AP voters have mercy on Texas A&M, portending championship-level matchup this weekend

Texas A&M football hangs tough at 20 in the AP Poll despite loss to sub-.500 Auburn Tigers

There was a question of how far Texas A&M football might fall in the rankings after last night's lamentable result on the Plains. Well, with one major poll now released, Aggie fans can breathe a sigh of relief that they are by no means out of the running.

Of course, in one sense, we knew that already. The Aggies still control their own destiny to make the playoff if they win the remainder of their games, just like before. Because of the assistance of Oklahoma and Florida, the Ags are still captains of their own ship in that regard.

But the rankings reflect that Texas A&M football is still a team within striking distance of that all-important top 12. A&M dropped from 15th to 20th in the rankings, meaning two big wins in the next two weeks would be enough to get them back into the College Football Playoff field even on their own merits.

With the auto-qualifiers, that may not seem like much; but it's only the top 5 rated auto-qualifiers that make it. It would be unimaginable in some ways for that not to include the SEC, but this has been a really strange year so far.

This sets up a big time showdown between two ranked squads when Texas comes to Kyle this weekend. The Aggies and Longhorns will both be ranked, College Gameday will be in town, and a trip to Atlanta will be on the line.

This game, in other words, hasn't lost any of its luster. This will be the showdown of the weekend—and maybe of the entire year—in college football.