SEC Power Rankings for 2018 college football preseason

The first team to undergo a coaching change not at the bottom of these SEC Power Rankings, the Texas A&M Aggies probably have much higher expectations than finishing No. 10 in the conference overall this year. However, there’s no denying the fact that they were 7-6 last year.

That’s good for anywhere from No. 7 to No. 10 to open this year’s round of power rankings, and of all the teams in those spots, Texas A&M is the only team undergoing a coaching change. It does help that the schematic changes aren’t as drastic as they are for some other teams.

However, Jimbo Fisher is bringing them back to more of a pro-style offense. And the coaching change is enough offseason drama to keep them down here for now. We can’t just automatically vault Texas A&M up our list after they were so mediocre last year.

The Aggies open the entire season for SEC teams Thursday night by facing Northwestern State. Assuming they win that game, it’ll do nothing to boost their rankings really unless other teams ahead of them suffer bad losses.

However, the next week is a real test for them. This team faces the Clemson Tigers at home, the perfect barometer to judge where they are. Two weeks later, they face the Alabama Crimson Tide. So two of the Aggies’ first four games are against the two highest-ranked teams in the country. Simply put, they could move in these rankings very quickly. Until then, they are here at No. 10.