No matter how the Texas A&M basketball team finishes the season, it won’t be remembered for the team’s accomplishments. Instead, Aggie fans and the college football world will remember Buzz Williams’ squad for the fact that it was the biggest NCAA Tournament snub in America this year.
Texas A&M had an undeniably better resume than a large handful of teams that gained entry. There was no reasoning given for their snub.
Thankfully, the Aggies haven’t let this impact their performance in the NIT Tournament — the less desirable of the two major college basketball tournaments. The Aggies have run through every opponent they’ve faced thus far. Their closest contest came in a 12-point victory over Alcorn State.
The Texas A&M basketball team is winning convincingly — could they have made a deep NCAA Tournament run?
The worst part about succeeding as a 1-seed in the NIT Tournament is the nagging question: what if your team made the NCAA Tournament?
Prior to the NCAA Tournament selection show, Texas A&M looked like every bit of a tournament team. They had three ranked wins during the final stretch of their season and a neutral court top-five win during that stretch. The fact that they were snubbed from the tournament continues to be the biggest head-scratcher in college sports.
Thankfully, Aggies seem to succeed when they are doubted. This much was obvious when the Texas A&M football team was snubbed from the College Football Playoff in 2020 and continued to win convincingly over North Carolina in the Orange Bowl. Right now, they’re doing the same thing in the basketball world.
Texas A&M has officially advanced to the NIT Tournament championship game, meaning they’ve won four straight games. They have won by at least 12 points against Alcorn State, Oregon, Wake Forest, and Washington State. Among these teams, Texas A&M picked up two more Quad 1 victories.
Against Washington State, this was on full display. After a slow start, A&M really separated itself in the second half, going on a 22-7 run. This led the Aggies toward an eventual 72-56 win which sent them to the NIT Championship Game.
It’s hard to think about whether this team would have been able to compete for an NCAA Tournament Championship. They’ll never get the opportunity, so what’s the point? Still, a Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, or Final Four appearance would have been huge for a program that desperately needs that push.
Unfortunately, the committee is unable to do its job.