Texas A&M BCS Bound?
With the new look Big 12, Texas A&M will have a great shot at a BCS game. This is the best team the Aggies have sported since the late 90s and the schedule makers were relatively kind. At least they give Coach Mike Sherman five conference home games and four road games.
But it all starts with the talent on the field. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill, wide receiver Jeff Fuller and running backs Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael give the Aggies one of the best group of skill players in the nation. And there is some depth too. But it is the offensive line that will make this offense special. This is a team that can outscore anybody, anywhere. Yet, they will have to stop people too. The Aggies were much improved defensively last season, but will they continue to grow or will they regress with the absence of Michael Hodges and Von Miller? They will not have much time to find out.
While the schedule is nice, the Aggies third game of the year is a huge conference matchup against Oklahoma State. It is at the friendly confines of Kyle Field, but that will be a huge test for the defense and could pave the way for a team that has the confidence that they can win the conference. The following week Texas A&M takes on Arkansas in Arlington. If the BCS is the goal, that may be a game that Texas A&M has to win.
However, it is certainly feasible that this group could go 8-1 in conference and 10-2 overall, which is certainly good enough for a long look by the BCS in most years. After the Arkansas game, the Aggies travel to Texas Tech and Iowa State with home dates against Baylor and Missouri. Those are all winnable, especially with the tougher games coming in College Station. If all goes as planned, that would lead up to a huge top ten battle between Oklahoma and Texas A&M on November 5th. Do the Aggies have a chance of winning that game? A lot can happen between now and November 5th, but beating Oklahoma on the road is probably not going to happen.
There is the one conference loss. The question would then become whether or not the Aggies can stay at one conference loss. Playing the Kansas teams the next two weeks should not be an issue. But playing Texas on Thanksgiving is never an easy task. The Longhorns may have something to play for as too and they have even more reason than usual to not like each other. While Texas would have no problem ruining the Aggies year, A&M would love to keep Texas out of the conference race and possibly the BCS picture if it came down to that during the last weekend of college football’s regular season.
Read the in-depth football preview for this team
