Can Aggies Root for Alabama in the College Football Playoff?

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:00 a.m. ET

Fansided, Matthew Bartlett/FanSided via Gig Em Gazette

The stage is set for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game and the SEC will have another chance to take home the title again in 2017.

It comes as little surprise that the Crimson Tide will be playing for a national title this year. Top ranked Alabama has a date with the Clemson Tigers after steamrolling the Washington Huskies in the semifinal on New Year’s Eve.

The Crimson Tide an SEC Ally

The move to the Southeastern Conference was an incredible opportunity for Texas A&M. The emergence of Johnny Manziel put the Aggies front and center in the most dominant conference in football. No Aggie quarterback has beaten Nick Saban since.

Alabama has become the greatest sports dynasty of this decade, and the race really isn’t even close. However, some Aggie fans take solace in simply being associated with the Tide via conference affiliation

I could never bring myself to cheer for even Baylor when Texas A&M was a member of the Big XII. Not once was supporting t.u. ever considered. But since joining the SEC many of the Aggie faithful have taken up a banner for the conference. It’s one thing to jump on a bandwagon, but it’s another to enjoy the success of a comrade.

Alabama isn’t a True Rival, Yet

Supporting an SEC friend is all well and good, but have the successes of Alabama gone too far? Without parity competition loses its luster. Perhaps it’s time somebody new takes home a title.

More interesting still, can Aggies find it in themselves to cheer for Alabama? Texas A&M and Alabama have only met on the football field nine times. There hasn’t been decades of animosity to fuel a rivalry. Contrast that with Texas, who the Aggies have played more often than any other team in school history, 109 times.

If there isn’t a rivalry, then what’s the harm?

So which triumphs for you? Are you in the camp that chants “SEC! SEC! SEC!” or do you prefer Saban eat some humble pie? Will it be Dabo Swinney or Nick Saban that walks out of Raymond James Stadium in victory?