Texas A&M basketball is gearing up for a matchup with their rival Texas Longhorns to open SEC play this Saturday. The Aggies have had a solid start to the season, racking up an 11-2 record thus far in the year after some big time matchups.
The Longhorns come into this game, however, also with an 11-2 record. Traditionally no basketball slouch, Texas hopes to come in and play spoiler against an Aggie team that is looking to have one of their best seasons in recent memory.
Of course, not every basketball schedule is created equal. Though the Aggies and Longhorns both have an 11-2 record, their games have not exactly come against equal competition.
Texas has faced only two Quad 1 opponents so far, according to the NET rankings. They lost to both Ohio State and UConn; 25th and 18th in the NET, respectively. They have two Quad 2 games, one Quad 3 game, and an eye-popping eight Quad 4 games so far in this young season.
In other words, this has been a cakewalk for the Longhorns, and they've received a rude wakeup call to that fact every time they've faced a real team. The Aggies, on the other hand, have been forged in fire so far.
A&M has nearly as many Quad 1 games as they do Quad 4 games, and their Quad 1 and 2 games are more numerous than 3 and 4 combined. It's worth mentioning that A&M beat Ohio State— a team that defeated the Longhorns by 8— by 14 points.
It is always cathartic to beat your rival, but an emphatic performance in this one by the Aggies could send Texas spiraling. The SEC is a nigh-unbelievable gauntlet this year, and the Longhorns are about to have to wake up to that fact. What better way to introduce them to that nightmare than a massive defeat at the hands of Wade Taylor, Andersson Garcia, and the rest of Buzz's squad?