It's hard to overstate just how much a win in tonight's game against the Arkansas Razorbacks would mean for Texas A&M basketball. The Aggies are currently sitting in fifth place in the conference, behind Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and the aforementioned Arkansas, but a win would move the Aggies up into a tie for third place.
With the Volunteers' loss to the Missouri Tigers, they have fallen to 10-5 in conference. The Razorbacks sit at 10-4, and the Aggies are at 9-5. Arkansas has a head-to-head victory over Tennessee, while the Aggies have a loss against the Vols in double overtime in Knoxville— meaning that, if the Ags beat Arkansas, the teams will all be 1-1 against each other.
Why is this significant? Texas A&M desperately needs to move to the opposite side of the SEC Tournament bracket from Florida, who is a nightmare matchup for the Aggies in Nashville, so that they can get a signature win or two in the conference tournament.
Texas A&M's game tonight has massive SEC tournament implications for avoiding nightmare matchup
There are more things that need to happen, but if the Aggies can get to the three-seed— something that will likely require winning out— they will face the winner of the 6 seed vs. the 11th/14th seed in the conference quarterfinals. That means a team like Missouri or Texas compared to a team like Vanderbilt or Kentucky.
More importantly, they will face the two-seed— likely the Alabama Crimson Tide, now without Charles Bediako— in the semifinal, and I like the Aggies' chances a lot in a rematch there. Staying away from the Florida Gators, whose frontcourt was patently dominant against the Aggies in their matchup earlier this month, will be imperative.
There's more that needs to happen here, as I said— Arkansas losing to Florida and Tennessee losing to Alabama in their rematch would both help. But the Aggies can only control what's in front of them, and right now, that means winning tonight's game against the Hogs.
For Texas A&M to have their most realistic shot at winning an SEC Tournament title, they need to move up from their current spot in fifth to the three-seed line. That won't be easy— but with things coming down this close to the wire, we've seen crazier things happen.