Recruiting fallout from Texas A&M's win could vault Aggies back into no. 1 race

Texas A&M took LSU to the woodshed in their huge win last night over the Tigers in Death Valley, all but ending the Tigers' dreams of playoff contention this year. It was dominant from the word "go," even though the Aggies got in their own way a couple of times in the first half.

One of the best parts of this win, besides the satisfaction of turning Death Valley into Kyle Field East, was the effect it will have in the recruiting world. The Aggies compete with the Tigers for a lot of Texas and Deep South recruits, and this win is a clear indication of where each program is trending— especially when you leave the LSU fans chanting to fire their coach because of how badly you're beating them.

The Tigers were hosting a litany of five-stars for this game, hoping to impress them with the vaunted Death Valley atmosphere. What they saw instead was a stadium that emptied out in the middle of the third quarter, demanding loudly for the coach recruiting these five-stars to be relieved of his duties. It couldn't have worked out better for the Aggies.

Texas A&M can seize massive recruiting momentum after dominant win over LSU

The Tigers were kind enough to host several top Aggie targets for whom they and other schools are vying, giving them a nice front-row seat to just how dominant Texas A&M has become under Mike Elko. Luminaries such as no. 1 overall 2026 recruit Lamar Brown (who reposted the below tweet), five-star safety Bralan Womack, and five-star receiver Jase Mathews were all present for the Aggies' big win.

Brown is committed to the Tigers, but there's a lot of reason to think A&M has gotten a foot in the door once again after finishing second for him this past July. Womack and Mathews could well be disillusioned with how Auburn is playing, and with Hugh Freeze also on the hot seat, the Aggies could make a move there as well.

The Tigers have been pushing hard to flip Aggie running back commit KJ Edwards, but KJ is now more locked in with the Aggies than ever after last night's win:

Lamar Brown in particular is a player that the Aggies need to pursue hard. It was a very close race for him with LSU this summer, and A&M could press the advantage here. He apparently joined the Texas A&M section near the end of the game, even though he was there visiting the Tigers.

Mike Elko has a huge chance here to seize momentum and make another run at the top overall 2026 class. This is a pivotal win for the future of the program in several different respects, and it's time to take advantage.