2021’s teams most likely to make first College Football Playoff appearance
By John Scimeca
2. Texas A&M
Fourth-year head coach Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M have a chip on their shoulder after last year, with many Aggies fans believing that their team deserved the final 2020 CFP spot instead of Notre Dame.
A 52-24 loss to Alabama early in the season ended up preventing the Aggies from reaching their first CFP, but it was abundantly clear that a path exists for Texas A&M even with one regular-season loss.
Alabama visits College Station on Oct. 9 — and the Aggies will be favored to be undefeated in their first five games before this home date. If the Aggies can navigate the waters of the SEC West with an unproven quarterback to replace Kellen Mond (either Haynes King or Zach Calzada), a regular-season loss to the Crimson Tide doesn’t automatically knock them out of national title contention.
With a Texas A&M team that may pass the “eye test” as one of the country’s best heading into December, a couple other things can happen to help: a Big 12 and/or Pac-12 champion can also suffer one or two losses to open the door. If that happens, don’t expect an undefeated Notre Dame to resurface in 2021, as the Fighting Irish have some major holes to fill and a tougher schedule compared to last year’s.