Southern Sports Edition
Jason Bishop Show August 20 2026
Texas A&M Aggies 2026 Preview
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There has been so much excitement in College Station the past few years, only to see it get squashed at the end of the season for the Texas A&M Aggies.
At the end of the 2025 season, despite being the #7 seed in the College Football Playoff, the Aggies were one game away from playing in the SEC Championship game and likely a top 4 seed in the College Football Playoff with a bye that coincides.
Mike Elko enters his third season as head coach in the lone star state and continues to elevate the Texas A&M program each year.
Marcel Reed returns for another year leading the Aggies at quarterback and has been one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the SEC at times. Reed opens 2026 as one of eight returning FBS QBs nationally to amass 5,000+ career passing yards and 1,000+ rushing yards.
The Nashville native saw action in 3 games in 2023 before taking over in 2024 as the starting quarterback. Injuries sidelined Reed for a few games but came back strong in 2025.
The additional benefit that Texas A&M sees is so many familiar faces, especially in the skill position rooms. Receivers, particularly with All-SEC wide-out Mario Craver along with Terry Bussey, Ashton Bethel-Roman all return to be impactful pieces of the Aggie Offense.
The lone transfer into the receivers is Isaiah Horton who comes to the 12th Man from Miami making 11 starts for the Hurricanes last season.
While the skill positions are locked in with a similar cast, the trenches have been re-done. The offensive line is expected to have at least three transfers on the front.
Trovon Baugh sits at 6-4, 335 and is expected to start at right guard after spending the last 3 years at South Carolina.
The two ends of the line are high impact transfers, both standing at 6-7. Wilkin Formby transfers in from Alabama after 14 starts for the Tide last season at right tackle, and on the left side is expected to be Tyree Adams, the LSU transfer at 6-7, 310 pounds.
The biggest emphasis this offseason for TAMU has been toughness. Mike Elko has ramped up the camps to bring an added intensity to the lead-up to the season because that has been the achilles heel of the Aggies in the past few years at times.
The defense is the main side that has been tasked with cranking up the intensity. Second year Defensive Coordinator Lyle Hemphill brings in a couple of key transfers that are expected to have an immediate impact of bringing the defense to the level that is expected under Mike Elko.
Up front, CJ Mimms comes in after stops at East Carolina and North Carolina with over 30 starts between the two under his belt.
In the secondary, Rickey Gibson stays in the SEC coming over from Tennessee and linebacker Ray Coney steps up after being a first team all AAC selection last year at Tulsa.
Between the emphasis on intensity coupled with the scheming of the defensive mind of Mike Elko, it could be a match made in heaven for the 12th man this year.
Elko is someone that just fits the culture (a very unique culture at that) of College Station. He’s embraced it, he’s lived it as a defensive coordinator before going to Duke as a head coach, and now enters year 3 of his head coaching tenure at Texas A&M.
They have taken leaps every year in the past and this is a team from the SEC that I think gets over the hump and into the national spotlight deep into the College Football Playoffs.
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show with Brandon Derrick August 20 2026
McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers Coach’s Show with Bradley Warren August 19 2026
Camden County Wildcats Coach’s Show with Tucker Pruitt August 18 2026
Georgia State Panthers 2026 Preview
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2026 college football season will start in less than a month. We will take a look at Georgia State University to see what we should expect from the Panthers.
GSU was founded in 1913 and it is also the largest in-person institution of higher education by enrollment based in Georgia, with a student enrollment of 53,144 across all of their campuses.
The football program was founded in 2010 and they are in the Sun Belt Conference. Former Georgia running backs coach Dell McGee was hired as its fourth head coach for the football program in February 2024.
In 2024, they were 3-9 and 1-7 in conference play. One of those wins was against Vanderbilt, 36-32. It was Georgia State’s first time hosting an SEC opponent, and their first victory against an SEC team since beating Tennessee in 2019.
Last season, the Panthers were 1-11 and 0-8 in the Sun Belt. The lone win was against FCS Murray State, who was also 1-11. Only two of their losses were by single digits. They were one of the worst FBS teams in the nation in 2025.
UMass was 0-12 so that’s the one program they were better than. Charlotte and Oklahoma State were also 1-11.
The team recently started preseason camp. The first day of practice was closed to the public but we were told it went well.
“Guys had great energy, great enthusiasm,” said coach McGee, who is starting his third season. “We’ve still got a long way to go but definitely encouraged by how we started today. The kids were very dialed in in their meetings and they carried those meetings onto the field.”
They brought in 34 players via the transfer portal and signed 16 freshmen.
Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson returns and the Panthers have a new look on defense, where Cam Clark and John Haneline take over as co-coordinators.
They have several players that are coming from major programs. Some of the incoming players are: DL Kelze Howard (Oregon State), LB Jaydon Hood (Michigan), S Keenan Nelson Jr. (Ohio State), OT Jordan Brown (Arizona), IOL Kelton Smith Jr. (Georgia), WR Isiah Stone (LSU), IOL Deylin Hasert (Iowa State), IOL Marcus Mascoll (Florida), IOL Gage Stanaland (Oklahoma State) and RB Keith Adams Jr. (Clemson).
Fifth year senior QB Cameran Brown is the best returning player on the team. He played at Texas Tech in 2024 and appeared in eight games.
Last season he passed for 1,296 yards, 13 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also rushed for 284 yards and 4 TDs. He missed two of the final three games last fall. Brown was named to the Pro Football Network Preseason All-Sun Belt Third Team.
OL Deandre Duffus is on the PFN First Team Preseason All-Sun Belt Team and RB Savion Hart is on the Second Team.
Here is the schedule:
9/4 vs North Carolina A&T
9/12 @ Kennesaw State
9/19 @ UCF
9/26 vs Northern Illinois
10/3 vs Old Dominion (Homecoming)
10/17 @ James Madison
10/24 @ Arkansas State
10/31 vs Coastal Carolina
11/7 @ Appalachian State
11/14 vs Georgia Southern (Rivalry)
11/21 @ Marshall
11/28 vs Louisiana
I think they’ll start the year with a win over North Carolina A&T because that’s an FCS opponent.
Conference play begins Week 5 against ODU. Only three SBC opponents had losing conference records last season; which were App State, Marshall and Louisiana.
On paper I think they have a chance to win 3-4 games. If that happens, they will be looking for a new coach.
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show with Byron Slack August 17 2026
Florida State Seminoles 2026 Preview
By: Garrison Ryfun
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After a disastrous 2-10 season in 2024 and a disappointing 5-7 finish in 2025, Florida State enters 2026 still looking for signs that the program is moving back in the right direction.
Following the 2024 season, Mike Norvell made sweeping changes to his coaching staff. He brought in Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator and handed over play-calling duties, while hiring Tony White away from Nebraska to take over the defense.
Those changes helped FSU improve last season, but not enough to get the Seminoles back to a bowl game.
Now, Mike Norvell enters his seventh season at Florida State firmly on the hot seat, and without the offensive coordinator who gave the Seminoles the 6th-best offense based on yards per game in 2025.
Malzahn retired in February after just one season in Tallahassee, with wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. promoted to offensive coordinator. Norvell, however, will take back over the play-calling duties in 2026 after giving them up to Malzahn last season.
At starting quarterback, Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels is expected to take over after spending his first three seasons at Stanford before playing in four games for the Tigers last year.
Daniels brings plenty of experience to the position and is also a threat with his legs, but he’ll need to take better care of the football this year as he has nearly a 1:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio over his college career.
Daniels will have a pretty decent receiving core to throw to with returning starters Duce Robinson, Micahi Danzy, and Jayvan Boggs.
Robinson returns after catching 56 passes for 1,081 yards and 6 touchdowns last season, becoming FSU’s first 1,000-yard receiver since 2019.
Micahi Danzy, the FSU track star, also gives FSU another explosive option, racking up 787 total yards and 6 touchdowns last year as a starter.
An emerging name to look out for in this group, though, is Jasen Lopez, a slot receiver who has turned a lot of heads in fall camp this year.
The Seminoles should have several options in the backfield as well. Sophomore Ousmane Kromah showed flashes as a freshman, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, RS-Junior Sam Singleton who broke out last year averaging 7.1 yards per carry, and Texas transfer Quintrevion Wisner gives FSU another talented option in the backfield.
The offensive line will be worth watching after some offseason turnover, but there should still be enough talent for FSU to once again have one of the better offenses in the ACC.
On defense, the Seminoles showed plenty of improvement in year one under White. FSU finished second in the ACC in pass defense and inside the top five in the conference in total defense and sacks per game.
One of the biggest names to watch on that side of the ball will be Mandrell Desir. Desir earned Freshman All-American honors after recording 7.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks last season, and his twin brother Darryll gives the Seminoles another young piece along the defensive front.
The schedule should be manageable for the talent level Florida State brings in:
August 29th – vs New Mexico State
September 7th – vs SMU (ACC)
September 19th – @ Alabama
September 26th – vs Central Arkansas
October 3rd – vs Virginia (ACC)
October 9th – @ Louisville (ACC)
October 17th – @ Miami (ACC)
October 31st – vs Clemson (ACC)
November 7th – @ Boston College (ACC)
November 13th – @ Pittsburgh (ACC)
November 21st – vs NC State (ACC)
November 27th – vs Florida
FSU plays SMU and Alabama in its second and third games of the season, two teams which should give us a good look at how this team will fare this year.
There is enough talent on this roster for Florida State to get back to a bowl game and make some noise in the ACC in 2026.
At this point, though, simply showing improvement will not be enough. That improvement has to start showing up in the win column for Mike Norvell.
Ole Miss Rebels 2026 Preview
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There may not be a more fascinating team in the SEC heading into the 2026 season than Ole Miss.
The Rebels are coming off the best season in program history, winning 13 games and advancing all the way to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
They have now won at least 10 games in three consecutive seasons, something that had never happened before in Oxford.
Yet instead of entering 2026 with nothing but excitement and momentum, Ole Miss also enters with one very big question.
What does this program look like without Lane Kiffin?
Pete Golding takes over for his first full season as head coach after Kiffin left for LSU following the 2025 regular season. Golding helped guide the Rebels through their playoff run, but now this is officially his football team.
The challenge will be maintaining the expectations Kiffin helped create while establishing his own identity.
Fortunately for Golding, he inherited a roster with some serious firepower.
It starts with quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. After transferring from Ferris State, Chambliss took over the starting job and became one of the biggest stories in college football.
He threw for 3,937 yards with 22 touchdowns and only three interceptions while finishing eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting.
He gives Ole Miss something every new head coach would love to have, an experienced quarterback capable of taking over a football game.
Then there is Kewan Lacy. Lacy rushed for a school record 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns last season and returns as one of the best running backs in America. Having Chambliss and Lacy together gives Ole Miss one of the best backfields in college football.
The biggest offensive concern is replacing production at receiver. Deuce Alexander returns after catching 44 passes for 684 yards, but Ole Miss lost Harrison Wallace III and De’Zhaun Stribling after the pair combined for more than 1,700 receiving yards.
Once again, the transfer portal became an important part of the solution, with Johntay Cook II and Darrell Gill Jr. among the new additions.
That portal success has become part of the culture at Ole Miss, and apparently it did not leave town with Kiffin. The Rebels assembled the number two ranked transfer class according to 247Sports while returning 49 letterwinners from last season.
Defense might be the bigger question. Ole Miss must replace seven defensive starters, including significant production at linebacker and safety. Golding’s defensive background should help, and there are some excellent pieces remaining.
Suntarine Perkins returns after recording 81 tackles and 12.5 tackles for loss last season.
Will Echoles anchors the defensive front, while Kam Franklin returns after collecting five sacks and 15 quarterback hurries. The Rebels also added experienced transfers throughout the defense.
The problem for Ole Miss is that the schedule is brutal. The SEC opener against LSU on September 19 will receive enormous attention because it brings Kiffin back to Oxford.
Then there are road games at Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, along with matchups against Georgia and Missouri. Louisville also presents a difficult challenge to open the season.
That schedule is why I am not ready to predict another 13 win season.
I do, however, think Ole Miss is better than an eight win football team. Chambliss and Lacy give the Rebels enough offensive talent to win games when everything else is not perfect, and Golding has already shown he can lead this program on the biggest stage. My prediction is 9-3.
I think Ole Miss loses three games somewhere in that SEC gauntlet but remains in the College Football Playoff conversation deep into November. If the rebuilt defense comes together faster than expected, 10 wins is absolutely possible.
The Kiffin era may be over in Oxford, but that does not mean the winning has to end with it.
In 2026, we find out whether Ole Miss simply had a great run under one coach or whether the Rebels have truly become one of the programs that expects to compete nationally every single year.
Auburn Tigers 2026 Preview
By: Joe Delaney
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In the last 5 years the Auburn Tigers football team has been a model of consistency.
Unfortunately, that consistency has been seven losses each year. An overall record of 27-35 led to another coaching change after the 2025 season.
In comes Alex Golesh, fresh off a 9-3 season at the University of South Florida. While not a marquee hire according to some, Golesh may be just what the Tigers need.
Golesh is an offensive guru and brought much of his USF Bulls team with him. He is considered an up and comer in the coaching ranks.
It didn’t hurt that he brought one of the best transfer QB’s in the country with him to the Plains. Byrum Brown is a consensus top 10 transfer in the 2026 cycle. He also has all that time in Coach Golesh’s offense. The 6’3” 230 lb Brown is a beast.
The key is can he take success at the USF level and translate it to Auburn and the SEC? I think he can. So do the Auburn Tigers. Brown threw for over 3000 yards and rushed for over 1000. Throw in 42 total touchdowns and things are looking up on the Plains.
Over a dozen of the Bulls followed Golesh and Brown to Auburn. These Tigers will have a definite Bullish flavor to them!
Throw in the returning Tigers and some more transfers and this team looks ready to improve on last years win total.
Back to carry some of the load in the backfield will be Jeremiah Cobb. He is an ALL-SEC type of Back and rushed for just under a thousand yards in 2025. There is quality and depth behind him.
The wideouts will be by committee. Look for Keshaun Singleton, Chas Nimrod, and tight end Jake Jounson to tote the load along with others.
Of concern is the offensive line. Transfers Cole Best, Stanton Ramil, and Joseph Simmons will be counted on. If the line can get settled and become solid then this could be a dangerous bunch of Birds. If they struggle then the team will also.
Defensively the Tigers are led by Xavier Atkins who led a stout Auburn defense in both tackles and sacks. He is an ALL-SEC type linebacker.
Add in Elijah Melendez, Demarcus Riddick, and Bryce Deas and the backers should be very good.
Up front Dallas Walker IV, Cody Sigler, Da’Shawn Womack and Jared Smith should be solid. It should be a tough SEC front seven.
In the back, Kaleb Harris returns at safety and is a playmaker. He is joined by Sylvester Smith-Reed, AnQuon Fegans, Rayshawn Pleasant and others.
If this group can play up to the 2025 numbers on total defense then Auburn could be a very solid team.
Add in the returning kicker in Alex McPherson and punter Hudson Kaak and the special teams should be exceptional.
Look for the Tigers to be improved in 2026. How much will be dependent on the offense and keeping Byrum Brown upright and healthy.
The schedule is brutal as usual. At Tennessee, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Alabama. Throw in Florida and LSU at home and there is little room for error.
There are only a couple of gimmies on the schedule. But if things fall into place with the offense, look for the Tigers to stay on that number seven again this year. But in wins instead of losses.
2026 Auburn Tigers Schedule
Sept. 5 vrs Baylor (Atlanta)
Sept. 12 SOUTHERN MISS
Sept. 19 FLORIDA
Sept. 26 VANDERBILT
Oct. 3 at Tennessee
Oct. 17 at Geoergia
Oct. 24 LSU
Oct. 31 at Ole Miss
Nov. 7 ARKANSAS
Nov. 14 at Mississippi State
Nov. 21 SAMFORD
Nov. 28 at Alabama
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