Texas A&M spent its bye week on the outside of the AP Top 25, but the Aggies’ next chance to change that came with a little extra weight on Sunday.
South Carolina cracked the rankings at No. 23 after rolling past Oklahoma 42-25, setting up Saturday’s matchup in Columbia as a shot for Texas A&M to grab a ranked road win. The Aggies are 4-4 overall and 1-4 in SEC play after a 31-20 loss to Alabama on Oct. 24, and they’ve dropped three straight while still searching for their first road victory of the season.
Mike Elko’s team heads into the game trying to steady a season that has slipped in recent weeks. The Aggies were idle last weekend, but the poll movement around them still mattered. South Carolina had only eight votes in the previous AP poll before breaking through this week, and now Texas A&M gets a chance to test itself against a ranked opponent away from home.
A few familiar names from the Aggies’ schedule also moved in the latest rankings. Texas climbed to No. 10 after beating Mississippi State 31-3, Missouri jumped to No. 19 after its 34-10 win over Arkansas, and Alabama rose to No. 9 even though it did not play.
At the top of the poll, Miami stayed No. 1 after escaping North Carolina 38-35. Georgia moved up to No. 2, and undefeated Utah climbed into the top three. Ohio State took the biggest hit among the heavyweights, tumbling nine spots to No. 11 after a 30-18 loss to USC.
USC re-entered the rankings at No. 18, while New Mexico landed in the AP Top 25 for the first time in program history at No. 22.
The full AP Top 25 also included Notre Dame at No. 4, UCLA at No.
5, Indiana at No. 6, BYU at No.
7, Kentucky at No. 8, Ole Miss at No.
12, Texas Tech at No. 13, Wake Forest at No.
14, LSU at No. 15, Tennessee at No.
16, Houston at No. 17, Boise State at No.
20, Iowa at No. 21, Arizona at No. 24 and Florida at No.
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For Texas A&M, the timing matters because South Carolina and Oklahoma are both still on the horizon, and both now carry a little more weight after that result. The Aggies already knew the stretch would demand attention, but the way those two teams are trending suggests there may be more danger in those matchups than the schedule once appeared to show. [Read more 🡒]
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Texas A&M Road Struggles Keep Putting Mike Elko Under Pressure
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Elko has kept backing senior quarterback Marcel Reed despite the questions around his play, while also leaning on first-year offensive and defensive play-callers Holmon Wiggins and Lyle Hemphill to help sort out the issues. With the schedule turning and the margin for error shrinking, Texas A&M still has to prove it can travel better before the pressure around this staff eases. [Read more 🡒]