Joe Lunardi's 2026 bracketology still has Texas A&M in a March Madness gray area

Texas A&M basketball has had an eventful offseason, adding new players and coaches. Following the departure of Buzz Williams and the hiring of Bucky McMillan, key players have been added to start McMillan's A&M career, like Mackenzie Mgbako, Pop Isaacs and Federiko Federiko.

Even though he's inheriting the Aggies in a period where the SEC has arguably the deepest league in the country, ESPN's Joe Lunardi still has high hopes for McMillan's first season.

Lunardi's last update had Texas A&M as a "last four" team, and while this update didn't really change that, it still puts the Aggies in an uncomfortable gray area next March.

Lunardi has Aggies playing in the "first four" game to punch real ticket in

Those teams in the last four byes can easily collapse during the season, but wouldn't it be fitting from the basketball gods to have both Maryland and Texas A&M as two of the last four in? As of this prediction, Lunardi has the Aggies playing Miami in Dayton for the first four. The winner would play the Texas Tech Red Raiders, which could make for a true popcorn matchup of a round of 68 affair if the Aggies come out on top.

SEC teams like Alabama, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Auburn will lose tons of veteran talent this upcoming season, and even though the SEC will be a new look league, the conference might inherit another gauntlet schedule in 2026. Lunardi predicts 14 SEC teams to make the tournament in 2026, which would tie the record-breaking SEC season from 2025.

Of course, we got a bunch of Saturdays of SEC play to go through, but if Texas A&M can get a few quad one wins under their belt, the Aggies might be prime position as a top 25 team to not even worry about playing in the first four.