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It says a lot that in the immediate wake of a 19-point conference loss, there is still plenty of talk about the possibility of a playoff berth. For one thing, it says that Alabama is one hell of a brutal monstrosity of a football machine. That losing by three scores doesn’t even knock you out of the top ten and it fails to quell postseason aspirations.
It also says that Texas A&M is a pretty damn good football team in its own right. Saturday was far from a perfect effort, and the team led on the road in Tuscaloosa well into the third quarter. It was still anyone’s game into the fourth quarter. This team has believed in itself all season, and somehow in losing has made believers out of even more fans.
College football is a chaotic, ridiculous, and illogical sport. That is why most of us love it and follow it so closely. It seems almost absurd to try to mathematically work out all the various permutations that may or may not land Texas A&M in the final four. It adds a degree of interest to other games that folks otherwise might not pay much attention to. We feel that it’s out of our control even if we win out, and that that’s a bridge to cross in early December and we ought to just enjoy the ride up to then, but we get it. It’s exciting to still be playing for something so tangible and meaningful we haven’t ever played for before.
If Michigan, Washington, Clemson, and Alabama win out, that’s it. Those are the playoff teams. But if one of them loses, it’s anyone’s guess. And with everyone still having 4-5 games to play, plus conference championship games, it makes for a pretty wild ride heading down the stretch, especially with the Aggies’ favorable schedule. There are sites out there that will crunch numbers and give you percentages. We’re just going to hunker down and watch our very good football team take care of business and see how all this plays out.
Of course if any or all of the unbeatens happen to lose a game along the way, that’s great too. This is going to be one hell of a November. Football is fun.