Texas A&M football's ranking stagnancy portends possible doomsday scenario for Aggies

Texas A&M football stays put at 15, raising an uncomfortable question: Could committee hold an SEC championship loss over Aggies' heads?

Texas A&M football has stayed put in this week's college football playoff rankings after their win over New Mexico State. It wasn't the opponent this week that had Aggie fans thinking they could move up, but the losses that occurred higher up in the rankings opening up spots.

However, both of those losing teams failed to tumble as far as Aggie fans had hoped. Tennessee dropped four spots down to 11, and BYU dropped eight spots down to 14, only one ahead of the Ags.

This means the Aggies are currently the lowest-ranked of the four two-loss SEC teams. It's not super close, either, despite some comparable resumes in certain respects.

Alabama is ranked higher due to their win over Georgia, despite the fact that one of their losses is to an unranked Vandy. Ole Miss is ranked higher due to their win over Georgia, despite the fact that both of their losses are to unranked teams—Kentucky and LSU. Tennessee is ranked higher due to their win over Alabama, despite the fact that they lost to a very unranked Arkansas.

I have no gripe with the Bulldogs' placement, though. Georgia being ranked higher makes sense, given that they have the highest-ranked win and both of their losses are to top-10 teams.

Both of A&M's losses are to ranked teams (no. 6 Notre Dame and no. 18 South Carolina), but their best win is the lowest-ranked out of these in no. 23 Missouri (who's barely hanging on down there).

This raises some uncomfortable questions. The Aggies get Auburn this week, over whom a win would not be particularly moving to the committee (unless the Aggies win by, like, 50). 5 Indiana and 2 Ohio State play each other, and 6 Notre Dame will play 19 Army, but there's not too much chance of any other ranked teams ahead of the Aggies tumbling (unless Texas sustains a loss to Kentucky, I mean).

I still don't think the loser of Indiana and Ohio State will fall below the Aggies—if BYU didn't, Indiana won't, and if Georgia didn't, Ohio State won't. That means that, going into rivalry weekend, if the Aggies take down Auburn, they will probably still be at 15, barring upsets.

So, then, it will be either 3rd-or-2nd-ranked Texas coming into Kyle Field to play 15th-ranked Texas A&M on rivalry weekend. If the Aggies win, though, the committee has a conundrum.

Texas will obviously slide, as they will have no good wins. A&M, who just beat them, will move above them. But when you compare the resume of the Aggies to Georgia at that point, they both have the same best win, and Georgia's two losses (again, 7 Alabama and 9 Ole Miss) are better than the Aggies' two losses.

If that logic is sound, then the Aggies are no higher than 9 at that point, going into conference championship weekend—Georgia would be at 8, given that one of Ohio State and IU would have slid, as would have Texas. If that's the case, the Aggies are in a dangerous spot.

That would pit 5 Alabama against 9 Texas A&M in the SEC championship. The Big 10 championship would be between top-4 Oregon and Indiana/Ohio State. Penn State, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, and Georgia would all be idle, since none would be playing in a conference championship.

This opens the door to a possible doomsday scenario: the Aggies make the SEC championship as part of the 12-team field, but lose in that game to drop out of that field.

This is currently more realistic than most A&M fans would like to admit. If the chalk plays out (which is a big if, in this sport), then A&M is in a perilous position here. It's hard to see the committee not moving A&M down if a loss occurred, and then there's the risk that other teams would jump them from below.

In all likelihood, the ACC championship would be between Miami and SMU, with the Canes still ranked higher than A&M. If both A&M and Miami lose, the Canes will probably not go lower than the Aggies, while the Ponies might move above them. BYU and Colorado (again, most likely) will be playing for the Big 12 championship, and the winner there could move ahead of A&M, as they would have (at most) two losses compared to A&M's three.

Again, this is a worst-case scenario. Some other upsets are likely to happen to aid the Aggies' chances. But if this comes to pass, Aggie fans will be white-knuckling it on Selection Sunday—not a position you want to be in.