Will Texas A&M basketball fire Buzz Williams if the Aggies miss the tournament?

Hot seat talk: Is Buzz Williams going to be fired if Texas A&M basketball misses the tournament?

This season for Texas A&M basketball has been rife with disappointment. Though the Aggies got off to a strong start with wins over Ohio State and Iowa State, things took a turn for the worse at the end of the non-conference slate and into the beginning of conference play.

The opening part of the SEC slate was slow going for the Aggies, who lost to both LSU and Arkansas; teams they should have beaten without much question. There was a point where it seemed things had been turned around, however. 

When the Aggies went on a short, three-game winning streak over Florida, Missouri, and Tennessee, the Maroon and White faithful were ecstatic; it really seemed like things had fully turned around. If someone told me at that point that the Aggies would not win a single game for the rest of the month of February, I am not sure I would have believed them.

And yet, here we sit. The Aggies are on a five-game losing streak, including a loss in Nashville to the Vanderbilt Commodores and a second loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks. Only three games remain until the SEC tournament.

Before the season, there was a lot of talk about results that A&M fans needed to see this year. We all agreed that this would be Buzz’s most talented team yet; therefore, a first-round exit would require some soul-searching. But how about if you don’t make the tournament at all?

Unfortunately, that’s how things are looking at the moment. The Aggies have fallen to 59 in the NET rankings, and there’s not a whole lot of room to maneuver upwards with so little season left.

So, if things keep on this path, is Buzz a lock to be fired? Will the Aggies need to be searching for a new head man in College Station to patrol the sidelines of Reed?

I don’t want this to be a repeat of my predictions about Jimbo Fisher, but I really think that Buzz has another year here before they cut him loose. He is well-liked among the players (and the fanbase, for the most part), and his style of basketball, when executed well—which it simply hasn’t been this season—reflects well the personality that Aggie fans want their basketball team to have.

Then you have to deal with the question of the athletic director. I know that Buzz can be fired by the acting AD (RC Slocum), but I don’t know that they would put that on his shoulders. Every second you spend continuing to look for an AD is a second that you would be behind the coaching carousel, assuming his first move would be to fire Buzz. The easier thing would be to ride it out for one more year, with a much shorter leash.

Though this has been a disappointing season, a combination of circumstances lead me to believe that Buzz will still be around next winter. Beyond that, I can’t make any guarantees.