Texas A&M Football Looks to End Unfortunate Streak

The Texas A&M Aggies appear in the preseason AP Poll for the seventh-straight year, but can they stay there?

Nov 30, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko reacts during the second half against the Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns defeated the Aggies 17-7. at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The Texas A&M Aggies enter the 2025 season with plenty of optimism, and at least on the surface, their placement in the preseason AP Poll is yet another reason why.

On Monday, the AP revealed that the Aggies will start the season at No. 19, a respectable ranking for Mike Elko's squad. Sure, there's some teams that they definitely could've been ranked above (cough, cough, Oklahoma at No. 18), but again, not a bad ranking by any means.

Based on recent trends, however, the Aggies' appearance in the preseason AP Poll may not be all it's cracked up to be.

Eye-Opening Stat Puts Texas A&M's Struggles in New Perspective

Dec 27, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) throws the ball against Southern California Trojans cornerback John Humphrey (19) in the first half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

This season marks the seventh year in a row that the Aggies have been ranked in the preseason AP Poll, tying the longest streak in program history. In the past six years, though, they've finished ranked in the AP Poll just once. He's a full break down of their starting and final positions over that time span.

• 2019: No. 12 preseason, unranked at end of season
• 2020: No. 13 preseason, No. 4 at end of season
• 2021: No. 6 preseason, unranked at end of season (No. 25 in Coaches' Poll, however)
• 2022: No. 6 preseason, unranked at end of season
• 2023: No. 23 preseason, unranked at end of season
• 2024: No. 20 preseason, unranked at end of season

Granted, plenty of teams ranked in the preseason AP Poll end the season unranked every year. Heck, 13 teams in last year's preseason ranking finished the year unranked, more than half of the list. That just goes to show how chaotic the sport is.

That said, the fact that the Aggies have suffered this same fate so often, with drastically different rosters and now a different coachin staff, is definitely a cause for concern.

It's no secret that the Aggies have been stuck in the 7-9 win range for years now - that fact is beaten more than a dead horse, in fact. However, this trend shows why it's so frustrating to fall short over and over and over again.

The Aggies definitely have the talent to end the streak this year, but their schedule is quite daunting. They play three top-10 teams on the road (No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 9 LSU and No. 1 Texas), and welcome two more top-15 (No. 15 Florida and No. 13 South Carolina) teams to Kyle Field.

Elko and co. have their work cut out for them, but again, a ranked finish should be the expectation.