Jordan Rodgers makes the case for Texas A&M to be No. 1 in College Football Playoff rankings

The 12-member College Football Playoff selection committee released its initial Top 25 rankings of the 2025 regular season on Tuesday evening following Week 10 action. And, for the most part, there was little in the way of actual debate coming out about the committee’s first rankings, especially in the Top 5.

That said, one college football pundit did take issue with the committee’s initial rankings, specifically with regard to its No. 1 team. ESPN and SEC Network analyst Jordan Rodgers believes the CFP selection committee erred by ranking undefeated Big Ten powers Ohio State and Indiana at No. 1 and 2, respectively, ahead of the SEC’s lone undefeated team at No. 3: Texas A&M.

“I think (Texas A&M) should be No. 1 based on the schedule they’ve played, something the committee said they were going to emphasize a lot,” Rodgers said Friday morning on ESPN‘s Get Up. “But I get it, the one thing we haven’t seen from Texas A&M is them be dominant for four quarters. We’ve seen that from Indiana, we’ve seen that from Ohio State.”

But while he could understand the committee’s thinking, Rodgers still provided a strong case for why the unbeaten Aggies (8-0, 5-0 SEC) should be No. 1. Potentially even in next week’s Top 25 if A&M’s defense came put together a complete-game effort in Saturday’s road game at No. 22 Missouri (6-2, 2-2 SEC).

“The reason I think they should be No. 1, and I think they will be at some point, is they have the highest ceiling,” Rodgers continued. “They can beat you in so many different ways, especially on offense. They can run at you with Rueben Owens, they can dice you up on the outside with two of the most explosive receivers (Mario Craver and KC Concepcion) in the SEC. Marcel Reed is the most dynamic dual-threat quarterback in the SEC, he had 100-plus rushing yards last week.

“The problem is, for four quarters, this defense hasn’t showed up. It’s been two quarters at times, three quarters at times. Last week they got down to LSU and then rattled off a 35-7 scoring margin in the second half,” Rodgers concluded. “So I need to see Cashius Howell, Taurean York, Scooby Williams, those guys, I need to see them be dominant for four quarters. They have as much talent and volatility as anybody, I need to see a little more consistency (from the A&M defense).”