Texas A&M’s chances to reach the College Football Playoff continue to rise after securing its Southeastern Conference opener against the Auburn Tigers on Saturday.
According to ESPN’s FPI metric, the Aggies have a 55.5% chance to make the playoffs this year, which ranks as the fourth-best odds in the league and eighth-best in college football entering Week 6. If head coach Mike Elko leads his team through the treacherous schedule filled with talented conference foes, it would mark the first time the program has ever made the playoffs.
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Here are the site’s full top-25 best odds to gain a bid, based on the football power index after the conclusion of Week 5:
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Vanderbilt Commodores – 42.8%
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Old Dominion Monarchs – 15.4%
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North Texas Mean Green – 14.8%
Elko and company began that venture with a 16-10 win in front of the 12th Man to open SEC play. Ironically, the Aggies’ result over Auburn also marked Elko’s 12th win as Texas A&M’s head coach. While there are undoubtedly improvements to be made in preparation for a formidable Mississippi State squad visiting Bryan-College Station, Texas, this weekend, the program is headed in the right direction for a potential playoff bid this season.
One aspect of Texas A&M’s game that has improved drastically compared to last season is the Maroon and White secondary. In 2024, the unit ranked 90th in the FBS, allowing 232.2 passing yards per contest. The group locked down Auburn’s explosive offense by holding Cam Coleman, one of the most highly-touted wideouts in the country, to just four receptions for 18 yards. Signal-caller Jackson Arnold was held to 125 passing yards in the contest, as the Aggie defensive line sacked him five times.
While the offense looked sluggish at times against an extremely talented Auburn front, the rushing attack showed major progress as well. Le’Veon Moss, Reuben Owens II and Amari Daniels combined for 233 yards on the ground and the only touchdown of the game for Texas A&M. If the Aggies can provide quarterback Marcel Reed with more time in the pocket against hard-nosed SEC defensive fronts, the sky is the limit for this offense moving forward.
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This program has shown flashes of its potential to become a playoff team in 2025, but there are still plenty of difficult tasks ahead before those talks can progress. The path to the bid continues for Texas A&M on Saturday against another dangerous offense and a much-improved Bulldog defensive unit coming to College Station ready to play spoiler.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M football’s odds to reach CFP per ESPN’s FPI metric
