The Alabama game has come and gone. The Aggies move on from there and look forward to the final five games of the regular season. But hold on a second; five of the last eight national champions had one loss.

That means, historically speaking, that Texas A&M is still in the hunt for a national title. And some, like CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm, believe the Aggies have already done enough to be considered.

In projecting the College Football Playoff Rankings, the first of which come out on Tuesday, he used the basic criteria that the CFP Selection Committee uses to come up with its official poll. With that in mind, his projection for the top three teams were no-brainers: Alabama, Michigan and Clemson, in order, occupied those top spots.

The fourth and final slot is an eye-opener. It’s not Washington. It’s not Ohio State. It’s not Louisville. That’s right, it’s Texas A&M. The Aggies, according to what Palm believes the CFP committee is thinking, has already done enough to be considered for the Playoff.

But realistically, there are some definite things that must happen in order for the Aggies to have that opportunity. Here are a few things that must take place.

First and foremost, the Aggies have to win out. This is the obvious. To have any chance of making the College Football Playoff, Texas A&M must beat New Mexico State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, UTSA and LSU.

They should be favored in all those remaining games. They have both Ole Miss and LSU at Kyle Field. The other is a very winnable road game at Mississippi State. Bottom line, Texas A&M must win out and have some help along the way.

The most simplistic of those situations would be for Alabama to lose to both LSU and Auburn. Stop laughing.

Considering the Tide has lost a total of 10 games over the last seven seasons, this is highly unlikely to happen. But if it did, Texas A&M would win the SEC West and play for the SEC championship. A win there would mean a berth into the Playoff. Of all the possible scenarios, this one is obviously the most improbable.

So Texas A&M needs to win out, and then hope for chaos. And after all, college football is known for chaos.

So you say there’s a chance?

Absolutely, should the Aggies win out, there’s certainly a chance to climb to No. 4 and make it in, even alongside an undefeated Alabama. But for that to occur, there needs to be upheaval in at least one of the other four Power 5 conferences.

One could argue that a one-loss Texas A&M might deserve a Playoff berth over an undefeated Big 12 champion (Baylor or West Virginia). But for good measure, Aggies fans should learn the words to the Oklahoma fight song: “Boomer Sooner,” there that was easy.

If two-loss Oklahoma could run the table and win the Big 12, it would be easy for a one-loss Texas A&M to overtake Boomer Sooner in the rankings.

With that in place, the Aggies would need the Pac-12 to finish its cannibalization of each other. Another loss by Utah (which would help but may not be necessary), coupled with a South Division victory over the North in the Pac-12 Championship Game, would do the trick.

Is it possible for those things to happen? Absolutely. But Texas A&M must concentrate on the next team on its schedule, take care of business as the saying goes, and let the chips fall where they may.