Texas A&M has landed at number 8 in the preseason AP Poll, positioning the Aggies well for a potential championship run this year in College Station. The Aggies have a lot of questions that they need to answer near the beginning of this season, but Mike Elko and his staff have done a lot to get this program into a favorable spot heading into the 2026 season.
That’s reflected in their landing in the preseason top 10, as well as similar rankings in preseason power ratings like SP+, FEI, and others. However, not everyone shares the sentiment that the Aggies are deserving of such a high ranking.
In a hit for CBS Sports yesterday, two college football personalities chimed in with their take on who is the most overrated team in this AP Top 25– and both chose Mike Elko’s program. Even with everything he’s already accomplished in College Station, he has yet to convert some into believers— but even their criticisms end up making no sense at all.
Texas A&M fans can roll their eyes at wacky reasoning for “overrated” designation
Here’s the full hit that you can listen to, but I’ve summarized the main points below.
Most overrated team in AP Top 25 Preseason Poll?@BCrawford247 and @RJ_cfb both think it's the Texas A&M Aggies 👀 pic.twitter.com/vdyQSrDTIW
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) August 17, 2026
The first one to chime in, Richard Johnson, criticizes A&M's schedule from last year, even downplaying the Notre Dame win by observing that neither team was a "finished article of themselves." With what he perceives to be a tougher schedule this year, he thinks things will break differently for the Aggies.
He also points out what Texas A&M is replacing on the offensive line, which is an observation many have made. There are few substitutes for experience at that position group, it’s true, but the Aggies did add quite a bit of experience via the portal— in the way of four SEC starters. He closes by saying that he does not expect A&M to be back in the College Football Playoff.
Brad Crawford agrees, mentioning that the Aggies should have been down in the 13-15 range and should not be ahead of some SEC teams that have easier slates. This is really a confounding sentiment— the AP Poll is not meant to reflect who is likely to end up getting the most wins, the AP Poll is meant to rank the best teams. If a good team is playing a harder schedule than a worse team, then that good team should still be ranked ahead of the worse team!
It’s fair to point out some unknowns about this Aggie team going into Mike Elko’s third year, of course. There are questions that need to be answered about how everything will end up fitting together. But the kind of criticisms that are being made of Texas A&M here are simply nonsensical— the schedule is tougher, but that has zero effect on how good of a team Texas A&M has, which is what the poll is meant to reflect.
The good news for Aggie fans is that these kinds of opinions are not what end up shaping the College Football Playoff field— it’s what you are able to prove on the field (plus, yes, a little bit of politicking). Mike Elko has more than earned the benefit of the doubt by this point, even if these two guys don’t quite see it.
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