Johnny Manziel Feels 2012 Texas A&M Could've Made Noise in Playoff

While some may see it as a disadvantage, the 12-team College Football Playoff giving more teams the chance to compete for a national championship is undoubtedly great for the sport. One or two losses is no longer a complete death sentence for power-conference teams, while teams from smaller conferences that would've never had a chance to compete beforehand now have a fair shot.

However, the expanded playoff also leads many to speculate on what would've happened had it been implemented sooner, and what teams would've done well in it.

The 2012 Texas A&M Aggies are a perfect example. They suffered early losses to Florida and LSU, but were one of the hottest teams in the country to end the season, beating eventual national champion Alabama on its home turf and demolishing Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. With only two teams getting the chance to compete for the national championship in the BCS era, however, they unfortunately weren't able to claw their way back, but it would've been a different story had the 12-team playoff existed.

Johnny Manziel Believes Texas A&M Would've 'Done Well' In Hypothetical 2012 Playoff

Former Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2012, believes they could've done some serious damage if the 12-team playoff had existed that year.

“I think our first year, we would have been dangerous for sure,” Manziel said on "Always College Football. “Toward the end of that year, we were playing as good as anybody in college football… I think we would have done well in 2012, for sure, just because of how well we were playing.”

A&M entered bowl season at No. 9 in the BCS rankings, so it would've easily claimed an at-large bid. Remember, Ohio State was a No. 8 seed this season after losing two games, and it went on to win the national championship thanks to a dominant run. If the Aggies played at their best, perhaps they could've made some noise as well.

Unfortunately, the Aggies weren't able to capture the same magic in 2013. They were again eliminated from national title contention following early losses to Alabama and Auburn, which left them at 5-2 in late October. Manziel believes that being eliminated so early on caused a change in the team's entire mindset, thus leading to later losses against LSU and Missouri.

“My next year, in 2013, it’s kind of like, after you lose a game or two in that BCS era, not getting into the SEC title game, if you’re sitting there at 10-2, you don’t have a chance for a national title,” Manziel said. “It changes your whole mindset.”