Texas A&M suffered their first SEC loss of the season on Saturday night falling, 44-20 to South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium. Unsurprisingly, this loss caused the Aggie to fall in the polls, dropping five spots in each and ending up at No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
No. 1️⃣5️⃣ in the AP Poll#GigEm pic.twitter.com/TsTZFkFhAK
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 3, 2024
No. 1️⃣6️⃣ on the Coaches Poll#GigEm pic.twitter.com/eh2s7jH4NS
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 3, 2024
Given the final margin of victory, falling five spots in each poll isn’t all that catastrophic for the Aggies. But perhaps more importantly, the release of this season’s first College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday will render both of these other polls largely irrelevant.
While the loss certainly hurt Texas A&M’s chances at making the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff, it does not eliminate them. The Aggies have three games remaining (New Mexico State, at Auburn, and Texas), and if they win all three, then every goal is still achievable. But losing any of them likely means you kiss your dreams of playing for a title goodbye.
A&M has a bye this weekend before prepping for some Aggie-on-Aggie crime against NMSU at Kyle Field on Nov. 16.