Texas A&M basketball again finds themselves badly in need of big win; now over Bama

Texas A&M basketball may not win against Alabama, but they’re running out of time to turn it around

I know I promised a piece about where Texas A&M basketball is headed for the day after the Vanderbilt game. I understand that I’m late with this article. I think fans of the team can understand why that might be.

Every time I think I have this squad figured out, they find another way to surprise me.

That is not a compliment.

I guess, to be more precise, it is not a compliment most of the time. Because mostly, the surprises come when I think the team has gotten on track. I legitimately thought over the last two games that these guys had started to click offensively and learned to play hard on defense, no matter the opponent. Yes, they blew out Tennessee and showed how high they can fly, but I had hoped that the blowout win over Missouri was proof of concept that they would max out their effort even against lesser teams.

On Tuesday night, we found out that wasn’t the case. Did the Commodores hit some difficult shots? Yes. But the lack of defense at the three point line was painfully familiar. The extremely low level of effort on defense in general by almost everyone not named Solomon Washington was just plain painful.

And what did it leave us with? Another quad 3 loss. That brings the Aggies’ total in that category to 3—once again, an albatross around their neck come Selection Sunday.

There’s still opportunity ahead. They’ll have one tomorrow against the Crimson Tide. A win there would go a long way to undoing what the Vandy game did. In honesty, a loss wouldn’t be the end of the world. They’ll have a chance to go 2-for-2 against the Volunteers, as well as an opportunity to avenge another last-second loss when they visit Oxford, Mississippi.

They may not win against the Tide. It would be a tall order to do so. But even with the other opportunities that I’ve just outlined, it may be too late. It feels like all momentum has been stalled, and they’re running out of time to get it back.