Texas A&M is in the College World Series for the first time since 2017, and hasn’t won a game in Omaha since 1993. Something tells me that those factoids were fed to oddsmakers because as we gear up for play to begin on Friday, Texas A&M has the lowest odds to win of all eight participating teams.

Despite this, Aggie fans have plenty of reason for optimism, so much so that even this non-gambler is tempted to throw some money on the Ags. Consider this:

Texas A&M is one of only two regular season division/conference champions to make the CWS

The Aggies improbably won the SEC West in 2022, and among the other eight teams in Omaha, Stanford, the Pac 12 regular season champions, are the only other team who can make such a claim. A&M alone took out two regular season conference champions on their Road to Omaha in TCU (Big 12) and Louisville (ACC). And with the SEC claiming four of the eight spots in Omaha, it’s hard to argue that A&M isn’t the most battle-tested team in the field.

Texas A&M is one of only two national seeds remaining

The Aggies (5) and Stanford (2) are the only teams left standings of the eight national seeds that were named a couple of weeks ago. Even in a tournament that is notoriously unpredictable, that’s a high level of attrition among top teams, especially with the juggernaut that was Tennessee bowing out to Notre Dame.

Texas A&M has the most wins of any team versus other CWS opponents

The Aggies have already played a whopping 10 games against these seven other teams, going 6-4 in those games. The only other teams with a winning record against other CWS opponents are Oklahoma (3-2) and Stanford (1-0).

Texas A&M is one of two CWS teams who are undefeated in the postseason

You may not think this means much, but the Aggies, along with the Ole Miss Rebels, are the only two teams who did not lose a single game in the Regional and Super Regional rounds. That means more rest days for pitching arms that are without a doubt taxed at the end of a long season. Just as we’ll see in the coming week, playing the minimum number of games can pay huge dividends.

BEAT THE HELL OUTTA EVERYBODY!