Texas A&M surprisingly drops out of ESPN's updated preseason Top 25 rankings
Earlier this week, nearly every major college football prognosticator released their updated preseason Top 25 rankings for the 2024 campaign. With conference alignment and the expanded 12-team CFP playoff structure making their debuts, we're in for an exciting ride.
Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko will make his Aggie coaching debut on Saturday, Aug. 31, against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. After a productive offseason that many would deem highly successful for a first-year head coach, ESPN's Mark Schlabach seems to disagree.
Earlier in the offseason, Texas A&M was ranked 25th in ESPN's "way-too-early" rankings, and just a month after the conclusion of the spring football period, Schlabach's updated list has removed the Aggies from the spotlight.
Even before the spring, Elko's consistent success was hard to ignore as soon as he stepped on campus. He landed over 30 players through the transfer portal and successfully signed 2024 five-star athlete Terry Bussey to finish the cycle.
Well, in his revised rankings, the Aggies were replaced in the standings with Iowa, USC, and Virginia Tech, which is simply nonsensical from an outside point of view.
During A&M's spring practice period, starting quarterback Conner Weigman's continued recovery from his offseason surgery may have hindered the offense's explosiveness during the Maroon & White spring game, but outside of that, the Aggies' elite defensive line and improved secondary are reason enough to include them in the bottom 20.
Either way, expect Elko, who has been a personal underdog in his own coaching career, to take on that role this season, starting with the projected No. 5-ranked Fighting Irish three months from now.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M surprisingly drops out of ESPN's updated preseason Top 25 rankings
