Texas A&M Basketball: Aggies’ Tournament Chances

Following a huge victory over the LSU Tigers and the Tennessee Volunteers falling victim to two buzzer-beaters in the same week, the Texas A&M basketball team is now in sole possession of second place in the Southeastern Conference, with a 10-2 conference record. As that record suggests, the Aggies have been on a tear lately, and are now up to 33rd in the NET rankings. In fact, very few teams have been playing better basketball than Buzz Williams’s squad over the last month:

Despite this fact, the bracketologists have had this Texas A&M basketball squad wavering on the edge of the bubble for quite some time, due to early-season setbacks and bad losses. Their latest hot streak, however, could be enough to turn the tide, as Joe Lunardi has finally moved them up out of the “last four in” group.

As I’ve written previously, this LSU game kicked off a run of opportunity for the Aggies. On Wednesday, they will host the Arkansas Razorbacks (23rd in the NET), followed by a road trip to face the Missouri Tigers (45th in the NET), who are fresh off a win over Tennessee. Then, the Aggies host the Volunteers (3rd in the NET), after which they will hit the road again to visit the sneakily-competitive Mississippi State Bulldogs (41st in the NET). The season then wraps up with a visit to the Ole Miss Rebels (126th in the NET), followed by the final game of the regular season at home against Alabama (2nd in the NET).

It’s a tough stretch, to be sure. But it presents a huge opportunity to cement their place in the Big Dance for the first time since Buzz Williams became the head man for Texas A&M basketball.

If the Aggies keep up this current pace of play, and Reed Arena continues to be the intimidating venue it has become behind the support of the Reed Rowdies, then I like the Aggies’ chances of going .500 or better over this difficult final stretch. If they accomplish that, then there’s no doubt they carve out a spot in the tournament. From there? Anything can happen.