Texas A&M Drops in AP Top 25 Despite Dominant Win

The Texas A&M Aggies have officially made it through the first week of the college football season after a long offseason that left fans waiting with eager anticipation to see if the program could find success the same way they did in 2025.

The 2026 campaign started against the Missouri State Bears, and despite working out some rust early on in the first half, the Aggies found their groove and cruised to an emphatic home shutout, winning 50-0.

Despite the dominant display, the Aggies found themselves dropping in the latest AP poll, sliding down from No. 8, to No. 10, even though they were one of only three teams in the top-25 to shutout their opponent.

Dominance Resulted in A Drop

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko walks onto the field during a time-out in the first quarter against the Missouri State Bears at Kyle Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Aggies entered the 2026 season with plenty of question marks surrounding the program, with many of them falling on how head coach Mike Elko would ensure his roster was revamped with talent, after losing many key contributors from last year's historic run.

Despite those lingering questions, expectations remained high for the program, entering the year as the No. 8 team in the country. With an opening tune-up game to get right, the Aggies did more than answer questions, putting an emphatic statement in the win.

Displaying a 50-0 win, the Aggies also put up 505 yards of offense, while limiting the Bears to just 67, good for 5.9 and 1.7 yards per play for each team, respectively. The 1.7 yards the Aggies defense held their opponent to, was the second lowest mark in all of college football, once again displaying that Elko has built a consistent powerhouse on that side of the ball.

In the newest AP poll, which came out on the Tuesday morning because of the Labor Day weekend, the Aggies got bulletin board material, dropping to No. 8 after being leap frogged by the LSU Tigers, who rose to their previous spot of No. 8, while Elko and his team also slid behind the Ole Miss Rebels, who stayed at the No. 9 ranking.

With a lingering matchup against the Arizona State Sun Devils, who are just two years removed from a College Football Playoffs appearance, another display of a dominant win could be enough to push them back into their ole ranking.

However, there is still plenty of football to go, and as long as the Aggies continue to live up to expectations, the rankings will shake themselves out, setting the program up for another climb mid-way through the season, just as they did last year.

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