CFB Analyst Says Texas A&M Aggies Can Go to Playoff by Winning This Game

The Texas A&M Aggies will have the eyes of the collective college football nation upon them when they take the field against Notre Dame in College Station just 12 days from now.

With College GameDay in town along with a matchup against a top-ten opponent in front of what will be a raucous Kyle Field crowd , the hype has been building for months now towards Mike Elko 's first game as Texas A&M's head coach.

One prominent college football media personality who has been high on Elko at A&M since the day he was hired is Josh Pate of the Late Kick . But Pate took his belief in Elko a step further on Monday, proclaiming while appearing as a guest on the Next Round that if the Aggies were to defeat the Irish in week one, it will catapult them to a season in which they make the College Football Playoff .

"People aren't ready to wrap their minds around Texas A&M as a playoff team," Pate said . "This is not a start from scratch situation. In fact, it's one of the better entry points that you could ever have...if they win [in week one] I think they go to the playoff...I have so little doubt about the fact that Mike Elko is the right guy for the job."

Pate would go on to talk about the fact that Elko completely turned Duke around , going from a 3-win team to a 9-win team the year he took over and winning back-to-back bowl games during his two seasons with the Blue Devils.

With prior experience in College Station and a proven track record of getting the most out of his roster, the Aggies may just have a very special coach in their new head man. Winning against Notre Dame in week one would just further solidify that fact.