Texas A&M moves into top 10 in both polls (by default)

The new college football polls are out, and despite not playing a game, Texas A&M rose three spots in both the Amway Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 Poll to the #10 spot. This is because both polls ceased ranking teams who are not playing fall seasons from the Pac 12 and Big Ten. With Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon no longer included in the rankings, A&M has moved into the top 10 for the first time since November 2016, without even having to play a game.

With the Pac 12 and Big Ten not playing at all this fall, and the SEC still two weeks away from its first games, it also opened up the chance for a slew of Group of Five teams to crack the top 25. This includes Central Florida, Cincinnatti, Memphis, Louisiana-Lafayette, Appalachian State and Army. As was the case in the preseason polls, the two polls still look exceptionally similar, with the same teams in the top 10 (only two variances in order) and 24 of the 25 total teams matching (Coaches Poll with Baylor and AP with Pitt being the only differences).

This coming weekend doesn’t seem to offer much chance for rankings shakeups, with no SEC games, only a handful of Power 5 vs. Power 5 games (coming from the ACC) and just one ranked vs. ranked matchup in the form of #17 Miami at #18 Louisville. Obviously having any football at all is great, and last weekend showed us that upsets are possible any time. But I really do look forward to a few weeks from now when games with real conference and national title implications start happening.

As you likely already know, A&M will begin their season by hosting Vanderbilt on Saturday, Sept. 26.