Texas A&M moves up three spots to No. 16 in AP's Week 3 poll

This is where the fun begins.

Following a 44-22 victory over Utah State and plenty of Week 2 carnage ahead of them, the Fightin’ Texas Aggies have moved up to No. 16 in the AP’s Week 3 poll.

Additionally, Mike Elko & Co. are ranked No. 17 in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll.

After starting at No. 19 and staying put last week, the Aggies are knocking on the door of the nation’s top 15...and just in time for their premier non-conference matchup of the 2025 slate.

Indeed, A&M goes on the road this week to face No. 8 Notre Dame (0-1) in the shadows of Touchdown Jesus and surrounded by the ghosts of the Four Horsemen.

Week 3 will be A&M’s first trip to South Bend in a quarter century and just their second trip to Notre Dame Stadium in program history, to go along with a 24-10 loss in 2000. More recently, the Aggies dropped a 23-13 decision to the Irish at Kyle Field — a matchup that was tied with under two minutes to play.

While offensive woes kept Elko from a marquee victory in his Aggie debut, A&M currently boasts the nation’s 16th-best scoring offense as Collin Klein’s unit is averaging 43.0 points per game. However, Marcel Reed’s status will be something to watch throughout the week as QB1 left the Utah State win in the third quarter with an undisclosed injury, but Elko did say the Aggies “fully anticipate Marcel will be fine for next week.”

For a team that has allowed 46 total points to UTSA and Utah State, the upcoming trek to Indiana will be the defense’s first true test as Marcus Freeman’s offense is led by tailback Jeremiyah Love, a top prospect in the upcoming NFL Draft, and signal caller CJ Carr, the grandson of legendary Michigan head man Lloyd Carr.

Still, the Irish offense sputtered for much of a 27-24 road loss to then-No. 10 Miami. Following the dejection in South Beach, Notre Dame has had a bye week to prepare for what will be the 2025 home opener in South Bend.

In Week 3, A&M is among the 11 SEC teams ranked in the latest poll along with No. 3 LSU, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Texas, No. 11 South Carolina, No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 17 Ole Miss, No. 19 Alabama, No. 24 Auburn and No. 25 Missouri.

The Fightin’ Farmers and Golden Domers meet on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 6:30 p.m. CT, and the matchup will be televised on NBC.

Rudy was offside.

Associated Press Week 3 Poll
 

OUT: Arizona State (12), Florida (13), Southern Methodist (17)
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Arizona St. 94, BYU 92, Georgia Tech 78, Florida 70, Southern Cal 64, TCU 58, Mississippi St. 52, Louisville 49, SMU 26, Nebraska 10, Tulane 9, Baylor 7, UNLV 5, Pittsburgh 3, Navy 2, Memphis 1, Vanderbilt 1.

Italics denotes Southeastern Conference member