College Football Review: The Curious Case of Texas A&M
Analyzing why teams are ranked where they are in the CFP rankings is exhausting. The list is inconsistent, and every team is held to different standards.
So the newest edition of the College Football Playoff rankings dropped on Tuesday, and Texas A&M was sitting there at No. 5 just like the rankings seven days prior. Being No. 5 in the rankings is no small feat, however, when I look at these rankings and look at A&M, something is just nagging me that they shouldn’t be there.
It is partially because of the giant gap between the top four and the rest of the country (a huge wrench will be thrown in there if Ohio State gets another game canceled and can’t qualify for the Big Ten title, but we’ll cross that road when we get there), I don’t think anyone would doubt who should be the top four teams.
Then we get to No. 5 and Texas A&M. The Aggies are coming off a sloppy 20-7 win over unranked LSU, Kellen Mond completed barely 30 percent of his passes and barely passed for over 100 yards, with Isaiah Spiller carrying most of the load for 141 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Not exactly a win that screams “playoff team” two weeks before the final rankings come out.
Let's look at the resume. Best win? 41-38 win against Florida, who sits behind A&M at No. 6 and fumbled their chance to win that game away on their own final drive. The loss? A 52-24 loss against Alabama. They looked like they didn’t even belong on the same field as Bama, especially in the second half.
The Aggies currently don’t have another win against a ranked team. I feel like I’m looking at a Pac-12 team that snuck in a win against USC or Oregon and got blown out by the other. Of course, that team would probably be ranked in the 20s, but I’m not here to argue SEC bias (I’m looking at you Georgia).
If we look at Kellen Mond this year, it’s been pretty on-brand Kellen Mond. He completes 59 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions. He shows flashes of brilliance and then has games as he did on Saturday. The offense overall is middle-of-the-pack and the defense is top-20 in yards allowed. The recruiting is as good as ever under Jimbo Fisher.
Texas A&M is a good team, don’t get me wrong. I just have a hard time thinking that if Ohio State gets a dose of bad luck, can’t qualify for the Big Ten title after getting another game canceled, and subsequently drops out of the playoff picture, Texas A&M slides in there if they win out. I don’t even know if the Aggies will beat Auburn this weekend, who lost by only one more point to Alabama than A&M did. Auburn is a pair of missed calls by officials away from being under .500.
Let’s look at one team in comparison: Indiana. Before Michael Penix’s season-ending injury, the Hoosiers were a real team. They lost at No. 4 Ohio State with a furious second-half comeback and had a chance to tie the game on their final drive, while hammering everyone else on their schedule outside of the opener against Penn State. They sit at 5-1 with two ranked wins and yet seven spots behind the Aggies at No. 12. Even if you pull the context card with both Michigan and Penn State being the two ranked wins (and disasters alike), there is no consistency. Just ask Cincinnati if they think there is consistency.
If someone figures out a way to get the committee to rank teams consistently, let me know, because it’s frustrating to watch right now.
Writer
-By: TJ Mathewson