ESPN just put the Aggies on a list that should have every fan of the maroon and white pretty excited to see what this team can do in the fall. Bill Connelly, one of the smartest minds over at the Worldwide Leader in Sports, just released his yearly "if"s list— in other words, the biggest questions facing championship contenders.
Since he began putting out this list, every team to win a national championship has had three or fewer of these big questions in the preseason. It's a big deal to even make it at all, to be fair, as the number only goes to four "if"s, meaning that there are only 14 total teams on the list.
The Aggies are in a great spot on this latest list. Despite the longest odds in their tier, the Aggies occupy some company that will likely shock the average fan and delight those in College Station.
Texas A&M notches another great preseason sign for possible dark-horse championship run
On Connelly's list, which you can find at this link, there are only two teams in the "2 ifs" tier: Penn State and Alabama. In the "3 ifs" tier, you can find Ohio State, Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame, and... Texas A&M.
You can see from the Vegas odds alone that A&M is the odd one out here— but does that tell us more about the team, or the betting market? After all, it's hard to find more questions than Connelly did with this team: as he mentions, too, Reed returns with the highest QBR of any freshman in the SEC, beating out an impressive list... including LaNorris Sellers and DJ Lagway.
A&M's questions, too, seem to have a better chance of a positive answer than some other teams on the list. Reed just has to be a bit more consistent downfield; the Aggies just need to have just a few less breakdowns on the back end, etc. Meanwhile, for example, Texas needs Arch to be the best player in the country and need to recreate last year's excellent line play with a hodgepodge of transfers on both sides— not something with strong historical precedent.
This is just yet another reason to see big things ahead for the Aggies in 2025. Connelly is usually on the money with these lists; here's hoping he has the Ags right in this one.