Texas A&M (11-1, 7-1 SEC) finshed the 2025 regular season on low note after falling to rival Texas (9-3, 6-2 SEC) 27-17 last Friday night, but unlike the Longhorns, the Aggies are a lock to make the College Football Playoff after reaching 11-0 for the first time since 1992.
Due to this untimely loss, Texas A&M fell four spots in the latest CFP rankings, dropping from No. 3 to No. 7 below the likes of Ole Miss, Oregon, and Texas Tech in that order. Confusing? Most definitely. Why? The Aggies boast a better strength-of-schedule and strength-of-record ranking than all three teams listed, and while all four finished with an 11-1 record, A&M’s ranked road loss shouldn’t result in a four-spot drop.
Even more so, some in the national media have dubbed Texas A&M’s schedule as unimpressive, which includes an early road win over Notre Dame, and three consecutive wins over Arkansas, LSU, and Missouri, including back-to-back blowouts in Baton Rouge and Columbia. Compared to Oregon, which lost to No. 2 Indiana at home, and Texas Tech’s road loss to Arizona, A&M losing to a ranked Texas team isn’t any better or worse.
These are my opinions, but on Wednesday night during the weekly Aggie Football Hour, second-year head coach Mike Elko didn’t go into detail regarding the CFP Selection Committee’s decision, but did defend the Aggies’ schedule.
“For all the people who want to knock our schedule, come play it. Good luck with that.”
“There is a reason why the computers say only five percent of the top 25 would be 11-1 if they played our schedule. That’s not a made-up number.”
After the postgame presser, starting quarterback Marcel Reed and junior linebacker Taurean York spoke for the entire team following the loss to Texas, which Elko described as a highly emotional moment. However, with the CFP in sight, the focus has shifted.
“You saw tears on the field. We had to take the kids off because emotions were really high… A lot of kids wore that heavy.”
“Then on the way home, they were like, ‘OK, we have to get ready for a national championship run.'”
The Aggies will now wait and see where they end up in the final CFP rankings on Sunday morning.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: ‘..come play it’: HC Mike Elko defends Texas A&M’s 2025 schedule
Reporting by Cameron Ohnysty, Aggies Wire / Aggies Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
