Texas A&M football stays put at 15, but Aggies still have chance to rise with more carnage ahead
Texas A&M football is on their bye week, and thus stayed put in the new AP Top 25. The Aggies are still at 15, and have carved out a bit of a niche there for themselves; the Aggies have 674 votes, while Army, ranked 16th, has 533, and SMU, ranked 14th, has 788. For comparison, Clemson, down at 17, is nipping at Army's heels with only 9 fewer votes than the Black Knights.
Though this would put the Aggies outside the top 12 if the season ended today, the goal remains the same: win your games, and you're in. It should also be mentioned that the Aggies have the benefit of some carnage that has yet to occur in the ranks ahead of them.
This upcoming week, 11 Georgia and 6 Tennessee face off in Athens. It's not impossible to think that the loser of that game will fall behind the Aggies; it's a surety if Georgia loses, but if the Vols lose, it may be less likely.
Then, you have 5 Indiana and 2 Ohio State, set to face off on November 23. With only a Buckeye trip to Northwestern separating us from that game, given that the Hoosiers have an off week, those rankings will likely be intact for that contest. Now, it's not a sure thing that the loser of that game falls behind the Aggies either, but if the Buckeyes do indeed stumble, the Aggies would have an argument based on best win.
Speaking of resumes, the other good piece of news for the Aggies is that, currently, both of their losses are to ranked teams. Notre Dame is now in the top 8, and South Carolina is down at 23. The Gamecocks play Missouri this week, so either the Ags lose a ranked win or one of their two losses becomes to an unranked team, though.
Of course, what matters most is that the Aggies keep on winning. This week against New Mexico State will be a nice warmup for the final two games against Auburn and Texas—if the Ags win both of those, they are now shoo-ins for the SEC championship. It's a tall order, but it can be done.