Texas A&M Football: How close are Aggies to College Football Playoff berth?

After nearly making the College Football Playoff in 2020, how close is Texas A&M football to its first-ever national semifinal berth?

If a Texas A&M fan tells you that 2020 didn’t sting, they’re lying. Missing out on a College Football Playoff berth after going 8-1 in the SEC with a lone loss to Alabama was crushing. The Aggies deserved a spot in the playoff but were spurned by the likes of Ohio State and Notre Dame — the latter was more egregious, in my opinion.

Texas A&M was probably the fourth-best team in college football last season and was inexplicably left out of the playoff. How does that happen?

Well, sometimes brands are bigger than reality. The playoff committee saw the opportunity to have Ohio State and Notre Dame in the playoff and that was a dream scenario.

But Texas A&M isn’t going to sit there and feel sorry for itself. It knows that it just needs to get better and leave zero doubt in the committee’s eyes. For the Aggies to make the playoff, they might just need a perfect season.

So how far is Jimbo Fisher’s team from a season like that?

After watching them get better throughout the 2020 season and bring in yet another top-10 recruiting class, with the right quarterback under center, that could happen in 2021. The defense is impressive and there are some really nice young pieces on offense.

Unfortunately Kellen Mond is gone and that will leave a major leadership void on offense. He was someone who all the younger guys looked up to and he’s going to be missed.

If I had to wager a guess on when the Aggies will actually make the playoff, I’d say this season or next when a starting quarterback is in his second full year would be it. Jimbo has this program trending in the right direction and the finish to 2020 was huge for the future.

Keeping up with Alabama won’t be easy, however.