As top-ranked teams continue to falter, Texas A&M football has an opportunity to make a huge move this season
Though Texas A&M football enjoyed a nice bye this weekend, Aggie fans have to be pleased with a lot of what they saw around the country.
I don't necessarily mean the results of the games, though—there are certainly some outcomes that Aggie fans would reverse, if they had their druthers. Rather, I'm talking about the way the supposed top teams ended up looking throughout the weekend.
Alabama escaped South Carolina by the skin of their teeth. Fresh off of destroying that same South Carolina team, Ole Miss lost to an LSU squad that fell to 3-3 USC. Texas put up an offensive performance against Oklahoma that looked almost exactly like what lowly Auburn did against the Sooners.
Ohio State and Oregon both looked sloppy in what was supposed to be a game of the year candidate. Georgia pulled away from Mississippi State... only to let them back in the game down the stretch. Tennessee nearly lost to a moribund Florida squad.
In other words, the gap between the elite teams and the rest is far closer than it has been in years past. There's no unbeatable, unimpeachable squad standing head and shoulders above the rest.
Sunday Thoughts: The gap between the best CFB teams and the middle-tier teams hasn't been this small in at least a decade and it makes every week a wild ride.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 13, 2024
For a Texas A&M football team still coming into their own, that's amazing news.
This Aggie squad put up a performance last week that's as impressive as any we've seen this year—out of any team in the nation. Missouri is a legitimately good team, and the Aggies beat them like a drum.
An ever-improving defense—one that looks like it may be the best in the entire conference—paired with a resurgent and creative offense with Conner Weigman at the helm has Aggie fans dreaming big.
By virtue of their 3-0 conference record, the Ags currently hold the top spot in the SEC. It hasn't been smooth sailing to get there, but they are there now. If they can consistently harness what we saw this past weekend—and that is a big if, by the way—they can hang with any team in the nation.
This year more than ever, all you need is a shot. And it looks like the Aggies are shaping up to be a team with a better shot than most.