Arizona State @ Texas A&M preview

Bragging rights will be on the line when 16th-ranked Arizona State takes on Texas A&M on Saturday night in a neutral site matchup called "The Texas Kickoff" at NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans. It's the only regular season game scheduled between the Pac-12 and the SEC, considered by many to be the top two conferences in college football this year.

Arizona State, picked by ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit to make the four-team College Football Playoff this year, returns 17 starters from a squad that defeated USC (38-34), Stanford (26-10), Utah (19-16 in OT) and Notre Dame (55-31) a year ago. The Sun Devils figure to have their hands full with an explosive Texas A&M squad that lured respected defensive coordinator John Chavis away from LSU for $1.7 million per year to try and revive the famed "Wrecking Crew" defense after the Aggies ranked 102nd in the nation in total defense a year ago. Although A&M should enjoy a big edge in fan support, Arizona State coach Todd Graham welcomes the challenge. "Scheduling this game first has really been an interesting experience, and it really impacted our summer," Graham said. "So we're excited and ready to load up."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Texas A&M -3.5

ABOUT ARIZONA STATE (2014, 10-3): Senior Mike Bercovici, who passed for 998 yards and eight touchdowns with two interceptions in his first two starts last season, takes over for Taylor Kelly at quarterback and has drawn raves from Graham for his leadership. He has one of the top weapons in the Pac-12 in versatile D.J. Foster, who has caught 125 passes over the last two seasons and also ran for 1,081 yards in 2014, to lean on. The defense, which lacks a true pass rusher up front, returns three starters in the secondary and is led by cornerback Lloyd Carrington, an honorable mention All-Pac 12 pick a year ago, and safety Jordan Simone.

ABOUT TEXAS A&M (2014, 8-5): Sophomore Kyle Allen, regarded by some scouts as the nation's No. 1 prep quarterback prospect for the Class of 2014, gained 25 pounds in the off-season and held off a fall camp challenge from another five-star recruit, Kyler Murray, to retain the starting quarterback spot. "We challenged him in January to become a better leader, and his knowledge not only of our offense, but of (opposing) defenses," A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. "He's had an excellent spring ... he got a number of quality reps, then Kyler (Murray) showed up and he's had great competition, and he's accepted that." Allen, who started five games as a freshman, will be throwing to one of the nation's best receiving corps led by Josh Reynolds (53 catches for 842 yards, 13 TDs), Ricky Seals-Jones (49 catches, 465 yards, four TDs) and Speedy Noil (46 receptions, five TDs).

EXTRA POINTS

1. Foster is the NCAA active leader in all-purpose yards with 3,965.

2. Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett earned preseason All-American and all-SEC honors after breaking the SEC freshman quarterback sack record with 11.5 last season.

3. Arizona State has averaged 30 takeaways in three seasons under Graham.

PREDICTION: Arizona State 35, Texas A&M 31