Don’t worry Texas A&M fans, you are very much still in the College Football Playoff conversation. An upset loss to South Carolina wasn’t all that bad.
Like I said last week, Williams-Brice Stadium was due for its yearly upset. Unfortunately, it was the Aggies on the wrong end of that. But the College Football Playoff selection committee left the door open for the Aggies, they just have to win out. The Aggies are ranked No. 14 after the first CFP rankings.
It shouldn't be a tough task for the Aggies to get in as they have three games left and two against subpar teams. New Mexico State won’t be a problem. Auburn shouldn’t be a cause for concern, but a loss to either could be a fatal blow to their CFP hopes.
Texas A&M got its trap game out of the way in Columbia, SC so Auburn shouldn’t trip up the Aggies too much. But the final game of the year could very well be a CFP elimination game for Mike Elko's team.
How Texas A&M can end up in the College Football Playoff as bubble team after first rankings
The 12-team College Football Playoff opened the door for teams with multiple losses to sneak in. But the CFP committee didn’t give the Aggies that much leeway. They’ll most certainly need to win out.
They could lose to Texas and find a way in, though it would be extremely tough. Right now, Texas A&M’s best win is over LSU. The win over Missouri isn’t as good of a resumé booster as fans expected it'd be in the preseason and losing to South Carolina doesn’t help their case.
Tennessee could lose because its win over Alabama is better than A&M’s, right now. If Indiana wins out, Ohio State’s losses to top-ranked Oregon (assuming it wins out) and undefeated Indiana aren’t bad at all. So they’d most certainly end up anywhere between No. 6 and No. 10 seed in the CFP.
Penn State has an easy remaining portion of the schedule, but James Franklin is their coach so anything could happen with Purdue, Washington, Minnesota and Maryland left to play. If Penn State loses any of those games, that could help Texas A&M as well.
It will be hard for A&M to be the first-ever three-loss team to sneak into the College Football Playoff. They’d need to win out to control their own destiny. If they win out, they’d reach the SEC title game.
Even a loss in the title game might not be enough to get in. The good thing about the College Football Playoff is the margin of error is slightly larger. But after losing to Notre Dame at home Week 1 and most recently losing to South Carolina, the Aggies can’t afford any more losses.