Heather Dinich names Texas A&M as a dark horse to win College Football Playoff

Following their loss to Notre Dame to open the season, the Texas A&M Aggies quickly became an overlooked program. Since then, however, the Aggies have consistently won and are making themselves a dark horse for the College Football Playoff.

For ESPN insider Heather Dinich, what Texas A&M has done in recent weeks, and the job that first-year head coach Mike Elko has done, makes them a very real contender in the Playoff that is being overlooked at this point.

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“When you say dark horse, I go outside my top 12,” Heather Dinich said on the College GameDay podcast. “I go onto the bubble. I’m going way dark horse, like true, legit, and I’m going to go with Texas A&M.”

Since the opening loss to Notre Dame, Texas A&M has found its footing and won five games in a row. That’s come largely with Marcel Reed filling in for an injured Conner Weigman at quarterback. Then, with Weigman back for the game against Missouri, which ended up not just being an upset win but a blowout for the Aggies.

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“I think what we saw from the Aggies against Mizzou was not just a statement and an indictment on the Mizzou side of things, but also Elko is a great hire,” Dinich said. “A tremendous hire. Is he maybe ahead of expectations? Maybe. Time will tell. We’ll see. Might be jumping the gun here but that’s my pick.”

Despite the loss to Notre Dame, the new 12-team College Football Playoff format has kept Texas A&M alive for a potentially very high seed. The top five ranked conference champions are in, with the top four of those conference champions getting the first round bye. After that, there are another seven at-large spots open. In past seasons, a loss might have made it nearly impossible to get in for most dark horses, but in that expanded field, teams can sustain a loss or even two.

In the second half, the schedule for Texas A&M breaks down in a relatively favorable way. There are two games left against teams that are ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll, LSU and Texas. So, there are opportunities to prove themselves but the schedule also isn’t overly difficult.

Legendary head coach Steve Spurrier thinks Texas A&M is in an excellent position moving forward and he believes they’re in the driver’s seat in the SEC.

“There might be a championship game with both teams (having) at least one loss, I would guess,” Spurrier said. “Texas A&M’s sort of in the driver’s seat right now conference wise I think without any losses. Almost everybody else has one now.”

Before getting to the second half of the schedule, Texas A&M has a bye week to get healthy and reset.