Texas A&M’s matchup with Notre Dame may have played second fiddle to Georgia-Tennessee in the SEC’s weekend hierarchy, but its action was equally intense and dramatic.
The Aggies’ incredible 4th-and-Goal conversion to walk out of South Bend with a 41-40 victory proved that they belong in the College Football Playoff conversation. To ESPN’s Bill Connelly, it showed something even greater.
On Sunday evening, Connelly released his rankings of college football’s 39 unbeaten teams. Texas A&M earned his No. 4 spot, behind three Big Ten schools (Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State).
Connelly knows the Aggies aren’t analytical darlings — 20th in SP+, 15th in FPI — but he has had a strong feeling about them for a while now. Saturday’s miraculous triumph only confirmed his suspicions:
Even as someone who leans heavily on stats, I’m allowed to listen to my gut sometimes, and my gut has been telling me [Texas A&M] is for real since the preseason. If I believed that before the Aggies’ late rally in South Bend on Saturday night, I’m certainly going to keep believing it afterward.
Texas A&M ranked slightly ahead of Georgia (No. 6) in Connelly’s list. Like the Bulldogs, the Aggies have a number of opportunities to demonstrate their worth across the next three months. Unlike Georgia, though, most of Texas A&M’s chances come on the road. The Aggies travel to LSU, Missouri and Texas in their final 5 games.
Their lone home matchup with a ranked foe comes next Saturday (Sept. 27) versus Auburn. Kickoff time for that contest has yet to be determined, but is expected to be in the afternoon (3:30 p.m. E.T. – 4:30 p.m. E.T.)
