Texas A&M (11-1, 7-1 SEC) is now No. 7 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings after losing to No. 12 Texas (9-3, 6-2 SEC) 27-17 last Friday night. Still, if you listened to head coach Mike Elko’s post-Early Signing Day press conference after signing 28 players in the 2026 class, it’s clear the Aggies are onto the postseason after falling to their rival.
While dropping four spots in the rankings was disappointing, Elko and his team will now wait and watch where they end up after Championship Weekend, hoping that Georgia can defeat Alabama in the SEC Title Game. At the same time, Texas Tech, currently ranked No. 4, needs to beat BYU to avoid any further chaos that could drop the Aggies below the 8-seed and force them to play on the road in the first round.
Again, any change is out of their power, but that hasn’t stopped Elko from commenting on the latest ranking, stating that more “clarity” is needed, which he, and nearly every other team on the cusp of making the 12-team field, including 10-2 Vanderbilt, are still utterly confused on how these rankings are generated week to week.
Before Sunday’s final rankings reveal, Elko made his weekly appearance on the Aggie Football Hour to discuss Texas A&M’s playoff position, hoping to host the first CFP game in Kyle Field against whatever team the Aggies are matched up with. Here is everything he had to say.
Mike Elko on Texas A&M’s four-spot slide in the CFP rankings
“We won’t get into the rankings because that will get me trouble. We are extremely hopeful that we get a home game in Kyle Field.”
“What a way to spend Christmas together.”
Elko on his team’s activity this week
“This week, we didn’t go on the practice field. There are some optional lifting and running things for the body to stay right.”
“This gives them a week to take a mental breather. We will watch the show on Sunday and start next week with what we call ‘stay sharp’ practices.”
Elko explains the small benefactor of not playing in the SEC Championship Game
“I wanted to be in Atlanta. I wanted to beat our rival worse than anything on the planet, but there is maybe a little bit of silver lining from a health standpoint.”
Elko on the team’s emotional reaction after losing to Texas
You saw tears on the field. We had to take the kids off because emotions were really high… A lot of kids wore that heavy.”
“Then on the way home, they were like, ‘OK, we have to get ready for a national championship run.'”
Elko defends Texas A&M’s highly criticized schedule
“For all the people who want to knock our schedule, come play it. Good luck with that.” “There is a reason why the computers say only five percent of the top 25 would be 11-1 if they played our schedule. That’s not a made-up number.”
Elko on coaching in Texas A&M’s first College Football Playoff appearance in program history
“It’s going to be really cool. It still does not feel real until you get an opponent and time. When you look at a playoff bracket, and you are in it, the energy and excitement will be palpable.”
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Everything Texas A&M HC Mike Elko said during the Aggie Football Hour
