The No. 7\u00a0Aggies are preparing to host No. 10 Miami at Kyle Field in the first round of the CFP.<\/p>\n
During the regular season, the Aggies rattled off 11 straight wins before\u00a0a loss to Texas<\/a> in their final game cost them a shot at the SEC title. A team that had hopes of a conference title and a first-round CFP\u00a0bye was dropped to the current seventh seed.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think any of that will really matter when we end up winning it all,” offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III<\/a> told reporters confidently following\u00a0the selection show.<\/p>\n A bold statement, sure. But this sentiment seems to ring true in the A&M locker room.<\/p>\n Under second-year head coach Mike\u00a0Elko, this team just clinched the program’s first CFP spot after topping 10 wins for just the second time since joining the SEC more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n “We’re looking forward\u00a0to hosting the game at Kyle\u00a0Field,” linebacker Taurean York<\/a> said. “We’re trying to get this bad taste out of our mouth (from the Texas loss) and\u00a0go from there.”<\/p>\n With their rival in Austin finishing\u00a0outside of the playoff field, A&M shifts its focus to Miami. The teams share some things in common: Both defeated Notre Dame, helping knock the Irish out of the playoff.\u00a0<\/a>Like the\u00a0Aggies, the Hurricanes (10-2) also fell short of their conference title game after a hot start. Miami finished third in the ACC.\u00a0<\/p>\n It’ll be just the sixth meeting between A&M and Miami, with the Hurricanes winning the last meeting in 2023, 48-33. The Aggies last faced Miami at home in 2022, winning 17-9.<\/p>\n