Texas A&M football has been given one last shot by college football playoff committee. Can they take advantage?
Texas A&M football is coming off of a rough stretch where they have lost two out of three games, and are on a two-game losing streak in the Southeastern Conference. After a 5-0 start to the year in conference play, this is a disappointing last couple of games, but all is not yet lost for the Aggies.
Because of the new structure of the College Football Playoff, the Aggies still have a shot to make it into the 12-team field. All they need to do is win their next two games—both against top-10 teams.
That would make the Aggies SEC champions, and the top 5 ranked conference champions make it into the playoff automatically. The Aggies are still in position to make that happen with the right breaks.
Where is Texas A&M ranked in the College Football Playoff top 25?
The committee have ranked Texas A&M football at 20th in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings. That's only a five-spot drop after the Aggies suffered an ugly road loss at 5-6 Auburn.
To me, that signals that the committee still believes in the Aggies' ability to make it into the 12-team field on their own merits. Practically speaking, I think the Ags would have to win in Atlanta to make it in, but if A&M wins next weekend against the Longhorns, we could see them move up into that top 12.
One of South Carolina and Clemson will be forced to lose this week, and they are both ranked ahead of the Aggies. Then, you have 18th-ranked Iowa State playing Kansas State, which could easily be a loss for the Cyclones.
All the Aggies can do is win what's in front of them. They need to lock in now and get ready for the challenge of this weekend.