Aggies Football Ranked High in ESPN's Best Team From Each Decade
The landscape of college football has changed dramatically over the past 100+ years. And the history of the Texas A&M Aggies football program within that landscape is no different.
It's tough to compare teams from different eras against each other, but ESPN and Bill Connelly took to the task. Using their SP+ rankings, Connelly ranked each decade's best team. He noted:
"Starting with the 1920s, I looked at which teams most thoroughly dominated the sport from decade to decade, using SP+ percentile averages for each team and each decade. How much do these lists change over the decades? What can these averages tell us about how things have evolved over the past 100 years and how much things are evolving now?"
The Aggies have always been a defense-first team, and those historically great defenses were awarded praise from Connelly's rankings. A&M football ranked well with some of the best teams over the past 100 years.
1920s
Texas A&M – No. 9 overall: (83.2, one top-five)
Five best defenses: 1925 Michigan (97.2), 1928 Illinois (97.1), 1929 Illinois (96.8), 1927 Illinois (96.7), 1920 Texas A&M (95.3)
Back in the dawn of college football, the Southwest Conference was home to the Maroon and White and their vaunted defensive unit. The Aggies went 6-1-1 that season with a 5-1 conference record, limiting their opponents to just 0.9 ppg (yes, that is a real stat).
They allowed a total of seven points all season, with all of that coming in their regular-season finale against the Longhorns, a 7-3 loss by A&M.
1930s
Five best defenses: 1936 TCU (99.5%), 1935 SMU (99.4%), 1939 Tennessee (99.3%), 1939 Texas A&M (99.0%), 1935 Stanford (98.9%)
In their sixth year under head coach Homer Norton, the Aggies compiled a perfect 11-0 record, winning the Southwest Conference championship, and outscored all opponents by a total of 212 to 31.
1940s
Five best defenses: 1940 Texas A&M (99.7%), 1946 Rice (99.4%), 1948 Michigan (99.3%), 1942 Texas (98.8%), 1945 Indiana (98.8%)
In their seventh year under head coach Homer Norton, the Aggies compiled a 9–1 record (5–1 SWC), tied for the SWC championship, and were ranked No. 6 in the final AP Poll.
1950s
Five best defenses: 1952 Georgia Tech (99.8%), 1957 Texas A&M (99.4%), 1953 Maryland (99.3%), 1959 Ole Miss (98.8%), 1957 Auburn (99.1%)
With head coach Bear Bryant at the helm, the Aggies went 8-3 (4-2 SWC) and scored 158 combined points while their defense allowed a grand total of just 50 points all season. In allowing just 4.5 ppg to their opponents, their defense ranked second in points allowed as they would go on to compete in the Gator Bowl.
1990s
Texas A&M – No. 8 overall: (88.4, two top-fives)
The Aggies were the epitome of consistency for much of the 90s, and in particular throughout the early part of the decade. Between 1990 and 1999 they finished with eight seasons of nine wins or more while ranking in the final AP poll in all but one season.
The crown jewel may be that 1992 team, as the Aggies completed the season with a near-perfect record at 12–1 overall and a Southwest Conference mark of 7–0 under head coach R.C. Slocum.
2010s
Texas A&M – No. 8 overall: (86.8, one top-five)
Between the years of 2010 and 2019, A&M never finished below .500 while punching their ticket to a bowl game in every season. The 2012 season, in particular, will forever be etched in Aggies lore as they went 11–2, with victories over then-#1 Alabama and later Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.
Texas A&M’s fifth-place finish in the AP Poll was also the highest for the program since 1956.
The Aggies football program's history and traditions run deep. And A&M is seeing some notoriety from a national source as it continues its way through the SEC, even as Texas and Oklahoma join the fold.
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