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The 4-2 (2-1) Texas A&M Aggies are ranked 17th in the initial BCS rankings. Tough losses to No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 9 Arkansas set A&M back, but now with two solid conference wins under their belt, A&M can get back into the Big 12 Title race.
For Texas A&M to pull off a miracle and make an appearance in a BCS Bowl, a lot of things have to go the Aggies' way. OU and OSU are ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, and with a close loss at the Cowboys' hands, the Big 12 title race seems to be between just two teams. The Aggies have to make it a three-way race. Here are the steps that must occur for A&M to reach a BCS bowl game.
On Nov. 5, Texas A&M will travel to Norman to face off against the Sooners. If the Aggies do not win this game, they will be out of the race for the Big 12 Title as well as BCS bowl game.
If A&M does upset the Sooners for the second straight season, the Aggies will gain access to the BCS Top 10, or at the least the Top 15. OU on the other hand will drop to a similar spot either just in front of or just behind Texas A&M in the low 'teens.
After beating the top ranked Sooners, the Aggies must travel to play a powerful Kansas State team, followed by facing off with Kansas and their rival Texas at home. Every one of these games, including the ones before the OU game (@ Iowa State, vs Mizzou) must be won by A&M for this to be at all possible.
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3) Oklahoma Must Defeat Oklahoma State in Stillwater
The Bedlam series must be won by the Sooners, leaving the Aggies, Sooners and Cowboys all tied in conference play with one loss each to the other, similar to last year in the Big 12 South.
At this point, OU would have sneaked back into the Top 10 just in from of Texas A&M. Oklahoma taking down an undefeated Oklahoma State team would catapult the Sooners back into National Championship contention.
4) Texas A&M Must Rank Above Oklahoma State in the Final BCS Rankings
With a devastating loss to Oklahoma in the season finale, OSU would lose the Big 12 Championship to their in-state rivals, the Sooners. This would leave OU to play for either the national title in New Orleans or the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix.
OSU would drop in the polls, but how much they drop would determine the Aggies' fate. Considering the BCS doesn't allow more than two universities from a single conference, the BCS would only allow OU and one other Big 12 team.
If Texas A&M ranks higher than the Cowboys, they will given the second bid from the Big 12. This would result in a trip to either Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl (if OU plays for the national title), to Miami for the Orange Bowl (OU plays in the Fiesta Bowl), or to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl (OU plays in the Fiesta Bowl).
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If OSU still ranks higher than A&M, the Aggies would be left to play in a non-BCS bowl such as the Cotton Bowl or the Alamo Bowl. A&M still has a lot of control over its own fate and has more than the potential to play in a BCS bowl game. Texas A&M has to prove that it belongs there though in its final year in the conference, making all of this magnified in meaning exponentially.
Watch for the Nov. 5 game against the Sooners for it is the key to any kind of BCS hopes the Aggies may have.
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