Make it make sense?! The Texas A&M Aggies are 9-0 on the season and 6-0 in SEC play with an impressive road win over Notre Dame on their resume. Yet, apparently it was not enough to have the Aggies move up even one spot in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. Although Aggie fans prepared for this, it still should not be landing well for the fine folks in College Station Tuesday night.
Having Ohio State ranked No. 1 is somewhat justifiable. The Buckeyes are 9-0 and are the defending national champions. If you want to be the man, you have to beat the man. As for Indiana, the Hoosiers may be No. 2, but they nearly lost on the road to a pathetic Penn State team. If not for a crazy game-winning touchdown, who knows where they would be ranked this week. Should Texas A&M be No. 1?
On SportsCenter before Tuesday night's show, McElroy made his case for Texas A&M to be No. 1.
"I think it will be A&M today. I think they're complete in all three phrases. They can beat you on offense. They can beat you on defense, but most importantly, they can beat you on special teams, too. Another big punt, that was huge. Return game is huge. I think A&M is extremely well-rounded, have a really good argument to make it."
Unfortunately for McElroy, the Selection Committee saw differently, as here is their latest top 25.
- Ohio State Buckeyes (9-0)
- Indiana Hoosiers (10-0)
- Texas A&M Aggies (9-0)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1)
- Georgia Bulldogs (8-1)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (9-1)
- Ole Miss Rebels (9-1)
- Oregon Ducks (8-1)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2)
- Texas Longhorns (7-2)
- Oklahoma Sooners (7-2)
- BYU Cougars (8-1)
- Utah Utes (7-2)
- Vanderbilt Commodores (8-2)
- Miami Hurricanes (7-2)
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-1)
- USC Trojans (7-2)
- Michigan Wolverines (7-2)
- Virginia Cavaliers (8-2)
- Louisville Cardinals (7-2)
- Iowa Hawkeyes (6-3)
- Pittsburgh Panthers (7-2)
- Tennessee Volunteers (6-3)
- South Florida Bulls (7-2)
- Cincinnati Bearcats (7-2)
Based on the criteria of making the College Football Playoff, these are the 12 teams in this week.
- Ohio State Buckeyes (9-0)
- Indiana Hoosiers (10-0)
- Texas A&M Aggies (9-0)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1)
- Georgia Bulldogs (8-1)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (9-1)
- Ole Miss Rebels (9-1)
- Oregon Ducks (8-1)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2)
- Texas Longhorns (7-2)
- Miami Hurricanes (7-2)
- South Florida Bulls (7-2)
Unbelievably, Texas A&M got robbed of being at least the No. 2 seed instead of a team like Indiana...
Texas A&M has a bone or two to pick with Indiana holding onto No. 2 spot
It is Texas A&M's fault that LSU and Missouri fell apart at the seams after the Aggies played them? Again, beating the No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend should matter more than it does here. At least Texas A&M had the stones to schedule somebody worth a damn in the non-conference. Indiana never does this under Curt Cignetti. Indiana is 10-0 by largely playing nondescript opponents.
Yes, the Hoosiers have two ranked wins over Iowa and Oregon, but are those teams winning a national championship? No, but Notre Dame just might... The good news for the Aggies is they will have multiple opportunities to improve its resume to get past Indiana once and for all. Texas A&M has games with South Carolina, Samford and at Texas. Indiana has Wisconsin and at Purdue remaining.
Although Indiana may have one more data point than Texas, the Aggies have played the tougher schedule up to this point. Committee chairmen Mack Rhoades was just blabbering nonsense when talking to Rece Davis after the rankings were revealed. While Indiana is undoubtedly a good team, Texas A&M has played a more robust schedule than them. That should matter, but it does not here...
Rhoades' comments should have Texas A&M fans feeling a certain way because what is this even?
"Yeah, one of our longer discussions in our meetings and you know Indiana, gave them the edge again defensively. We talked about that last week, certainly offensively as well. You think about Indiana's body of work and wins going against Oregon at Eugene, the Iowa win, we certainly looked at the Texas A&M win in South Bend. That's a big win for them."
He effectively said that Texas A&M gets dinged for playing a Matt Zollers-led Missouri Tigers team.
"The win vs. Missouri on the road, the committee a little bit about Missouir, not the Missouri team that they've been. Third quarterback play, a true freshman and Indiana found a way to find a way. Mendoza down the stretch, second rated quarterback passing efficiency, so those were all the things that we talked about and gave Indiana the edge.
Just beat South Carolina senseless, do the same to Samford, mess with Texas and A&M shall be fine...