00:00They got to go play at College Station and take on Texas A&M.
00:03Noon Eastern.
00:04More points should be scored in this one.
00:06The total is 48 and a half.
00:09But what is the psyche, do you think, for the Hurricanes here with Mario Cristobal?
00:13Because certainly they have that win against Notre Dame, Paul, at the beginning of the season.
00:17But since then, they beat basically everybody put in front of them, except for those two losses that nearly knocked them out.
00:24Well, I tell you, I certainly don't think Miami's satisfied.
00:26I think they'll probably have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, maybe kind of a second life, if you will,
00:33because they were on the ropes a little bit.
00:36It was 50-50 whether they were going to get in over Notre Dame, and they've made the tournament.
00:42And I think they're a live dog here.
00:44First of all, I think they benefit from the fact that this is the early game on Saturday.
00:49You know, Kyle Field can be a raucous environment.
00:51And to get that game at 11 a.m. Central kickoff, I think, is an advantage for the visiting Hurricanes.
00:58You know, I'm going to look, first of all, and talk about Texas A&M.
01:01You know, no question, the Aggies had an outstanding season.
01:05But I see the Aggies as being a little vulnerable in this first-round matchup at Kyle Field against the Hurricanes.
01:12You know, first of all, we'll hit the really good for Texas A&M.
01:15You know, that Week 3 victory when they went into South Bend, a back-and-forth offensive game.
01:22They defeat the defending national runner-up, Irish, 41-40.
01:27Definitely among the better road data points for any team in college football this year without question.
01:33It was A&M's third victory en route to an 11-0 start.
01:37Their dreams of an undefeated regular season ended, however, when hated rival Texas pulled off the mild upset 27-17 in Austin there on Thanksgiving Friday.
01:50But I think it's fair to ask, not only that game, it's several games, but did the loss to Texas perhaps somewhat expose
01:58or at least demonstrate Texas A&M's vulnerability against the better teams on its schedule?
02:05Without question, Texas A&M benefited from an extremely favorable SEC schedule.
02:12In fact, you look at the seven SEC teams that A&M defeated this season, those teams finished with a combined 12-44 overall record in SEC play.
02:24So they didn't really beat anybody.
02:26You look at three teams that they beat.
02:28They beat these teams by six points or fewer.
02:31However, these three teams, two of them played at Cal Field, those three teams being Auburn, Arkansas, and South Carolina.
02:38And this demonstrates the depth of the SEC.
02:40But those three teams, Auburn, Arkansas, and South Carolina, they were 2-22 combined in SEC.
02:47A&M beat them by six or fewer points.
02:50Two of those games played in College Station.
02:52You talked about Miami's start.
02:54They had a really good September.
02:56They started off, obviously, with that season-opening win over Notre Dame.
02:59They also beat South Florida and Florida when they were a little bit healthier.
03:04The midsection of the season, obviously, the Canes struggled a little bit and stumbled a little bit.
03:09But then they closed strong.
03:10Their victory at Pittsburgh in a cold environment was really impressive.
03:14And I think they played quite well the last four games of the year.
03:18Lots been said about A&M's jack-of-all-trades, Swiss Army Knife, Casey Concepcion.
03:25He recently won the Paul Horning Award, symbolic of college football's most versatile player.
03:31And that guy deserves it.
03:33I mean, he throws touchdown passes.
03:34He returns punts for touchdowns, not to mention catching the ball and rushing the ball.
03:40But Miami, Florida, they got a true freshman that should be a senior in high school, Malachi Tony.
03:44This guy is kind of the Canes' answer to Casey Concepcion.
03:49Tony, 84 catches, 970 yards, seven touchdowns.
03:53He also has been a factor in the punt return game.
03:56Keep your eye on Malachi Tony.
03:59If quarterback Carson Beck can keep his turnovers down and he's thrown 30 career interceptions,
04:05I think the Canes can win.
04:06I'm looking for that.
04:08I'm looking for Miami to prevail, the Canes plus three over the Aggies.
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