Desmond Howard has deflected the conventional wisdom that says that Ohio State is the best threat to take down Alabama.

Instead, the ESPN “College GameDay” analyst stayed in the SEC West, and selected Texas A&M as the team

“I really don’t know how people come to that conclusion, I know they have a lot of talent on offense, and CJ Stroud I guess by Vegas odds is the frontrunner for the Heisman,” Howard said on ESPN’s “Get Up. “But I would say outside of that, what have they showed you defensively.”

Howard cited the last 2 Ohio State games against Michigan and Utah when they gave up big yards and a lot of points.

“So I need to see more defensively what they’re going to do because you can’t go up against Alabama with a porous defense,” he said.

Howard, instead, went with Texas A&M in part because it beat Alabama last season, and can match the Crimson Tide in the trenches. Devon Achane was cited as a playmaking threat for the Aggies.

“More importantly, Ryan, you’re dealing with a team, they don’t think, they don’t believe, that they know they can beat Alabama,” Howard said. “You combine that with Nick Saban said what he said about Jimbo Fisher and recruiting, that only adds fuel to the fire.”

Howard also recalled that the Aggies pressured Bryce Young throughout the game, and he was sacked 4 times.

“If you can match Alabama in the trenches, that goes a long way in terms of trying to beat them,” he said.