There are more than 170 builders in the Bryan-College Station Home Builders Association, but the community's most important one isn't even a member. That's Texas A&M head football coach Mike Sherman, who is trying to build the Aggie program into one of the best in the nation.

We thought Sherman could use a few professional tips, so we've enlisted some of the area's top home builders to be part of The Eagle's 18-mammal Prognosticator Panel.

They can teach Sherman how to explain when high expectations go bad by blaming:

* Their materials (i.e. talent). The standard goes like this: "Those materials were somewhat substandard, and we've since stopped using that supplier."

* The weather (injuries). This can cause a delay in the production that the builder "didn't see coming".

* Other obstacles (tough road games). Some of you have heard this one: "We hit a snag laying the foundation that delayed the process ...."

Sherman in turn could help the home builders with their picks.

Home builders agreeing to build laughter to an all-time high for our readers are Duane Faltysek, Triple J Construction; Randy French, Stylecraft Builders; Coulter Mariott, Mariott Homes, Inc.; Michael Patranella, Gerard Construction; Randall Pitcock, Pitcock & Croix Custom Homes; Michael Schaefer, Schaefer Custom Homes; Dan Sears, LBI Legend Builders; and Ronnie White, David Price Home Builders.

I did have a problem reaching them. I never realized that greasing building inspectors took that much time.

The home builders will be facing an assortment of veteran journalists.

Publisher Jim Wilson and editor Donnis Baggett lead The Eagle's braintrust with sports geeks Larry Bowen, Richie Croome, David Campbell, Robert Premeaux and yours truly supplying more comic relief.

"I was excited to see the group you picked, Cease," Jim said. "Tough pickers. Then I re-read the list and saw Patranella's name. I thought he was a banker or cowboy."

He might be.

KZNE SportsTalk guru Chip Howard and sponsor Paul Atkinson of Atkinson Toyota round out the humans. Chip, the winningest picker in Prog history, passed Florida State's Bobby Bowden last year and now takes aim on Penn State's Joe Paterno -- at least until the NCAA takes away 14 of his victories. Paul becomes the first back-to-back Prog sponsor. Two years in a row makes it a tradition now. Right?

Buddy Cessna completes the 18-mammal panel. Buddy finished ahead of five pickers last year, including four psychologists/counselors who won't have enough couch time in a lifetime to live that down. Buddy, by the way, got an all-bones paid trip to Orlando for his career-best season. Let's see what he can do this season without the extra therapy sessions.

The home builders are an impressive bunch, picked from more than 30 nominees.

Duane, who also coaches the Renegades baseball team, received the most votes, edging out Michael Schaefer. Duane has been following the Aggies, Consol Tigers and Dallas Cowboys for more than 20 years -- and we still picked him.

Michael Patranella funded many a building project in a previous life as a banker, when he also played a few softball games.

Randall was a pretty good softball umpire, even calling state tournaments. But when his eyesight was no longer 20-20, he started building. He now uses his ability to bully around beer-league players on the College Station school board.

Keeping the diamond theme, Ronnie was a great baseball player for the Vikings. He was so quick, he could almost steal first base.

Randy has been an institution in the Bryan-College Station area for decades and received some quality air time on ABC's Extreme Makeover.

Many who nominated Michael Schaefer said he was their favorite home builder, but didn't offer much more to back his nomination. It was kinda strange, too, that all the votes came from the same e-mail account.

Dan came highly recommended, but I was shocked to find out he doesn't have an e-mail account. I think the government should make e-mail accounts mandatory. Call it socialized e-mailing.

Coulter, though, had the most compelling nomination.

"Coulter Mariott was not only born and raised in College Station, he is a proud member of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2005," said his newly wed wife, Bridget. "I think it's safe to say he has a perfect attendance record for Aggie football since 1983! His many daily visits -- and let me emphasize "many" -- to texags.com and tamu.rivals.com is just the beginning of his love and devotion for Aggie sports.

"We leave for our honeymoon Thursday, but before he booked the trip he called ahead to the resort we are staying at to confirm that the Aggie game would be broadcast --no matter what the cost."

Sounds like Coulter should have been on last year's panel with the shrinks.

I'm gonna miss the psychologists and counselors who taught me to put the past behind. Then again, I tied for second last year. I beat all the couch huggers but one, and finished ahead of Chip. So why wouldn't I want to dwell on the past?

Maybe it's something I can build on.

Robert Cessna's e-mail robert.cessna@theeagle.com.