Texas A&M Football: How Many Wins Does Kevin Sumlin Need in 2017?
The Texas A&M football team has been treading water for the last three seasons at 8-5. What does Kevin Sumlin need to do in 2017 to prove he’s the man for the job?
In one of his media sessions prior to the Texas Bowl against Kansas State, Kevin Sumlin called Texas A&M the ” [best] combination of stability and winning in the state of Texas.” Shortly afterward the Aggies would lose their bowl game and finish 8-5 for the third year in a row.
That’s pretty consistent. It just might not be the consistency that Aggie fans are wanting to see.
Scott Woodward, the current athletic director at Texas A&M, was able to bring Chis Peterson to Washington. Peterson’s team made it to the college football playoff this year. That wasn’t missed by Woodward.
How Many Wins is Enough?
Improvement is expected. The question is, how much is enough? Will 8-5 cut it again?
In 114 seasons of football, the Aggies have reached eight wins or more 37 times. That’s a shade under 33% of the time. While in the Big 12, the Aggies met or passed the eight win mark six times in 16 seasons. Only 43% of teams in the country won eight games or more in 2016 and that includes Arkansas State and Ohio.
That’s just a way of reminding any disgruntled Aggie fans that an eight win season isn’t something to be taken for granted. The Aggies are only six years removed from Mike Sherman. Recency bias can be fickle.
Admittedly, the order of the wins might play as much of a roll in the final result. In his last three seasons at A&M Kevin Sumlin has a 13-0 record in August/September and a 5-7 record in November. The Aggies close the 2017 season at home against Auburn and New Mexico before hitting the road to play Ole Miss and LSU.
The Aggies can afford to lose to Alabama and possibly Florida, but dropping a sixth straight game to LSU might be pushing it. A 4-4 conference record isn’t the end of the world in the SEC West, but Sumlin could absolutely do himself a favor by winning at least nine games next year. That would probably be enough of a difference to convince his detractors to give him another year at the helm.
***Stats from Sports Reference***
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