LEFT CORNERBACK
14 Treston Decoud (Senior)
28 Shawn Wilson (Redshirt Freshman)
22 Xavier Crawford (Redshirt Freshman)
29 Christian Wallace (Freshman)

SAFETY
3 Brandon Arnold (Junior)
15 Gabe Ovgard (Sophomore)
33 Jalen Moore (Redshirt Freshman)
OR 12 Kendall Hill (Senior)
40 Jonas Dahl (Sophomore)

SAFETY
9 Devin Chappell (Senior)
13 Landry Payne (Junior)
10 Omar Hicks-Onu (Redshirt Freshman)
OR 30 Drew Kell (Sophomore)
29 Jordan Gregory (Freshman)

RIGHT CORNERBACK
4 Dwayne Williams (Sophomore)
24 Jay Irvine (Redshirt Freshman)
17 Cyril Noland-Lewis (Senior)
23 Chris Henry (Freshman)
26 Jaydon Grant (Freshman)
OR 38 Charles Okonkwo (Junior)

NICKELBACK
4 Dwayne Williams (Sophomore)
22 Xavier Crawford (Redshirt Freshman)
9 Devin Chappell (Senior)
28 Shawn Wilson (Redshirt Freshman)

DIMEBACK
22 Xavier Crawford (Redshirt Freshman)
28 Shawn Wilson (Redshirt Freshman)
9 Devin Chappell (Senior)
17 Cyril Noland-Lewis (Senior)

SPECIALISTS
PAT-FG/KO
21 Garrett Owens (Junior)
27 Ian Crist (Senior)
46 Jordan Choukair (Redshirt Freshman)
39 Daniel Rodriguez (Redshirt Freshman)
28 Zach Standish (Redshirt Freshman)

KICKOFF
46 Jordan Choukair (Redshirt Freshman)
21 Garrett Owens (Junior)
27 Ian Crist (Senior)
39 Daniel Rodriguez (Redshirt Freshman)
28 Zach Standish (Redshirt Freshman)

PUNTER
31 Nick Porebski (Junior)
39 Daniel Rodriguez (Redshirt Freshman)
27 Ian Crist (Senior)
46 Jordan Choukair (Redshirt Freshman)
21 Garrett Owens (Junior)

LONG SNAPPER
36 Ryan Navarro (Senior)
57 Connor Kelsey (Sophomore)
37 Keegan Firth (Redshirt Freshman)
94 Sumner Houston (Sophomore)

SHORT SNAPPER
36 Ryan Navarro (Senior)
94 Sumner Houston (Sophomore)
57 Connor Kelsey (Sophomore)
37 Keegan Firth (Redshirt Freshman)

PUNT RETURN
6 Victor Bolden Jr. (Senior)
19 Trevon Bradford (Freshman)
18 Timmy Hernandez (Sophomore)
7 Xavier Hawkins (Junior)

KICKOFF RETURNS
6 Victor Bolden Jr. (Senior)
19 Trevon Bradford (Freshman)
22 Seth Collins (Sophomore)
7 Xavier Hawkins (Junior)

Last football season took a lot out of me. Actual play on the field notwithstanding, December and January were awful months for Aggie Football, and took me out of my place of unhealthy optimism to the point of realism borderlining on pessimism regarding the state of Aggie Football.

But now that we’re towards the end of the summer, with the football season being only 50 some odd days away, I find that optimism creeping back in. I find myself getting excited by what we could actually do this year, and I find myself being really confused about some of the expectations outsiders have for our team (I saw a Vegas site that had our over/under on wins at 6.5 and had to stop myself from betting my kids college fund on the over–baby steps!).

So with that, I figured this could be a good space to process a bit and talk about why those expectations (4th in the division) might be right or why they might be woefully wrong.

WHY THEY MIGHT BE RIGHT

Let’s get the bad news out of the way. To me there are three main reasons why folks seem to be pessimistic about this iteration of the Aggie Football team.

Coaching

The media has given Kevin Sumlin the benefit of the doubt for a while…and I think this year they’re just done. Two straight years where we failed to meet expectations (despite how unrealistic those expectations may have been after 5-0 starts) have resulted in many folks putting Sumlin in a “good coach, but not good enough” box.

And I don’t really disagree with them. I think few A&M fans are as hopelessly devoted to Summy as we may have been 3 years ago. We’ve proven to have issues with ego management, offensive scheme, and recruiting strategy. Sumlin is not without his warts.

But again, I can’t help but be somewhat positive here regarding the moves we’ve made. Both Turners (DL/OL) were really really good hires. I expect our DTs to be much more disciplined under Turner than they were under Hagen. Few A&M coaches have the mysticism/lore of Jim Turner…but I think we will see a significantly improved offensive line this fall (cant get worse, can it?). I think Mazzone was a damn fine hire. In fact, I think we should have hired him when Kingsbury left.

Combine all those things with another year under Chavis and I really think that our coaching has turned a corner. In fact I’d say this is probably the best slate of coaches (from top to bottom) that we’ve had under Sumlin. We had issues but we fixed them.

Schedule

No getting around this one…the schedule is the hardest one we’ve had since entering the SEC. We could reasonably be a better football team without it being reflected in the overall record. Tennessee, UCLA, and having most of our tougher SEC-W games being on the road make for a pretty dang hard slate.

There’s not much good news or spin here. The one thing that I can say is that if we have another 5-0 start (as we’ve had the past two years) then this team will be for real. 5-0 means we knocked off UCLA, Auburn (at Jordan-Hare), Arkansas, and South Carolina. That’s a pretty decent start.

QB

Off the field, Trevor Knight is the best possible guy we could have added to the locker room. Kyle and Kyler seemed divisive and left the locker room void of any leadership and teeming with dysfunction. Trevor seems to be the direct opposite and for the first time in Sumlin’s career he’ll be trotting out an upperclassman QB at the helm of the team.

How good can Trevor Knight be on the field? Will he be the 2014 Bama game Trevor Knight or will he be the one who got beat out by (Heisman finalist) Baker Mayfield? Do we even need him to be the 2014 Bama game Knight…or do we just need him to minimize mistakes and distribute the ball? Total unknown there.

WHY THEY MIGHT BE WRONG

Defensive Talent

This team is loaded defensively at a few positions. I’m not just talking “in a good place”, I’m talking full of blue chip talent. Our defensive line should be the best we’ve had in at least 10 or so years. We’ve got two elite defensive ends, at least two outstanding defensive tackles, and a host of of other players who can step in and make things happen. Our DL is going to be really good.

Safeties are in the same space. I can’t quite remember a better group of safeties at A&M than Watts, Evans, and Wilson. Each of them does what they do so damn well. Hard to think that only three years ago I was bemoaning safety as the biggest weak spot on the team.

Experience/Personnel

The wide receiver and running back positions are stacked too. RSJ, Reynolds, and Kirk would be starting damn near anywhere and maybe (?)(!) this is the year Speedy puts it together. We were incredibly lucky last year that Tra Carson is a cyborg and didn’t get hurt, but he had his limitations. We were missing a home run threat to go along with the sledgehammer. This year we have both–Trayveon Williams, Keith Ford, and James White are a solid group of RBs who can play a number of roles in Mazzone’s offense.

There are question marks at LB and OL…but both of those rosters have talent. When healthy, Otaro Alaka has proven to be a very solid/rangy linebacker. We can find a starting 3 out of Washington, Alaka, Walker, George, Moore, Garner, and Thomas…all of whom have seen a decent amount of time on the field.

Same thing with the offensive line. They are green but not without talent. I have really high hopes for Jermaine Eluemunor. If Eric McCoy can be a reliable option at center, then this group could be serviceable to solid as well.

OVERALL

I understand why folks are doubting A&M this year. But I can’t help but think that we’ve actually got the talent to make some noise and perform better than we have the past two years.

Am I wrong here? Let me know what you think in the comments.

The Pitt football roster on the athletics department’s website has been updated for 2016. These sorts of things are usually announced with little fanfare (if at all). Previously, the spring roster was up there, but the new one displays the current roster for the fall, which is different since it includes any new departures as well as incoming freshmen not enrolled early.

Chris Peak of PantherLair had many notable observations sprinkled on his Twitter account in regards to uniform numbers and new player weights of guys bulking up a bit. One noteworthy mention is that wide receiver Tre Tipton earned a redshirt for last season despite playing in four of Pitt’s games.

Tipton’s current bio mentions the knee injury sustained last year in practice and confirms that he received the medical redshirt. He played early in the year but not beyond the team’s first four games. As I mentioned earlier this summer, he’s part of a very deep receiving corps where there’s going to be a lot of competition with some unknowns heading into the season.

We don’t yet know how good Tipton can be but whenever you get a medical redshirt for a guy that played in several games as a true freshman, it’s a good deal for both the team and the player. Tipton was a pretty significant recruit, picking the Panthers over Michigan State and others. He was also the Post-Gazette’s Co-Male Athlete of the Year before coming to Pitt last season. He has the chance to develop into a good target and having for an extra season is a nice bonus.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill’s Facebook page and follow us on Twitter@PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and founder/editor @AnsonWhaley.

The last time the men of the SEC got together, Will Muschamp dropped a bomb on the fanbase.

There is no expectation that any Skai Moore-level news will break tomorrow morning when the South Carolina Gamecocks have their turn at SEC Media Days, but that doesn’t mean USC’s new head coach doesn’t have pivotal items to address. While anything he says on Thursday will likely be drowned out nationally by the quirkiness of Les Miles and the drama of Hugh Freeze, Muschamp will have an equal turn in the Birmingham spotlight. He won’t bring the entertainment Steve Spurrier provided for a decade, but if Muschamp spouted his favorite Spurrier-isms, I’d greatly enjoy it.

Either way, South Carolina’s days at the Wynfrey Hotel will have a more serious look beginning this July. Here are five topics I hope the leader of the new era discusses on Thursday:

The Quarterback Battle

It’s inevitable that Muschamp will be asked about this. It’s the most important and sexiest position on the field and a question the Gamecocks don’t have an answer to. It seems like a two-man race between incumbent Perry Orth and true freshman Brandon McIlwain.

McIlwain, a Gatorade High School Player of the Year, brings a different skillset and far more potential to the huddle than Orth. The standout Pennsylvania native is a natural athlete who brings the mobility Muschamp has confessed to wanting in his starting quarterback. But it’s likely a wide-open battle – with Orth’s leadership, smarts and experience keeping him firmly in the race. We’ve seen what Orth can do, and at times he’s been good enough. To win a division title, South Carolina may never be able to have a quarterback that is simply good enough. But this is year one in the Muschamp era and a veteran who could keep the Gamecocks afloat may be the best option. Orth may start the season, but will he finish it?

Lorenzo Nunez is still set to get a look at quarterback despite the rumors of his switch to wide receiver. While Nunez isn’t a full-time answer at quarterback, he can be used as a weapon. Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper should look to run packaged plays with run-pass options in opportune times this season. Isolating defenders and putting them in conflict will be a modern wrinkle this depleted offense needs.

Individual thoughts on each one of the quarterback candidates would be nice to hear on Thursday.

Jake Bentley

Bentley wasn’t mentioned in the above passage because his presence deserves its own attention. To my knowledge, we have never heard Will Muschamp speak publicly on his newly enrolled quarterback. Birmingham may be the site where we hear the first public thoughts from Muschamp on Bentley’s shocking move to join the program now (as opposed to 2017) and what comes next with the star recruit.

Will he get a fair shot at this year’s quarterback battle? What are the expectations for Bentley at this moment? Is he destined for a redshirt? What has his dad (running backs coach Bobby Bentley) told Muschamp about his son and how to treat him?

Bentley’s pro-style ability is more of what Muschamp looked for in the past, but the kid’s talent is undeniable. His situation, and the fact that he’s a quarterback, makes him as intriguing as it comes on this team. Whatever Muschamp spills on Bentley tomorrow will make headlines.

The Offense

As has been often documented, offense is essentially the reason Muschamp got axed at Florida. Last season, he spent the year under offensive madman Gus Malzahn at Auburn. It seems like that experience has opened Muschamp up and made him crave a hurry-up, no-huddle offense. While he’s expressed the importance of his experience around Malzahn and the need to have a tempo-driven system, Muschamp hired the leader of his last offense in Gainesville. Will it simply be Muschamp letting Roper have full creative control of the offense? Was that not the case with the Gators? I’m curious to know more about the structure of the offense and how much influence he has on it.

The Secondary

Nothing may be more frustrating for Muschamp in his first year in Columbia than having to deal with this secondary. And as he doubles as the safeties coach, he will be handling the team’s biggest issue on a daily basis. The back four is without a doubt the weakest part of the 2016 Gamecocks entering the season.

What kind of effect will Muschamp have on this position group? His staff hopes the front seven will be the key to a stronger group in the backend. Performing up front will put this team’s defensive backs in a position where they don’t have to cover for long.

From a schematic standpoint, the days of hoping for precise breaks out of drops are over for this group. Muschamp will play more man-to-man coverage and will keep his unit away from the soft Cover 2 and Cover 3 zones of the past as well as the Tampa 2 look.

Where I really want to hear from Muschamp is on the personnel side of things. He’s in a bit of a pickle as indicated by the preseason depth chart, where Chris Lammons is listed as a starter at both cornerback and safety. Few certainties sit in USC’s backend, but for now it looks as if Jamarcus King is a lock at one cornerback spot, Rashad Fenton is a lock at the heavily used nickelback position, and Chaz Elder looks to have a leg up at one of the safety spots. Does Lammons line up opposite King while D.J. Smith or Chris Moody stand up next to Elder? Or do Lammons and Elder take the safety spots with King and Rico McWilliams at cornerback?

It’s sure to be a revolving door back there this season, but knowing how Muschamp envisions it, entering camp will be pivotal. We’ll see how his mindset changes before the team heads to Nashville.

His Time at Florida and Auburn

I know he’s addressed this several times, especially his job in Gainesville, and said all the right things along the way, but at this moment, I’m still not tired of hearing him talk about. My gut tells me if you cannot succeed at Florida, it’s going to be hard for you to consistently succeed anywhere else. I want to believe in Will Muschamp, but the terrible football I watched those Gator teams play still make me hesitate when asked if Ray Tanner made the correct hire. He moved from Florida to Auburn, and statistically, the Tiger defense got worse. Now I’m willing to give him a pass on this because with Carl Lawson on the field – not even 100 percent healthy, just on the field – Auburn fielded a respectable defense.

More thoughts on what went wrong down in the Swamp and what his return to the Plains was like is something I will continue to be interested in. We’ll likely get several coach speak answers, but there’s a chance he may hit us with an unknown tidbit or two.

Muschamp vowed to “get back up” in a recent first-person piece pushed out by Sports Illustrated and Campus Rush. I still want to hear how he intends to do so with his recent experience in mind.