Texas A&M Bowl projections after Week 14: Exploring Aggies' postseason eligibility

The No. 20-ranked Texas A&M Aggies had a chance to earn a spot in the SEC Championship with a win over the No. 3-ranked Texas Longhorns on Saturday. However, it did not happen as the Aggies (8-4) lost 17-7 to the Longhorns (11-1). As a result, it is no longer possible for them to make the playoffs.

This season looked like it was nearly guaranteed to feature the Aggies in the SEC Championship Game. After defeating LSU 38-23 on October 26th, they were 7-1 and looked like a lock for the game. However, they went 1-3 to close the season and fell out of the race. They will have one non-playoff bowl game this season.

Take a look at which bowl game the Aggies could play in below:

Texas A&M projections after Week 14

To qualify for the playoffs, there are two options for a team. The first option is to be one of the five highest-ranked conference champions. Those teams earn automatic playoff berths with the four highest-ranked of those teams earning byes through the first round. It is no longer possible for Texas A&M to earn a playoff berth that way.

The next seven spots go to the seven highest-ranked conference champions as determined by the CFP selection committee. The Aggies entered the week as the No. 20-ranked team. While the loss to No. 3-ranked Texas might not mess up their rankings further, they will not have the opportunity to move up in the rankings. As a result, they will not rank high enough to earn one of those seven spots.

Since it is no longer possible for Texas A&M to play in the playoffs, they will have a non-playoff bowl game. 247 Sports projects that the Aggies will play in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Michigan. The Wolverines are coming off a high profile, 13-10 win over No. 2-ranked Ohio State to close their season.

There are several other bowl games with SEC tie-ins that could feature the Aggies. Those games include the Gasparilla Bowl, Birmingham Bowl, Liberty Bowl, Music City Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Texas Bowl, Gator Bowl, and Duke's Mayo Bowl.

The playoff bracket will not be announced until after championship weekend. Once the playoff teams are known, bowl game announcements will start to be made. Until then, we will not know for sure which bowl game Texas A&M will play in.