Firsts for A&M
Aggies to play North Carolina in Orange Bowl.
COLLEGE STATION — About 30 minutes into Sunday College Football Playoff selection show, Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko had seen enough.
“I may never watch an ESPN analyst talk again for the rest of my life,” Elko posted to Twitter.
Relayed the irate Elko's missive during the show, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit impishly responded, “Duly noted.”
The verbal barbs launched from coast to coast were just starting to fly after the Aggies narrowly missed their first College Football Playoff berth. A&M finished No. 5, as Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame locked down the top four spots in the four-team CFP by decision of its committee.
In their third season under coach Jimbo Fisher, the Aggies have won seven consecutive games, including their last six by double digits in Southeastern Conference play. A&M's consolation prize is playing North Carolina, led by former Texas coach Mack Brown, in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2.
On the same afternoon A&M hammered Tennessee 34-13 at Neyland Stadium, Clemson crushed Notre Dame 34-10 in the Atlantic Coast title game.
Still, the CFP committee believed the Fighting Irish (10-1) owned a better résumé
than the Aggies (8-1), despite the late-season blowout loss. A&M's lone setback was by four touchdowns (5224) at top-ranked Alabama in Week 2 on Oct. 3.
“The committee spent a great deal talking about (Notre Dame versus A&M) … into the morning,” said CFP committee chairman Gary Barta, longtime Iowa athletic director. “And then back again (later) in the morning. Those two teams … have a lot in common.”
Ultimately, the committee pointed to Notre Dame's double-overtime win at home over Clemson in the
regular season (when the Tigers were without star quarterback Trevor Lawrence) and its 31-17 victory at thenNo. 19 North Carolina on Nov. 27 as outweighing A&M's lone victory over a ranked team (41-38 over then-No. 4 Florida on Oct. 10 at Kyle Field).
Ohio State (6-0) trudged past Northwestern 22-10 for the Big Ten title but still earned the third CFP slot despite playing only six games.
Fisher on Saturday offered an impassioned plea for his team's inclusion into the CFP — “Seven straight SEC wins — and some
schools haven't even played seven games” — but said after Sunday's announcemenht that he was ready to turn the page.
“It's like having a bad play. You get disappointed for a minute, and then you play the next play,” Fisher said. “You move on. That's life.”
Fisher's players weren't quite ready to move on following Sunday's outcome. Senior quarterback Kellen Mond dubbed the committee's decision a “JOKE” on Twitter. Senior safety Keldrick Carper argued via social media that “everyone in the SEC beats up on each other, that's why their records are the way they are.”
A&M defensive tackle Bobby Brown's mother on Twitter urged her son and his teammates to “PUNISH” their bowl foe and dedicate the victory to “this so-called committee.” A&M defensive back Devin Morris wrote that he “feel(s) sorry for whoever we play next.” Receiver Demond Demas chose another word for bull manure on Twitter to express his displeasure with the ranking, using all caps to emphasize his anger.
Fisher led Florida State to the final Bowl Championship Series national title in 2013 and a season later had the Seminoles in the first CFP, where they lost to Oregon in the semifinals. Fisher on Sunday said he holds nothing against the committee in choosing schools.
“They gather all the information, and they've done one heck of a job,” he said. “They came to a conclusion.”