Texas A&M is all but assured to have a completely lost 2026 season at this point— after entering the year with College Football Playoff aspirations and a top-10 ranking, the Aggies, behind an anemic offense, are going to struggle to make a bowl this season. That's the definition of a disappointment— but thankfully, in this era of college football, it's not hard at all to bounce back in short order when something like this happens.
That's thanks to the ability of a program to rebuild quickly at key spots with the transfer portal, as we've seen so many do— and now, with this latest announcement about the College Football Playoff expanding, Elko's path to have this program bounce back is clear. The Aggies will have to ride out this season, but with a 24-team field coming as soon as next season, they can be right back in the Playoff discussion quite comfortably in 2027.
Pete Thamel of ESPN reports that the long-rumored 24-team Playoff expansion is "nearing a deal" to come to pass. This day has seemed inevitable for a while, despite hiccups here and there with one conference or another making a fuss.
Texas A&M could benefit from timing of recently-announced 24-team College Football Playoff expansion
This tosses the rest of college football into a bit of an upheaval, of course, with the most likely next casualty looking to be conference championship games. That is a necessity of the schedule, as the Playoff, which already has been starting pretty early here in the 12-team era, will need another weekend to work in this extra game.
There are a lot of reasons why this is probably not good for the long-term health of the sport, but in the immediate future, this means that it will be even easier for the Aggies to get a foot in the door for Playoff contention. There are a lot of things that are going to have to be reworked in order for this team to get back to where they belong, but the bar for Playoff contention dropping— as bad as it sounds— makes it a little bit easier on them this offseason.
If the criteria for getting into the Playoff is sinking to simply "be ranked and you're in," it's definitely a fundamental shift in how things have worked in the college football postseason; that said, staying in the national conversation will be easier to do going forward. The Aggies' SEC schedule isn't going to get any easier going forward, so they need desperately to fix things on offense so that they can stay in that conversation in 2027 and beyond.
The influx of talent from the upcoming recruiting class— provided Elko and company can keep them together, that is— will also be a big help. A&M will have one if not two ready-to-play starters on the offensive line, a dynamic weapon in Eric McFarland on the outside and a do-it-all receiver in Jaden Upshaw, and a host of heavyweights on the defensive end as well.
It's never been easier to recover from a down season than it is right now in college football— and though this news will dismay some anti-expansionists, it may end up being a boon for the Aggies right now.
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