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Texas A&M Football: Has addition of Aggies benefited SEC over the years?

By John Scimeca

Oct 17, 2020; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Texas A&M Aggies running back Isaiah Spiller (28) reacts with teammates after a touchdown against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the second quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 17, 2020; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Texas A&M Aggies running back Isaiah Spiller (28) reacts with teammates after a touchdown against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the second quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /
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Alabama head coach Nick Saban has reaped the benefits of a more-established talent pipeline in the state of Texas.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban has reaped the benefits of a more-established talent pipeline in the state of Texas. /

Overall SEC performance

It’s hard to deny that Texas A&M has bolstered the SEC’s overall strength. Looking at AP Top 10 rankings at the end of each season, it’s clear that the SEC has improved since the Aggies’ arrival.

It’s true that AP rankings are tainted by the perception of human voters, but consider the following facts: six SEC teams finished in the 2012 AP Top 10, the first year that Johnny Manziel and the Aggies took the league by storm (and finishing No. 5 in the polls). In each of the past three seasons, four SEC teams have finished in the AP Top 10.

The College Football Playoff continues to showcase the SEC’s dominance, too, in the annual meeting of the nation’s top four teams. An SEC team has qualified eight times in the seven-year history of the CFP, culminating with three national titles (two for Alabama and one for LSU) since 2014.

Four SEC teams have finished in the AP Top 10 in six separate seasons since 2011, the year before Texas A&M was added. The SEC hadn’t had that many Top 10 teams since 1959, when Ernie Davis and Syracuse Orange (as Independents) won the national title.

In the two decades between 1990-2009, an average of 2.2 SEC teams finished in the Top 10.

Texas A&M may not be directly responsible for the SEC’s recent on-field success, but they certainly haven’t hurt it. Although the Aggies underachieved in the last years of Kevin Sumlin, the hire of Jimbo Fisher and the university’s financial recommitment to the program make the No. 5 ranking in 2020 appear to be no fluke.