Texas A&M basketball's opponent for the opening round of the SEC Tournament is now set, as the Aggies will face the Oklahoma Sooners Thursday night for a chance to advance and play Arkansas. After the Aggies locked up their seed, there were three possibilities for who they may play in their first-round game, and Oklahoma was likely the one that the Aggies wanted to see the least.
Texas A&M has already played the Sooners twice this year, and they swept them in those two matchups— but both were pretty close games. The other possibilities were Auburn (who was eliminated as a potential opponent when they lost to Alabama in their final regular-season game) and South Carolina, who the Sooners just beat in a huge comeback win.
Either of those other two would have been preferable: Auburn is skilled but headed straight downhill, while the Aggies demolished South Carolina when they played earlier this season.
Texas A&M basketball faces tough challenge with Oklahoma in opening SEC Tournament game, but there's a lot of reason for confidence
There are a couple of reasons to feel good about this game, of course. First and most prominently, the Aggies have obviously swept this series in 2025-26, even if it was by a small margin. This could also work against the Ags, though, as it is very hard to beat a team three times.
You can bet Oklahoma will be motivated for this one, though, after the chippy second half up in Norman a few weeks back. Things got a little personal between these two teams, and Porter Moser's squad, desperate for a tourney berth, will no doubt use that as fuel for this matchup.
Speaking of fuel, though, the Sooners could be frighteningly low for this game: after playing the previous night, it will be interesting to see how OU responds to the frenetic pace of Bucky Ball. Can they keep up the entire game, or will A&M begin to impose their will in the second half?
There's also a question of the motivation gap. The Aggies are in a good, albeit not great, spot when it comes to tourney seeding, and OU really needs some things to fall their way to get in. Could the Sooners' greater need fuel a higher level of play?
OU has been playing really well recently overall, so the Aggies have to take this game pretty seriously. If they want a shot at Arkansas to get some revenge, they'll have to stay frosty in this one.