BCS Standings 2011: Bowl Outlook for Texas A&M Football

The BCS ranked the Aggies at 17th, the exact place A&M finished last year after a Cotton Bowl loss to LSU. Texas A&M is just few miscues away from being ranked fourth in the nation and vying for a spot in the national yitle game, but that is neither here nor there at this point.

There can be no looking back, no "what ifs," no "well if only that had gone our way...". Where the Aggies rank in the new BCS polls puts them as the fourth highest Big 12 team, with only No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 11 Kansas State, all undefeated, ranked above them. That's a proud place to stand and with so much season left to play, including visiting OU and K-State, meaning a lot could change fast. 

Last season, Texas A&M went out and lost three games straight in the beginning of the year, but then followed that up with a change at QB and a six-game winning streak. The Aggies stunned the nation and flew into the AT&T Cotton Bowl where SEC powerhouse LSU defeated them in an exciting game. 

Standing on a two-game winning streak heading into a road game at Iowa State, A&M looks to possibly repeat last year's luck and explode in the polls. Now we can take a look at what five bowl games are possible with any kind of season-ending performance the Aggies could have ranked in order from worst scenario to best. 

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl/Insight Bowl

This is Texas A&M's worst case scenario. Ending up in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego or the Insight Bowl in Tempe this December would be representative of the Aggies completely screwing up.

These bowls take either the fourth place (Insight) or fifth place (Holiday) team in the conference which would mean that theoretically OU, OSU and K-State would for certain be in front of A&M while someone else (Baylor, Texas or Tech) could possibly be ranked better than the Aggies.

For instance, in 2006 A&M was destroyed in the Holiday by Cal. Our record that year was 9-4 (5-3) (and at that point the Holiday Bowl took the fourth ranked Big 12 team).

Last year, Big 12 North Champion Nebraska got screwed into the Holiday Bowl just because the rest of the conference was "upset" they were leaving for the green pastures of the B1G. Missouri, who ranked just below Nebraska in the Big 12 North, got sent off to the Insight Bowl last season.

If Texas A&M was to play in the Holiday Bowl today against the fourth ranked Pac-12 team, the Aggies would get either Washington or Arizona State. In the Insight Bowl, A&M would take on either Illinois or Penn State.  

A&M is good enough to match up against a top-tiered Pac-12, SEC or B1G school, and the Holiday or Insight Bowl would be a complete letdown for a season that started out with so much promise. 

Valero Alamo Bowl

Last season the Big 12 South formed a three-way tie between OSU, OU and A&M. The Sooners received the bid to attend the Big 12 title game (and further on a BCS bowl) because they ranked highest in the BCS rankings. 

The Aggies ranked second highest in the division and were pleasantly given a bid to attend the AT&T Cotton Bowl. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, they ranked third in the trio and were left with the Alamo Bowl.

The Alamo Bowl takes the third best Big 12 and the second best Pac-12 university down to San Antonio for a matchup in weather that isn't below freezing. Oklahoma State wrecked Mike Stoops and Arizona last season in strong-armed showing off of a powerful offense.

The Aggies played Penn State in this bowl just a few years back in the 2007, losing 24-17 to the Nittany Lions. 

This is A&M's middle ground this season. If the Aggies receive a bid to play in San Antonio, they will have retained the same spot behind the likes of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas State that they hold onto now.

Considering that OU and OSU will both receive bids to playing BCS bowls, Kansas State would wander down to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl. This would leave A&M to silently travel to the Alamo City and assume its position as mediocre.  

AT&T Cotton Bowl

The Cotton Bowl Classic is just slightly overachieving for A&M this season, just as it was last season. No one could have predicted the Aggies would finish out the regular season with a six-game winning streak, which included huge victories over Nebraska and Oklahoma at home.

Returning for the second year in a row would be a victory for Aggie fans and would once again give A&M a free preview of what playing great SEC teams will be like for the next couple decades.

Attending the Cotton Bowl would mean that Texas A&M ranked behind two strong Oklahoma universities who both received bids to play in huge BCS bowl games. Finishing again as one of the strongest Big 12 universities would be proof to any critics that not only can A&M consistently play great football against strong teams, but also that the Aggies can compete in a super-charged SEC.

This is the toughest non-BCS bowl for the Big 12 (and SEC teams for that matter) and would once again be a nationally televised game watched by millions of people.

Last year, a very strong LSU team beat the Aggies in the Cotton Bowl 41-24 which was a much closer game than the score shows. Considering A&M's defection to the SEC, watching a Texas A&M versus the aforementioned conference would bring a huge number of viewers as well as a great matchup. 

Fiesta Bowl (or Any BCS Bowl)

If the Aggies were thieves, a BCS bowl game would be the crown jewels. Stealing into an at-large BCS bid for the first time since 1998, A&M would stroll out of the Big 12 with a huge amount of pride.

There has been a ton of debate all across the nation about Texas A&M's move to SEC and whether it was a "smart move," particularly in the competitive sense. A trip to the Fiesta Bowl (or any BCS bowl) would not only crush any criticism, but also would leave a resounding sense of strength exuding from College Station.

The Aggies have received a lot of "hate" from most of the nation, especially from the rest of their former conference. Ending their final year with the Big 12 with a bang is exactly what any A&M fan would love to have on record for future debate.

Furthermore, attending a BCS bowl is a fantastic accomplishment for any university. National acclaim for playing in January against another conference's best (or second best) team is any squad's dream.

This is Texas A&M's best case scenario and reaching a BCS Bowl would be extremely difficult. Many things would have to the Aggies' way (here's an article on what those things would have to be). Watch for A&M to make a splash, though, in the bowl shakeup this season because they own one of the best teams in the nation and have all the potential to reach an upper-ranking bowl.