Texas A&M basketball could have just received the worst possible placement for NCAA Tournament
Texas A&M basketball's late-season slide is looking like it will cost them far more than any fan hoped or expected.
The Aggies upset Auburn in College Station the week before last, and at that point, it seemed like the Ags had all but locked themselves into a three seed at worst. The volatility over the last few weeks looked like it had found a resolution, with A&M finding a relatively favorable path to the second weekend.
However, a double-overtime loss to Texas in the NCAA tournament flipped the script. The Aggies now were having to white-knuckle a process that looked like it would be smooth sailing only days beforehand— and the worst looks like it has come to pass.
Not only have the Aggies fallen from the three-seed line down to a four, they have another first round matchup that is positively screaming "upset alert." So much so that some analysts covering the tournament have gone ahead out on a limb and declared that the Aggies will be a team heading home after their first game of the tournament.
This is because the Aggies have drawn a program that is a perennial giant-slayer in the first round. The Yale Bulldogs have knocked off some high seeds over the last few years, including Baylor a few years back and Auburn just this past year.
What's worse, the Bulldogs boast some extremely accurate three-point shooters. Forward Nick Townsend is 48.1% from beyond the arc on the year, and guard John Poulakidas is 40.2% from downtown. If the Aggies have an achilles' heel, this would be it— and they may have drawn the worst possible opponent to hide that weak point from.
Is this another case of a selection committee disfavoring the Aggies? If so, A&M has no one to blame but themselves. If it's the case that the Ags will get a raw deal every time there's a close call to make, then you have to put yourself out of range of that close call being made. A&M failed to do that down the stretch of the year— and now they have a tough first-round matchup to re
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