Texas A&M football fans were relieved when they were made aware today of the fact that Baylor AD Mack Rhoades was taking a leave of absence from both his position in Waco and as spokesperson for the College Football Playoff committee. Rhoades has succeeded in riling up the Aggies both of the last couple of weeks when explaining what kept A&M below Indiana (his alma mater, for what it's worth) in the rankings, offering incondite reasoning and nonsensical comparisons.
NEW: Baylor AD Mack Rhoades will step down from his role with the College Football Playoff selection committee at this time, @PeteNakos reports. https://t.co/PUtpJGtMec https://t.co/KiBAe2P7Ng pic.twitter.com/E8W3lG7tro
— On3 (@On3sports) November 13, 2025
He was one of two members of that committee, according to Billy Liucci on yesterday's edition of TexAgs Radio, that coveted the open Texas A&M AD job, which was eventually filled by Trev Alberts. The other is Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek, who has been slated to take Rhoades' place according to a report by Heather Dinich.
Texas A&M fans relieved that their biggest CFP committee antagonist is now out of the picture
That in mind, this isn't a huge upgrade if it's another AD at a rival school who, according to Liucci, wanted to be at A&M, but it was beginning to feel like anything would be an upgrade over what Rhoades was rolling out there week after week. The apologetic that he was putting on over and over to favor his alma mater over the Aggies was getting to be a bit silly at best, and downright doublespeak at worst.
Now, though, Aggie fans will be watching closely to see if anything changes relative to their ranking. The Aggies are playing South Carolina this weekend; if they get another emphatic win and Indiana struggles against lowly Wisconsin (not likely, but possible), it will be intriguing to track how this all goes.
There's a lot we still don't know, and in a sense the different between 2 and 3 can be seen as minimal. But when it comes to where you fall in the eventual bracket, it's a distinction that can end up making a lot of difference. Hopefully, the Aggies' position will be remedied sooner rather than later now that Rhoades is no longer in a shot-calling position on the committee.