The Texas A&M football team received heavy criticism for its easy schedule in 2020. With a shortened year due to COVID-19, A&M only played 10 games. Among those games, they had two tough opponents — Alabama and Florida — which they would split and come out of with a 1-1 record.
Despite this, Jimbo Fisher’s team would be the first team left out of the College Football Playoff.
While AD Ross Bjork has been making moves to give the Aggies a tougher schedule, it’s something that’s tough to do immediately. As things stand, A&M will have to lean on its current schedule to make it to the CFP. So how does the Aggies’ 2022 slate stack up against other SEC teams?
Texas A&M football’s 2022 schedule could be one of the toughest in the SEC by the end of the season
The tricky part about scheduling in college football is that it can be extremely fluid. A team that is ranked in the top ten at the beginning of the year could easily become unranked or vice versa. A&M’s schedule has a chance to improve drastically.
Here’s what the Aggies’ non-conference slate looks like in 2022.
- Sam Houston
- Appalachian State
- Miami (FL)
- UMass
A&M’s non-conference slate is solid in 2022. At the very least, the Aggies will take on a talented Miami team. That said, if the Hurricanes have a strong season, which is very possible, A&M’s strength of schedule could allow for them to be a one or two-loss College Football Playoff team.
The Aggies also have a few tough intra-conference teams. Here are some notable parts of their SEC schedule.
- Mississippi State
- Alabama
- Ole Miss
- Florida
- LSU
The Aggies also have contests against teams that flirted with the top-25 in 2021 like Arkansas, Auburn, and Mississippi State. The most notable games for A&M will come against Alabama, Ole Miss, and Florida, three extremely talented ball teams.
USA Today’s UGA Wire ranks the Aggies’ schedule at sixth in the conference, one spot behind Mississippi State. Here’s what Joe Vitale said about A&M’s slate in 2022.
"I have high hopes for the Aggies this year, but they have a tough road ahead of them. Both App State and Miami are solid enough to give Jimbo Fisher trouble. Of course there’s the game in Tuscaloosa, plus Florida, LSU and a visit to Auburn."
At the end of the day, we don’t really know what to expect in 2022. More than a handful of teams could have much different seasons than anticipated.