The latest AP Poll is out and the Texas A&M Football team is officially in the top five. This, however, might seem like somewhat of a negative after the Aggies landed at the fifth spot at the conclusion of the 2020 season, leaving them out of the College Football Playoff.
Still, it’s a bump up from their original AP Poll ranking, which had them ranked as the 6th-best team in the country. Now, they’re considered the 5th-best by AP voters.
How did they get this bump up? The real answer is that they took care of business. They didn’t have a close-call win, as some other top teams did — they won a game in which they were favored by 29.5 points by 31. If anything, expectations were slightly exceeded.
The Texas A&M Football team benefitted from a high-profile early-season matchup
In hindsight, the Aggies bump up into the top five should have been expected. Texas A&M was almost guaranteed a win against Kent State, while two teams that were in the original top five went head-to-head in Clemson and Georgia. In that one, Georgia would come out the victor.
As a result, the Clemson Tigers dropped three spots into A&M’s original sixth spot. The Aggies moved up into the five slot, shifting in unison with Ohio State, who moved from four to three.
But with this move, the question remains — can the Texas A&M Football team move up another spot, cementing them into the College Football Playoff conversation?
The Texas A&M Football team can reach the four spot by winning games that they should win
Texas A&M being the fifth-ranked team in the country doesn’t really mean much. After just a single week of college football, there’s only so much that we know about each team, SEC or otherwise.
There is, however, one team that we learned a lot about this week. That team goes by the name of Oklahoma, and they’re sitting a single spot ahead of the Texas A&M Football team in the Week 2 AP Poll at No. 4.
Entering the season, Oklahoma was thought of as a team that could compete for a national championship. With returning quarterback Spencer Rattler under center, the sky seemed to be the limit for this squad. On Saturday, that didn’t look to be the case.
The Sooners didn’t just have a rough game — they almost lost to Tulane, sneaking by with a 5-point victory. If not for a defensive stop at the end of the 4th quarter, the Sooners may have blown a 23-point halftime lead to a bad AAC team. The same Tulane team that went 6-6 last season, including a 3-5 AAC record. That’s the AAC, not the ACC.
If you don’t understand why I think Texas A&M can sneak into the 4th spot in the AP Poll, I’ll just spell it out for you. Oklahoma looks bad. At the very least, they look like a team that could lose a game in the near future, vaulting A&M into College Football Playoff territory.
At the end of the day though, does it really matter?
The Texas A&M Football team’s season is dependant on a single game against the Alabama Crimson Tide
Let’s say, hypothetically, that the Texas A&M Football team continues to win. Let’s also say, hypothetically, that one of Oklahoma’s upcoming opponents manages to knock them off. The Aggies would undoubtedly surge into the top four. Then what?
Well… they would be considered a top-four team until they faced Alabama, who will either vault them into being considered the best team in college football with a win or send them down toward the teens with a loss.
So even if Texas A&M managed to slide up into the fourth spot ahead of Oklahoma, their game against ‘Bama will change everything. In short, it doesn’t really matter what happens with the AP Poll for Jimbo Fisher’s squad. After LSU’s ugly early-season loss, A&M’s only opportunity to prove themselves against a ranked team may come against the Tide.
To take things a step further, Texas A&M will have Clemson breathing down their neck.
That’s right, the Clemson Tigers, despite an ugly loss, are still considered one of the best teams in the country. As per usual, they’ll likely win out for the remainder of the season, meaning they’ll be sitting one spot behind the Aggies, waiting for a mistake.
The gist of the story here is to not occupy yourself with the AP Poll this season. It’s fun to see where teams have moved around, but the Aggies’ season will be decided by a single game. If Texas A&M loses to Alabama, then we might have a reason to be on AP Poll-watch.