Texas A&M has already shown what this program can look like when everything clicks under Mike Elko. In 2025, the Aggies stormed out to an 11-0 start for the first time since 1994 and punched their way into the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history.
Now comes the next test. Four months after that breakthrough, Texas A&M watched a program-record 10 players get taken in the 2026 NFL Draft, leaving Elko with a roster that needs answers on both sides of the ball. Add in new faces throughout the coaching staff, and the 2026 season comes with plenty of moving parts.
The one thing the Aggies can lean on is the way their schedule sets up.
Elko spent much of the 2025 season talking about the year in quarters, and that approach still fits. After A&M beat Auburn on Sept. 27, 2025, he said, “The season breaks down into four quarters,” Elko said after defeating Auburn on Sept.
27, 2025. “We went 3-0 in the first quarter.
You can’t win a game in the first quarter. You can lose one, though.
The middle part is where seasons get defined.”
That middle part is where the real pressure usually shows up, and for A&M, the early portion of 2026 gives the Aggies a chance to build toward it. Missouri State, Arizona State and Kentucky are first on the slate, and all three give Texas A&M a path to settle in before the Week 4 trip to Baton Rouge to face LSU.
Missouri State went 7-6 in 2025 and didn’t beat a single AP Top-25 team. Arizona State started the year ranked No. 11 but slid out of the AP Top-25 after finishing 8-5. Kentucky opens SEC play for A&M in Week 3, and the Wildcats will be working through a coaching transition under first-year head coach Will Stein.
Then comes LSU, and that game carries the kind of weight that can shape the rest of the season. The Tigers, led by Lane Kiffin, signed the No. 1 transfer portal class in 2026 and added veteran names like Sam Leavitt and Jordan Seaton.
On3’s Ari Wasserman wrote in early April, "LSU didn’t invest over $50 million in a coach and roster for slow, steady growth,” On3’s Ari Wasserman wrote in early April. “It didn’t get involved in the Kiffin circus because they wanted gradual, healthy improvement.
That money was spent because the Tigers, who haven’t been in the College Football Playoff since 2019, not only aim to return to the CFP in 2026, but also want to advance in it.”
Whether Texas A&M leaves Baton Rouge at 4-0 or 3-1, the schedule gives the Aggies a breather in Week 5 before the next stretch begins. Arkansas comes next, and the Razorbacks are also in transition after a 2-10 season in 2025 with no conference wins. Ryan Silverfield takes over there as first-year head coach, giving A&M another matchup that looks manageable on paper before the grind of SEC play tightens again.
Talent will decide the ceiling, but the calendar gives Elko a real opening. Texas A&M has a schedule that allows for some early breathing room, some adjustment time and a chance to get organized before the season’s biggest moments arrive.
In Other News...
Texas A&M Is Going All In On One Massive 2027 Priority
Texas A&Ms 2027 recruiting push is already looking like a statement of intent. According to On3s Pete Nakos, the Aggies are spending more than any other program on the class, with roughly $10 million spread across 25 commits, a sign that they are treating this cycle like a long-term roster-building project rather than a standard recruiting haul. The headliner is five-star offensive lineman Mark Matthews, who gives the group the kind of anchor piece programs build around when they want to change the look of a future front.
Matthews is part of a class that also includes Kennedy Brown and tackles DeMarrion Johnson and Kaeden Scott, giving Texas A&M a heavier-than-usual emphasis up front. The Aggies still have to turn that kind of investment into actual production, but the early shape of the class suggests they are targeting size, depth and premium talent in a way that could matter well beyond one recruiting cycle. [Read more 🡒]
One New Aggies Lineman Is Suddenly Raising The Stakes For Elko
Mike Elko spent the offseason rebuilding Texas A&Ms roster after the NFL Draft departures, and one of the more intriguing additions came in the trenches. Alabama transfer Wilkin Formby arrived with the kind of frame and polish that coaches love to plug into a tackle spot, giving the Aggies a lineman whose size, technique and footwork already look the part of a next-level player.
Formbys background makes him worth tracking beyond College Station, too. After three seasons at Alabama, he comes to Texas A&M with the sort of experience that can steady an offensive line quickly, and his pass protection has already drawn notice as a strength. If he settles in the way the Aggies hope, he could become one of the more closely watched players on the roster this fall, which only adds to the pressure on Elko to make this reshaped line work. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Elko Just Earned Major SEC Respect Nationally
Mike Elkos third season in College Station is arriving with a different kind of spotlight attached to it. After guiding Texas A&M to the College Football Playoff and landing the nations top-ranked 2027 recruiting class, he has moved into the upper tier of SEC coaches in the eyes of national evaluators, a sign that the Aggies rise is being taken seriously well beyond the league.
The recognition matters because it comes as Texas A&M tries to turn momentum into something more durable, with a strong 2025 season and offseason roster changes aimed at getting back to the playoff picture. Recent rankings have pushed Elko as high as fifth in the conference, and the broader view around him has only sharpened the sense that the Aggies are no longer being discussed as a team simply trying to catch up. [Read more 🡒]