For Alabama-Texas A&M, Visitors Expected to Keep an Eye on Both Teams

Saturday is easy to describe.

At Kyle Field, where multimillion-dollar renovations have turned it into one of college football's paradise spots, the SEC stalwart visits the team looking to become the SEC stalwart.

Alabama vs. Texas A&M. 

As a six-figure attendance number expects to make Kyle Field the rowdiest place of all college football venues Saturday, several athletes will be in attendance looking at the game in multiple lights. Obviously, they want to see a game, but they'll also be there to see if it's the kind of atmosphere they want to spend their college days of the near future in.

And here's the kicker: Several of the athletes expected to be in attendance have offers from both Texas A&M and Alabama.

It starts with the committed players. Irvin Smith, a 3-star tight end, chose Texas A&M over Alabama and other programs in June. Smith, who plays high school ball in New Orleans, is one of seven players taking an official visit to Texas A&M this weekend.

2017 Aggies quarterback commit Tate Martell will be in attendance on an unofficial visit. Alabama was one of his finalists, but he said the decision was easy after taking in a campus visit in July.

"I knew halfway through the day, right around when I went to lunch, that even if I wasn't playing football, I'd feel comfortable going to college there," Martell said following the visit. "That's the first time I've felt like that with a college. Adding football on top of it, that would make it that much fun."

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

The Aggies are hoping to have more players feel the same by the end of the weekend. Alabama, however, is hoping to show those players in attendance that, even in an unfavorable environment, it is still the team to watch in the SEC.

The list of unofficial visitors is an intriguing one. Athletes such as defensive tackle Jordan Elliott, running back Devwah Whaley and cornerback Eric Cuffee will be paying attention to both programs, as they have offers from both. The same can be said for 2017 athletes, including defensive tackle Marvin Wilson, running back Toneil Carter and linebacker Anthony Hines III.

With all of those athletes, all Texans, the objective for Texas A&M is to keep them in the state. That task becomes more and more of an issue with Alabama landing some of the best from the state. In recent years, the Crimson Tide have signed several Texas athletes, including defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson and defensive backs Tony Brown, Maurice Smith, Kendall Sheffield and Deionte Thompson.

And then there are the athletes who hail from other states, athletes where both Texas A&M and Alabama have to show their recruiting skills to pull a quality, out-of-state target.

Oluwole Betiku is the nation's No. 11 overall player and top-ranked weak-side defensive end. Although he's a UCLA commit, Betiku is being heavily recruited by both the Aggies and Crimson Tide—as well as a host of other national programs.

Courtesy: 247Sports

Texas A&M is hoping to make a huge statement over the weekend by impressing an official visitors list that features nothing but out-of-state targets. One of those players is wide receiver N'Keal Harry, the top-ranked 2016 player in the state of Arizona.

If there's one school that knows about Arizona talent, it's Texas A&M. The Aggies signed the top-ranked 2014 and 2015 Arizonans, and the two, quarterback Kyle Allen and wide receiver Christian Kirk, are now a connection to watch.

"I'm excited to get out to Texas A&M and see how fast SEC players are," Harry told Justin Hopkins of 247Sports. "I really want to see the environment and meet the coaches."

Texas A&M wants Harry to continue the Arizona pipeline. Alabama wants that pipeline to make a detour.

Both teams are hoping Saturday is big enough for the recruits in attendance to make choices in their favor. And if that means one team wins a recruiting battle against the other, so be it.

Damon Sayles is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. All player ratings are courtesy of 247Sports' composite ratings. Follow Damon via Twitter: @DamonSayles.