College Football Playoff 2020: Simulating a 16-team bracket

16-team College Football Playoff first round: 5 Texas A&M vs. 12 Coastal Carolina

Full disclosure, the luster of Coastal Carolina’s remarkable undefeated season undoubtedly took a hit as they lost to Liberty in the Cure Bowl, an absolutely wild affair that will go down as one of the most entertaining games of bowl season. But at the same time, the Chanticleers shouldn’t feel lesser about their campaign for losing to a high-quality Flames team.

For this exercise, though, the question becomes if Grayson McCall and Coastal would have the goods to push the Texas A&M Aggies. We know that Jimbo Fisher’s team has the advantage when it comes to raw talent on virtually every level on both sides of the ball. But that’s not the end-all, be-all in college football.

One thing that would certainly be working in the Chanticleers’ favor in this matchup would be the “all it takes is one game” mentality. They could throw the kitchen sink at the Aggies with trick plays stemming from their highly vaunted rushing attack and really put A&M on their heels.

Moreover, Kellen Mond and Texas A&M have a troubling propensity for letdown games in big spots. There have been a number of occasions when the offense just comes out flat and doesn’t have it. Against a fired-up Coastal team, that proposition is dangerous, which is why I have the Chants skating by and picking up the first major upset of the 16-team playoff.

Coastal Carolina wins, 22-21