The Longhorns vs Aggies rivalry was revived last year, and the Longhorns won 17 to 7. But some think this year’s game may be a much closer contest. And college rankings are starting to reflect this prediction, as the Longhorns move down the rankings and the Aggies move up.
The Longhorns Are Ranked #8 and #7
In AP’s Top 25 College Football Rankings, the Longhorns currently stand at #8 after their game last week against UTEP. In the AFCA Coaches Poll rankings, they’re listed at #7 for Week 4.
In Week 3, the Longhorns sat at #7 for both AP and the AFCA Coaches Poll rankings. At Week 2, they were ranked #7 and #6, respectively.
But these rankings represent a big drop from preseason expectations. The Longhorns were #1 on both the AP Top 25 and the AFCA Coaches Poll before the season started, when hype and expectations for the Arch Manning season were high.
A shaky performance led to Manning being booed by the fans at one point in last week’s game. But some analysts believe this will ultimately be good for Manning in the long run, if he can buckle down and use this adversity to push himself harder.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian doesn’t seem too concerned. At halftime when asked about Manning’s performance, he said, “He got booed the first half, now he can start playing.”
The Aggies Are Climbing the Rankings
Meanwhile, Texas A&M is climbing the rankings after a solid game against Notre Dame.
In the preseason ranking, Texas A&M was #19 in the AP Top 25 and #21 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. For week 2, they stayed at #19 in the AP Top 25, and dropped to #22 in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
For week 3, Texas A&M rose to #16 in the AP Top 25 and rose to #17 in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
Now at Week 4, the Aggies are starting to close in on the Longhorns. They’re ranked #10 in the AP Top 25 — just two places below the Longhorns. And they’ve jumped up to #10 in the AFCA Coaches Poll too, three places below the Longhorns.
The shift happened after the Aggies beat Notre Dame 41 to 40 in a close nail-biter. Even though they didn’t annihilate the competition, Texas A&M’s quarterback Marcel Reed got a lot of attention due to his strong performance against the previous top 10-ranked team. The Aggies’ offensive line performed solidly against Notre Dame (even though they also suffered a large number of penalties.)
The game marked the first time that A&M won against a top-10 opponent since November 2014. And as a result, the game sparked a lot of buzz on social media about just how they will perform against the Longhorns.
But the game is still a long way away, and a lot can happen between then and now.
The Aggies and the Longhorns will face each other again on November 28.
Aggies Close in on Longhorns in Latest College Football Rankings