The Texas A&M football team is heading into fall camp with a huge chip on their shoulder. The 2022 campaign began with very high hopes for the Aggies, coming in with an initial ranking of 6th in the country, before everything went down the tubes. The Ags ended up with a horrific record of 2-5 in one-score games en route to a 5-7 overall mark. The lone bright spot on the season (aside from general promise from most of the highly-touted freshmen class, and, I guess, beating Arkansas in improbable fashion yet again) was a drubbing of division champion LSU in the final game of the year. I imagine the full story will be told someday, but that result feels absolutely key to the Ags being able to keep so much of their young core together—a young core that looks to figure prominently in the Aggies’ championship window over the next two seasons.
It is due to that young core for Texas A&M football that most people project a bounce-back year for the Aggies in 2023. It is the general consensus that a mark of 9-3 (10-3 with a bowl win) feels like progress without getting too far out over your skis with regard to this team’s ability. 2024, the thought goes, is really when the Aggies will have a shot at the SEC championship and the CFP. After all, the Aggies don’t have to face Alabama or Georgia that year.
But what if their window is open this year? Could they challenge for the SEC West crown? As I mentioned, most fans feel this is too optimistic. Too big an ask for a team coming off that kind of horrific record.
But is it really so crazy to think that the Aggies might have a shot?
No. It’s not crazy.
Let me tell you why.