The SEC West is rolling through the bowl season so far, with impressive wins by LSU, Auburn, Mississippi State and, of course, Alabama in the playoff semifinal game.

And then there’s the one loss.

The one ugly loss.

That one blemish belongs to Texas A&M. The Aggies lost to Louisville 27-21 in the Music City Bowl in Nashville Wednesday night. The loss dropped A&M to 8-5 on the year. That’s back-to-back 8-5 season now for coach Kevin Sumlin and his guys, both after starting out each season 5-0. They were ranked as high as No. 6 in 2014 and No. 9 this year.

And they’ve finished both seasons unranked.

There are problems galore in College Station right now, and when you’re the face of the program, much of that blame is being cast toward Sumlin. And rightly so. It’s his program, one he’s being paid handsomely for to run.

When was the last time you watched a team with a 300-yard passer and a 100-yard rusher in the same game look so dysfunctional? The Aggies did that Wednesday. Third-stringer Jake Hubenak, the last QB standing, threw for 307 yards and Tre Carson rushed for 106. But at no time did the Aggies look like the better team in this game. And it’s not like Louisville is a top-10 team or anything.

There are concerns everywhere. It starts, of course, at quarterback, where Hubenak was pressed into duty after five-star recruits Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray both walked away from A&M in the span of a week, wanting to transfer.

The transfers are devastating and far-reaching. It’s one thing to lose a five-star quarterback. They are so hard to get in the first place, that you need to recruit  them, develop them and then win titles with them.

You can’t lose one. And you definitely can’t lose two. Not in the span of a week.

A hot seat for Sumlin? Sure. It is, at the very least, pretty warm. So here’s what we need to consider the most:

Sumlin isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Disappointed A&M fans who would love to see Sumlin out are going to be disappointed. The terms of his contract make it practically impossible to fire him right now and move on. Sumlin makes $5 million and year and has four years left on his six-year deal. According to Sports Illustrated, the buyout language in the contract is so coach-friendly, that Sumlin would be owed the entire amount of his contract – a whopping $20 million – and would have to be paid in full within 60 days of firing.

No way anyone writes a check for $20 million.

You remember the big buyout talked about at LSU with Les Miles? There were figures of $15 million to $18 million being bandied about, but that was to be spread over eight years, SI said. That might have been palatable. This is one lump sum. So no way that happens.

The high-profile transfers will affect recruiting at some point.

When Murray made his transfer decision just days after Allen, it sent up massive red flags. Sumlin has been hugely criticized for how he handled his quarterbacks this year, but there’s some thought that he really didn’t have much choice when it came to playing time.

Allen appeared to be the best option when the season started, but when he went through that brutal stretch against Alabama and Ole Miss – where he once went 24 straight pass attempts without any positive yardage gained – it was time to make a change.

You can’t fault Sumlin for that – not completely anyway. It was how Murray was handled that was head-shaking. When Allen was benched, it was Hubenak who came in, not Murray. There were some underlying issues there, certainly. And when Murray finally did get the chance to play, he didn’t do much. Allen came back in and actually played better down the final stretch.

The question is this: Is both struggled so much, who’s most to blame? The players, for not getting better? Sumlin and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, for not coaching them up? Sumlin and his entire staff for not having a more productive environment?

Perception here is a huge thing. If other recruits see five-star guys going to A&M and not having it work out, will they have reservations too? Sumlin has proven that he’s a fabulous recruiter. What he hasn’t proven yet is that he can win with them.

And that needs to change. Soon.

Texas A&M is all in cost-wise, and success will be demanded.

The school has embraced its move to the SEC in 2012 and is spending accordingly to have the best program in America. They have an 102,000-seat stadium they just spent nearly a half-billion dollars to expand and improve. They are the Texas school in the SEC, the best football state in the best football league, at least to their thinking.

Sumlin wants for nothing when it comes to run his program. Facilities are great, budgets are great, his assistants are paid very well.

That being said, finishing under .500 in the SEC isn’t going to be acceptable. In the past three years, the Aggies are 11-13 in the SEC. And do you see them contending in the SEC West next year? Really? At first glance, they’re not in the top half of the SEC West for sure.

Sumlin has  recruited well, but this year’s rankings have A&M behind Baylor, TCU and Houston – a Group of 5 school – in recruiting. Is the dysfunction starting to take affect already?

They have plenty of talent right now in College Station, but it’s been underachieving. If that continues, the heat will get cranked up even more on Sumlin.

Check, please.