Texas A&M 2026 schedule takeaways: The bye week comes at the perfect time
That aforementioned bye week comes right when the Aggies need it, of course. The Aggies have a slower ramp-up (relatively speaking) to their schedule, so things really start to kick into gear in that fourth game. You don't want to overlook what Will Stein may be doing at Kentucky in game three, and there's no doubt that they'll have that game circled in a huge way, but the trip to Death Valley will be a massive point of emphasis for this Texas A&M team.
After that, they will see another SEC team under new management, as Ryan Silverfield and the Arkansas Razorbacks will make a trip to Kyle Field for the first time since 2020. They then ping-pong back onto the road to play Missouri before coming home to face their last layup game when the Citadel comes to town.
Then comes maybe the biggest road game of the year: heading to Bryant-Denny Stadium for a showdown with the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Aggies haven't won in Tuscaloosa since the legendary Johnny Manziel game in 2012, though their last trip out there was one where they nearly pulled off a massive upset, coming two yards away from knocking off the 2022 Tide.
Kalen DeBoer is obviously not Nick Saban, and this program has looked far more vulnerable under him than it did under his predecessor, but this will be no easy task. Texas A&M needs to put everything they have into this one— which will be easier with the Citadel the week before and a bye the week after.
That bye will also help the Aggies prepare for a trip to Columbia, South Carolina, where they have not won a game since that COVID year, so this is really ideal timing. If this schedule was presented in order to an Aggie fan and they were asked where they'd most like the bye week, I think this is exactly where they'd choose for it to go.