Inspired by our latest segment of Chumbley’s Corner. I considered this question: “If you could undo one play in the history of A&M athletics, what would it be?”
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Texas A&M has had a rich history of “almosts” and “whatifs”. When this question got sent in it really got me thinking, which is why we thought it deserved an article all on it’s own. To me there’s three plays in particular that really sparked the debate.
Acie Law’s missed layup
Number one would be Acie Law’s missed layup in the final seconds of the sweet 16 back in 2007. The Alamo Dome was rocking with Aggies that night (including a 13 year old version of myself up in the nose bleeds) and if Captain Clutch sinks that shot, the Aggies are cruising to their first ever Elite 8 appearance in school history. With a chance to advance to the final four, who knows how the next few seasons in College Station could have looked.
Donald Sloan is assaulted at the rim
Second, ironically happened one year later. Down by one against the number one-seeded UCLA Bruins (a team that was spear-headed by Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, and Darren Collison), the Aggie’s had a chance to take the lead with under ten seconds left to play. Donald Sloan ensued to drive the ball and get HACKED on his way to the rim. However a blatantly missed call led to a Westbrook dunk and a 3 point victory for the bruins. A win would have meant back-to-back appearances in the sweet 16 and would have ranked as one of the bigger upsets in tournament history.
Tre Williams pulled down against LSU
Last up would have to be Tre Williams getting walked down in the fourth quarter on his way to what could have been a game winning score against LSU back in 2012. Instead of putting 7 on the board and taking the lead, the Aggies were forced to settle for a field goal which was ultimately missed by the streaky Taylor Bertolet. A win against the tigers that fall would have put the Ags in the SEC championship game with a very real shot at winning the conference (as well as the National Championship) in their inaugural season.
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Pretty tough call to make between those three. Heck of a question though and a big thanks to Greg for submitting it. However I might be having a pretty high bar tab later tonight with you making us relive all of that my friend. What plays in Aggie history do you want to hit the reset button on? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @GigemGazette.