Texas A&M’s reward for a strong season? A playoff path that looks more like a gauntlet than a bracket.
After an idle weekend that didn’t exactly help their case, the Aggies find themselves staring down one of the most brutal roads to the College Football Playoff final. The committee’s decision dropped them into a first-round matchup with Miami on Saturday, December 20 - a day game, no less, which won’t sit well with fans hoping for prime-time spotlight.
But the bigger issue isn’t the kickoff time. It’s the path forward.
If the Aggies get past Miami, their next stop is a quarterfinal clash with defending national champion Ohio State. Survive that?
Then it’s likely Georgia in the semifinal - a team that’s been a buzzsaw all season and doesn’t give away much. There’s no sugarcoating it: Texas A&M drew the short straw, and the road ahead is steep.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss - a team with a résumé that doesn’t stack up statistically to A&M’s - landed a matchup with Tulane. No disrespect to the Green Wave, but if we’re being honest, that’s a far more favorable draw.
The committee’s logic? It seems the Rebels’ loss to Georgia was viewed more kindly than A&M’s loss to Texas.
That’s a tough pill to swallow in College Station, especially considering every metric out there had the Aggies slightly ahead.
Then there’s the Notre Dame-Miami saga. The committee appeared to correct a misstep from the previous selection show, where Notre Dame got the nod over Miami despite the Hurricanes winning their head-to-head matchup in Week 1. That decision sparked plenty of debate, and while Miami eventually got in, the ripple effect landed them in College Station - and gave Texas A&M a much tougher opponent than they might’ve expected.
In the end, at least the Aggies are in. That’s the silver lining.
They’ll host a playoff game, and for a program that’s been clawing for national relevance, that’s no small feat. But it’s fair to say the celebration is a little muted.
The committee didn’t do A&M any favors, and now the Aggies will have to earn every inch if they want to make a run.
The good news? This team has the talent to do it. But there’s no doubt - their margin for error just got razor-thin.