What CAN A&M football be? I say look no further than LSU or Florida. Prior to Nick Saban, what had LSU really done that was any more impressive than what A&M has done? They had 1 claimed national title, 1957 I think, not sure if they had other unclaimed titles like the 2 that A&M has. Before Steve Spurrier, Florida was mostly irrelevant. I mean, not even worth talking about. If I recall right, they had not won an outright SEC title ever, and I am pretty sure they are an original SEC member. That sounds Vandy bad.
All time wins - LSU has 815, A&M has 786, Florida has 766. Seems pretty comparable overall. Yeah, LSU has added a few national titles, and once Florida figured out how to actually win the SEC, they have also won some national titles. All of that success came after they hired the right coach, Saban for LSU and Spurrier for Florida. LSU added titles under the grass eater and the Cajun cookie monster, Florida grabbed a couple more with Meyer.
Or look to Clemson, who was constantly accused of "Clemsoning" it before they finally won a couple of titles.
Now, the reality is that A&M really hasn't come close in any of our life times. A case can be made for 1975, but whatever idiot agreed to move that Piggy game to the first week of December should be thrown on the ash heap of history. Play that one when originally scheduled, maybe the Ags win. Can't know how it would have gone, but in early December, with I believe the QB hurt and it's not like Piggy was a pushover, bad call on moving the game.
I will root for A&M teams until the day I die (or can't remember anything, whichever comes first). But damn if last season didn't really cause me to re-evaluate things. From first place to face-plant in 5 quick games. You've got to be kidding me. I get that we lost the bulk of our offense with the injury to Moss, but for that injury to completely derail what had been shaping up as a special season is a mind-numbingly WTF moment. Daniels is a good back, but I'm not sure he's built to carry the load like Moss is.
I have long been an optimistic person with regard to the Aggies. No more. Now it's a prove-it mentality. I'll watch, I'll go to games, and all of that, but I'm expecting nothing. It's just entertainment now. And this new mentality has led me to an "oh, well, hope he gets better" thought with regard to the injury to Grahovac on the baseball team. But damn I do still want a national title.