Texas A&M just notched one of the biggest wins they've had in years by knocking off the top-10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on the road. The Aggies had to fight and claw for every last point, but they made it happen in the end with some late-game heroics by Marcel Reed and this receiving corps.
But after this win, just how high can the Aggies get in the forthcoming AP Poll? Let's take a look at their chances.
How high can Texas A&M climb in week 3 AP Poll after massive road win?
Four teams ahead of Texas A&M lost their games this week, so the Aggies would have moved up by at least that many spots. Of course, one of those teams was Notre Dame, who the Aggies themselves defeated, so they will move up by more than those four spots.
Tennessee, South Carolina, Clemson, and the aforementioned Irish all fell today, so the Aggies will jump up by at least a few spots due to that alone. The question is this: how many of Iowa State, OU, Florida State, Illinois, and Texas will they jump?
Let's be crystal clear, here: there is absolutely no reason that the Aggies should be ranked behind Texas right now. The Longhorns look absolutely putrid on offense right now, and importantly, they have two wins over nobodies and one loss. There are a lot of people out there who say that preseason polls don't matter, but Texas's positioning right now is a prime example of exactly why they do matter.
This being a big, national game, I think it will have more of an impact than it may have had otherwise. Texas A&M has a bigger win than any of those teams I just listed, with the possible exception of Florida State (but even that was at home, etc.), but I think the inertia is simply too strong.
Preseason priors are a bear with this kind of thing, so while I think the Aggies squeeze into the top ten, I foresee it being around the 10th or 9th spot, while they should probably in all justice be seventh at the lowest.
The AP Poll releases at 1 PM CT.