Greg McElroy picks Auburn-Texas A&M winner on Saturday

As part of his weekly picks segment on the Always College Football podcast, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy previewed the Auburn Tigers' road game against Texas A&M and provided his expert pick on the matchup.

He began with his spin on the two squads' form coming into the SEC head-to-head.

"Auburn coming off a very disappointing yet hard-fought loss at the hands of Oklahoma," McElroy commented. "I think they proved to everybody they can play with just about anyone. Hugh Freeze, I think, has done a pretty good job this year. You look at their personnel, I like what they have on offense, I like what they have on defense."

When it comes to Texas A&M, a great start could heat up even more.

"For Mike Elko, the win at South Bend was massive," McElroy said of the Aggies' rad victory over Notre Dame in Week 3. They have done a great job, I think, over the course of the last two years early on. Things haven’t gone as well in November, but you’re probably going to get A&M’s best in this game."

Texas A&M already busted up the national championship runner-ups for 41 points and won the four-quarter thriller on the back of their dazzling dual-threat quarterback, Marcel Reed, who sealed the victory with a fourth-down flick of the wrist, on the run, to a backup tight end, in the end zone, who was blanketed by a Notre Dame defender. If that's their best, Auburn is in for another road test of brutal difficulty. For that reason...

"I will take Texas A&M," McElroy predicted. "But I’ll take the points here. I think it’s going to be a dog fight between two teams that match up really well against each other."

The former Alabama quarterback isn't selling Auburn's stock altogether in this contest and likes the Tigers to keep it close, but in what he views as an fairly even contest, the home side gets the nod.

According to Vegas Insider, Texas A&M is a seductive 6.5-point favorite, just needing to win by a clean even touchdown to cover. But, Greg McElroy expects a tight one and won't be shocked if Auburn is able to learn from last week's woes and protect their QB better en route to a flipped result in their favor this time around.