Wins still matter: Aggies' CFP dreams rely solely on winning remaining games

A look at the future of college football. Two teams will play for 60 minutes. No scores will be tallied. No statistics will be kept.

When time elapses, a panel of three media members will issue a judgment to declare a winner.

Actually, that’s the present. Because the actual outcome of games doesn’t seem to matter to national media.

For example, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit this week announced his personal top-six college football teams. He ranked Florida fifth and BYU sixth.

Texas A&M didn’t make his list, even though the Aggies (5-1) have the same record as Florida and beat the Gators, 41-38.

Several other media types also rank Florida ahead of A&M. Their rationale is that Florida would win if the two teams played again, as if A&M’s victory over the Gators was some kind of fluke.

Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics

When Texas A&M defeated Florida, 41-38, in October, the Aggies edged the Gators in most statistical categories.

Some try to justify their argument by pointing out that Florida lost a fourth-quarter fumble that led to A&M’s game-winning field goal.

They conveniently forget that A&M lost a fumble earlier in the fourth quarter that led to a Florida touchdown.

They also conveniently forget A&M linebacker Buddy Johnson made a great play to force the fumble that DeMarvin Leal recovered.

There’s more amnesia. A&M had to convert two third-down opportunities on its final series to set up a short field goal attempt for Seth Small. Obviously, the Aggies converted both. Fluke?

A&M is second in the nation in third-down conversions at 62 percent. The Aggies converted 12 of 15 against Florida.

Still, some in the national media ignore the fact that A&M prevailed when the teams played. More disturbing, several college coaches apparently do, too. Florida is ranked fifth and A&M sixth in the coaches poll.

It really doesn’t matter, though. The debate is all posturing to get in the College Football Playoff four-team field.

Florida will face Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game. Should the Gators pull off an upset, they would deserve to be in the playoffs. Aggies wouldn’t argue that.

But if A&M finishes 9-1 with fewer losses than Florida and a win over the Gators, the Aggies would be chosen for the playoff.

The Tuscaloosa News-USA TODAY Sports

A&M’s only loss in 2020 was to top-ranked Alabama, who Florida will likely play in the SEC Championship game.

Because Florida will need a win over Alabama, the Gators may be the least of the obstacles standing between A&M and the playoff.

A&M may need unbeaten Notre Dame or one-loss Clemson to lose. Should Clemson win a rematch with the Irish in the conference championship game, the ACC would likely get two teams in the playoff.

The Pac-12 champion — most likely Oregon or USC — has a great chance to finish unbeaten because the conference is weak and has only a seven-game schedule.

Group of Five teams Cincinnati and BYU are likely to go unbeaten. Some are touting them for the playoff despite anemic schedules. As previously mentioned, Herbstreit has BYU ranked sixth and ahead of A&M even though BYU’s opponents are a combined 23-30. The Cougars have not played a Power 5 opponent.

A more educated committee, without an agenda other than identifying the four best and most worthy teams, probably hold Cincinnati and BYU in high esteem.

A 9-1 Texas A&M, with its only loss to No.1 Alabama and with a win over top-ten Florida, would be difficult for the committee to omit unless two ACC teams get in.

Therefore, there’s no reason to worry about what other teams are doing. A&M just needs to keep winning.

For some, actually winning games still matters.