Is Texas A&M the best team in the SEC?
I will not spend the next 1,500 words trying to figure that out, though I’m sure some of you will do so in your head, but the answer to the question isn’t what’s important here. It’s that you can ask that question and not get sideways glances in return.
The Aggies went into Death Valley Saturday night and put up 49 points on LSU. They led by 31 points in the fourth quarter. They physically manhandled the Tigers. When the game ended, and ESPN’s Holly Rowe was doing a postgame interview on the field with victorious quarterback Marcel Reed, you could hear the loud chants of “Fire Kelly” coming from the LSU fans who stuck around for the end of the game.
Texas A&M snuffed out whatever little optimism remained regarding Brian Kelly’s tenure with LSU, and caused me to ask myself the question I asked you at the beginning of this story.
I don’t know if the Aggies are the best team in the SEC, but they’ve got a legitimate case for it. Obviously, they’re now 8-0, the only undefeated team remaining in the conference. They are a complete team, who might not be truly elite, but have no glaring weaknesses, and in this current era of college football, that might be all you need.
They’re also destined for the College Football Playoff, whether they win the SEC or not. I can’t help but believe the insides of Aggies fans everywhere were twisted into knots when Jhase Thomas blocked an Aggies punt for a safety to cut A&M’s lead to 14-9. After all, this is a program with a long history of starting seasons strong only to see the floor fall out from beneath it in the back half of the season.
That blocked punt felt like a “here we go again” moment if ever there was one. When A&M’s next two offensive possessions ended in interceptions and allowed LSU to take an 18-14 lead into halftime, my heart sank a bit for Aggies fans. Fortunately for everybody on the Aggies sideline, they didn’t flinch.
A&M took the game over in the third quarter, scoring 21 points to take a 35-18 lead that quickly let everybody know these aren’t the same ol’ Aggies. This team is stronger, faster, tougher (both physically and mentally) than damn near everybody else out there. It’s not going anywhere. There is no disaster coming.
Look at the schedule from here on out. After a bye next week, the Aggies will have a road game against a Missouri team that lost starting quarterback Beau Pribula for at least the rest of the regular season in its loss to Vanderbilt. Then they get a South Carolina team that’s 1-5 in SEC play at home before Samford. The season ends with a rivalry game against a Texas team that needed a miracle comeback against Mississippi State, which saw Arch Manning leave with an apparent concussion. Oh, and that team has to play Vanderbilt and Georgia still, and Arkansas too. It could be beaten to hell by the time that game rolls around.
Maybe the Aggies lose one of their four games. Hell, maybe they lose two, and they miss out on the SEC Championship Game. But they’re getting into the playoffs at a minimum, and look likely to be in Atlanta with a shot to win their first conference title since winning the Big 12 in 1998.
So is Texas A&M the best team in the SEC? It feels like we’re a little over a month away from finding out.
Speaking of SEC teams with punched tickets
I do not wonder if Ole Miss is the best team in the SEC. It’s 7-1, and one of the better teams in the conference, but it spends far too much time in close games. Seriously, none of Ole Miss’ four SEC wins have come by more than the eight points they beat Oklahoma by on Saturday.
However, this team will be in the College Football Playoff. The win over Oklahoma essentially wrapped that up. Perhaps these two thoughts don’t mingle well, considering I just told you that Ole Miss plays with its food too often, but the Rebels are through the most difficult stretch of their schedule, and emerged with only one loss.
Now they get home games against South Carolina, Florida and The Citadel before the Egg Bowl at Mississippi State. Maybe they lose one, but they can afford to. A 10-2 Ole Miss is getting in, even if those wins over Oklahoma and LSU don’t look great at the end of the season. Hell, the win over LSU doesn’t look great now!
Regardless, there’s no way a 10-2 SEC team is left out of the field after changes were made to the strength of schedule metric; the CFP loses. It’s one thing to leave out a 9-3 SEC team. Sure, the league will kick and scream about it, but deep inside, they get it. If you leave out a 10-2 SEC team for somebody from the ACC or Big 12, the league might secede from the NCAA altogether.
Anyway, Saturday’s win over Oklahoma was an impressive performance from Trinidad Chambliss. His final stat line wasn’t overwhelming. He completed only 24 of his 44 pass attempts for 315 yards and only 1 touchdown, but he hit big shots. Chambliss had five completions of at least 25 yards in the game, and two that went for 40-plus. Nobody has done that against Oklahoma this year.
If only Lane Kiffin didn’t have a weird obsession with throwing Austin Simmons into key spots for reasons I don’t think even Kiffin fully understands, the Rebels may have won by two scores or more.
Iowa has entered The Conversation
I am not seriously considering the idea that Iowa is a legitimate threat to make a playoff run, but it must be acknowledged as a possibility. The Hawkeyes went Peak Iowa against Minnesota Saturday, beating the Gophers 41-3. They scored on offense, defense and special teams to improve to 6-2 on the season and 4-1 in Big Ten play.
As of right now, their resume isn’t impressive enough to merit at-large consideration. They’ve lost to an Iowa State team that’s now 5-3 as well as Indiana. Though it is worth noting that nobody has given Indiana a more difficult time this year (UCLA certainly didn’t).
Right now isn’t what matters, though, because the Hawkeyes have two chances to prove their worth in their next two games. After a bye next week, the Hawkeyes welcome Oregon to Kinnick Stadium. Oregon will be heavily favored, but the Ducks have not looked nearly as scary since beating Penn State. Sure, they throttled Rutgers, but they lost at home to Indiana and on Saturday, they looked underwhelming in a 21-7 win over Wisconsin. Yes, the weather sucked, but Wisconsin’s injury report resembled a Tolstoy novel in length.
It’s not that crazy to think Iowa can give the Ducks trouble. After all, they gave the Hoosiers trouble in Kinnick. Now, can the Hawkeyes pull off that upset and follow it up with a road win over USC the following week?
I doubt it, but this is the situation at hand.
Respect Cincinnati
There isn’t a team in the country flying further under the radar than the Cincinnati Bearcats. They lost a close season opener against Nebraska, but have been nothing but excellent since. The Bearcats improved to 7-1 with a 41-20 win over Baylor, and are now averaging 38.3 points per game.
They don’t offer a ton in the passing game, but between quarterback Brendan Sorsby and running backs Tawee Walker and Evan Pryor, they have a healthy mix of ways to beat you in the run game. They’re also improving defensively. Baylor entered the weekend as the most potent passing attack in the Big 12. It was averaging 344.3 yards per game, and Sawyer Robertson was tied for the national lead in touchdown passes with 21.
Cincinnati held the Bears and Robertson to 137 yards passing Saturday.
With Arizona State losing to Houston, the Big 12 feels like a four-horse race heading into the backstretch, and the Bearcast and BYU are a nose ahead of the field since they’re both 5-0. Of course, both will play one another on Nov. 22 in Cincinnati, which was not a game I came into 2025 expecting to have massive implications.
Memphis changed things
Memphis beat South Florida 34-31, a week after losing to a UAB team that had fired its coach. It’s safe to say Memphis overlooked the Blazers last week! Anyway, this win over South Florida changes the G6 picture dramatically.
There are now seven teams remaining in The American with one conference loss or fewer. Navy and Tulane are the only two without a loss yet. There’s no way to know which one of those teams will emerge from the scrum at the end with a bid to the conference title game. Still, I do think The American remains the favorite to get the bid.
That said, there’s no denying that USF losing opens the door to teams like Boise State, San Diego State and UNLV in the Mountain West. It’s also great news for James Madison in the Sun Belt. The Dukes need a whole hell of a lot of chaos to overcome the Sun Belt penalty, but USF losing is some of that helpful chaos.
Rest In CFPeace
The following teams saw their College Football Playoff hopes die this weekend. We honor their memory here, and do not expect to mention them in this column again until next season: Arizona State, California, Fresno State, Illinois, Iowa State, LSU, Minnesota, Northwestern, Oklahoma
- Cal (5-3 overall, 2-2 ACC): Loss to Virginia Tech slides it out of ACC Championship Game contention.
- Iowa State (5-3 overall, 2-3 Big 12): Home loss to BYU makes for third conference loss; eight Big 12 teams have two or fewer.
- Arizona State (5-3 overall, 3-2 Big 12): A three-loss Big 12 team is not making the College Football Playoff.
- Oklahoma (6-2 overall, 2-2 SEC): Ole Miss home loss gives Sooners 2-2 conference record. They’re still alive if they run the table, but do you see them running the table against Tennessee, Alabama, Mizzou and even LSU?
- Illinois (5-3 overall, 2-3 Big Ten): A 10-2 Illinois with losses to Ohio State and Indiana would have had a strong playoff case, even with a 53-point loss on the resume. A 9-3 Illinois has no shot, and that’s the best case scenario for the Illini following a 42-25 loss at Washington.
- Fresno State (5-3 overall, 2-2 Mountain West): A shutout vs. San Diego State gives Bulldogs loss No. 3 and uphill climb in Mountain West.
- Minnesota (5-3 overall, 3-2 Big Ten): Not only do the Golden Gophers have three losses going against them, one is a 38-point embarrassment from rival Iowa.
- LSU (5-3 overall, 2-3 SEC): A lopsided home loss vs. Texas A&M gives Brian Kelly’s team a third loss — and a trip to Alabama looms in two weeks
- Fresno State (5-3 overall, 2-2 Mountain West): A shutout vs. San Diego State gives Bulldogs loss No. 3 and uphill climb in Mountain West.
- Northwestern (5-3 overall, 3-2 Big Ten): Did you know Northwestern was still alive in the CFP hunt? It’s not any more. A seven-point loss at Nebraska gave the Wildcats a second conference loss, nixing them from any shot at the Big Ten Championship Game, and a third overall.
Maybe I’m going out on a limb declaring Oklahoma dead. I doubt it.
Week 10 vibe shifters
A look ahead to the five games on next week’s slate most likely to impact the playoff race
Navy at North Texas
Vanderbilt at Texas
USC at Nebraska
Oklahoma at Tennessee
Cincinnati at Utah
This week’s CFP projection
1. Ohio State
2. Texas A&M
3. Indiana
4. Miami
5. Alabama
6. Oregon
7. BYU
8. Georgia
9. Ole Miss
10. Notre Dame
11. Georgia Tech
12. USF
