Texas A&M Football: Why does ESPN FPI give Auburn higher CFP odds?

Though the Texas A&M football team has not yet reached the College Football Playoff, their eyes are set on the postseason competition. A&M came close in 2020-21 but would ultimately be the first team left out. Their only loss during a shortened season came against the eventual national champion Alabama Crimson Tide.

In 2022-23, the Aggies’ primary goal will be to make the playoff — anything less would be considered a disappointing season. So why has Texas A&M been given such poor College Football Playoff odds according to ESPN?

Last week, ESPN released its Football Power Index, which wasn’t complimentary toward the Aggies. Texas A&M ranked 14th overall. But don’t worry, their College Football Playoff predictor was much nicer. Just kidding. It was just as bad.

How and why was Auburn given higher College Football Playoff odds than the Texas A&M football team by ESPN?

While it’s not necessarily shocking to hear that someone may not think the Texas A&M football team won’t make the College Football Playoff, there’s a line when it becomes disrespectful. ESPN has crossed that line on multiple occasions.

The first occasion happened when they released their aforementioned FPI, which had the Aggies as their 14th-ranked team. Ahead of them, you’ll see Auburn at the 10th spot, which makes virtually zero sense at all. A majority of media outlets will have Auburn as one of the bottom three teams in the entire conference.

Not ESPN.

The second area that sees ESPN disrespect Texas A&M and overinflates Auburn is their College Football Playoff predictor, which has Texas A&M given a 1.4% chance and Auburn given a 2.7% chance. Why? Nobody knows.

Both teams are in the SEC West, so this isn’t an issue with Strength of Schedule. Texas A&M has an objectively more talented roster — the Aggies ranked 8th in 247Sports‘ Talent Composite last season and should jump even higher with the top all-time class being welcomed in 2022. The Auburn Tigers, on the other hand, will drop in the talent index, as they welcome the 20th-ranked class in the nation.

The Tigers are coming off of a 6-7 season and will have a second-year head coach. Jimbo Fisher is coming off of an 8-4 season without a bowl game and will be entering his fifth season. Heck, Auburn’s starting quarterback will likely be Zach Calzada, who was seemingly forced out by Texas A&M’s coaching staff.

Make ESPN’s rankings make sense.

At the end of the day, this is flat-out disrespectful toward A&M, which is doing everything right. Hopefully, the Aggies can post these rankings in the locker room before they take on the Tigers on November 12th.