Texas A&M basketball prepares for SEC Tournament; how many wins for the Big Dance?

Texas A&M basketball draws tough but manageable matchups in SEC tournament bracket

After a long skid that seemed to have all but knocked the Aggies out of NCAA tournament contention, Texas A&M basketball now has more than a glimmer of hope to make the Big Dance. It’s crazy what a dominant three-game winning streak will do—all of a sudden, the bracketologists are praising the out of conference strength of schedule of the Aggies, as well as their top-shelf Quad 1 record.

There’s still work to be done, however. Even before the Georgia game, looking forward down the stretch of the season, I said that if the Aggies won these three games—which they now have, of course—they would still need to make some noise in the conference tournament.

Thankfully, it’s not quite the same pickle they were in two years ago, where it became clear that nothing short of winning the whole thing—and therefore gaining an automatic bid—would get the Aggies in. No, with the aforementioned Quad 1 record, as well as the strength of schedule the Aggies have played, they are in a more favorable position than the 2021-2022 squad.

So who is in the way? Who does Texas A&M basketball play in the SEC tournament? Thanks to the win streak, the Ags have clawed their way back to .500 in SEC play, notching the 7th overall seed. With the 14-team format that the conference currently has, that matches them up with the 10th seed—this year, that’s Ole Miss. 

This will be the third game the Aggies have played against the Rebels. They should be 2-0 if not for a last-second collapse at home earlier in the year. As it stands, they’ve split the season series after blowing out the Rebels in Oxford just this past Saturday.

If they get past Chris Beard’s crew, the Kentucky Wildcats await. One of the hottest offenses in the nation, Big Blue was unable to capitalize on some favorable officiating down the stretch in Reed Arena, dropping the only matchup between these two teams this year. This simultaneously indicates that the Aggies are capable of beating Calipari’s team, and that the Wildcats will want some revenge for their earlier loss.

Win these two games, and I feel a lot better about hearing the Aggies’ name called on Selection Sunday. Things are trending in that direction at this point, and no matter if A&M falls in the semifinals, I think they’ll have done enough to make the field.