A season that had the Aggies showing their head coach the door, has resulted in a bowl game for the maroon and white.
Led by an interim coach, the Aggies will play Wake Forest in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte.
Head coach Kevin Sumlin was fired from Texas A&M after a disastrous loss to LSU to end the regular season. Jimbo Fisher, formerly of Florida State, will be announced as the Aggies new head coach on Monday.
NBC 5 sports director Newy Scruggs and Jean Jacques Taylor give their prediction on who will emerge from the college football playoffs and be crowned national champion.
STATS: Texas A&M (7-5, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) vs. Wake Forest (7-5, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), Dec. 29, noon.
LOCATION: Charlotte, N.C.
TOP PLAYERS
- Texas A&M: WR Christian Kirk, 730 yards receiving, 7 touchdowns.
- Wake Forest: QB John Wolford, 2,792 yards passing, 25 touchdowns; 615 yards rushing, 10 touchdowns.
NOTABLE
- Texas A&M: Jimbo Fisher was recently hired by the Aggies as coach but will not coach in the Belk Bowl. Three of the Aggies' losses this season came against teams that were in the AP Top 25 at the time: Alabama (27-19), Auburn (42-27) and LSU (45-21).
- Wake Forest: After big wins against Syracuse and then 19th-ranked North Carolina State, the Deacons suffered a setback with a 31-23 loss to Duke in the regular season finale.
LAST TIME
- First meeting.
BOWL HISTORY
- Texas A&M: The Aggies are 17-21 in bowl games. They have been to nine straight bowl games but have lost the last two, including a 33-28 defeat last year to Kansas State.
- Wake Forest: The Deacons are 7-4 in bowl games. This is their second straight bowl appearance, beating Temple 23-17 last year in the Military Bowl.
The road to college football's next champion is becoming a little clearer as the field is set for the College Football Playoff.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
