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Texas A&M Football: Expectations remain elevated after AP No. 6 ranking

By Matthew Bartlett

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - OCTOBER 02: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white.) Head coach Jimbo Fisher of the Texas A&M Aggies brings his team onto the field against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Kyle Field on October 02, 2021 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - OCTOBER 02: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white.) Head coach Jimbo Fisher of the Texas A&M Aggies brings his team onto the field against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Kyle Field on October 02, 2021 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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Texas A&M football checked in at No. 6 in the preseason edition of the AP Poll, further amping up expectations in Aggieland for the 2022 season.

When Texas A&M football finished the 2020 season as the No. 4 team in college football it was largely agreed the program was close. The Aggies hadn’t reached the mountaintop quite yet, but they’d proven they were within the vicinity of that steep slope.

The 2021 season was a detour around the base of that peak, but the 2022 campaign was going to be different. At least, that was the narrative around the maroon water cooler coming off their signing of the highest-rated recruiting class in college football history combined with the swelling of preseason hopes and aspirations.

Now the rubber meets the road.

The AP tabbed Texas A&M football as the No. 6 team in the country out of the gate.  The Aggies beat Alabama last season, the Crimson Tides’ lone blemish on their way to a National Championship Game appearance. But if Texas A&M was going to reach the expectations they had largely placed upon themselves, they’d need to become a program that could beat Alabama again — and win a few more games along the way.

That burden was laid upon their shoulders one more when the voters put them within striking distance of college football royalty.  At No. 6, Texas A&M football isn’t a projected SEC Championship Game squad nor are they a Playoff participant. But they’re close enough where they should be able to prove doubters wrong.

All they have to do now is do it. For this program, expectations have never been higher and the latest poll release only adds to those preseason demands.

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