3 reasons No. 5 Texas A&M failed to make College Football Playoff

The Texas A&M Aggies were the first team out of the College Football Playoff field for 2020.

Texas A&M football fans have to be livid about their favorite team not making the College Football Playoff, despite having an 8-1 record and the Aggies’ only loss being to the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Aggies were fighting for the No. 4 spot with Notre Dame, but the playoff committee determined the Fighting Irish had a better resume and they made the field with Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State. Texas A&M is on the outside looking in because of these reasons.

Here is why Texas A&M failed to make the College Football Playoff

3. Not winning a division and missing another game took away two crucial data points.

This is a strange year, but missing two key data points did not help the Aggies make the four-team field. Though they went 8-1 and won their final seven games before the Selection Committee met, not winning the SEC West and not having a 10th conference game because of the Ole Miss cancelation kept Jimbo Fisher’s team from having two more opportunities to prove their worth.

2. A rematch in the Sugar Bowl was not a television option for the Selection Committee.

Stop being naive. We all know what the playoff is; it is a television show. Nobody outside of College Stadion wants a rematch of a regular-season blowout in one of those marquee matchups. By putting Texas A&M at the No. 4 spot, that would have guaranteed a second meeting with Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

1. The Selection Committee could never forgive a 28-point loss to Alabama.

Unless you are the Florida Gators or Ole Miss, Alabama blows everyone out this season. Because the Aggies lost 52-24 in their second SEC game of the season, that was all the evidence the Selection Committee needed to not put Texas A&M in. Had it been a more respectable performance in early October, the Selection Committee may have seriously considered A&M.

What the latest playoff field tells us is two-fold. One, if you get blown out by your eventual conference champion, the Selection Committee is not going to consider you. And two, if you play in the Group of 5, your regular-season schedule is never going to be valued as much as what the Power 5 can put together in a normal season. Texas A&M football players, coaches and fans can be mad, but this is the reality of the situation

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