Texas A&M Aggies Receive Surprising Placement in FPI Rankings

With the 2025 college football season rapidly approaching, it seems like a new ranking of some kind is coming out each and every day. On Tuesday, that ranking came courtesy of ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI), and it sure contains some surprises.

Chief among those surprises is the fact that the Texas A&M Aggies come in at No. 8, a stark contrast from their placement in the late teens or 20s in most other rankings. The Aggies finished 8-5 in Mike Elko's first season, but lost four of their final five games after a hot start.

That ranking definitely raised some eyebrows, with ESPN's Jake Trotter picking the Aggies as his most "overvalued" team according to FPI.

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko reacts during the second half against the Texas Longhorns. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

"So we're doing this again, huh? Every preseason, Texas A&M gets top-10 hype. Every season, the Aggies fail to deliver on it," Trotter wrote. "Texas A&M has reached double-digit wins just once this century (the Johnny Football year in 2012). And yet, FPI is giving them the benefit of doubt again as the No. 8-ranked team.

"Mike Elko is a terrific coach and the Aggies, as always, have talent, including intriguing dual-threat sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed. But the Aggies ranked 51st last year in offensive EPA and 47th in defensive EPA. That hardly screams top 10 team. What's really there to suggest the Aggies will be any different than what they've been?"

The Aggies poor finish to last season, as well as their history of similar finishes over the past 15 years or so, definitely gives cause for concern. After all, there's a reason why most human rankings have them much, much lower than this, if they have them ranked at all.

In terms of raw talent, however, the Aggies have one of the top rosters in the country, featuring several high-profile transfers in addition to many of last year's best players returning, so it makes sense why an algorithm like FPI would view them favorably. We'll have to wait and see if that belief is actually warranted, however.