Texas A&M continues to rise in the latest Bracketology from ESPN's Joe Lunardi, moving up from an 8 seed in last week's projections to a 7 seed this week. This is a fitting reward for the Aggies, who embarrassed the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens this past Saturday, blowing UGA out by 15 on their home floor.
In these current projections, the Aggies would be matched up with the ten-seed St. Mary's Gaels— a tough draw indeed given that St. Mary's is actually higher than the Aggies in the most recent NET rankings— but moving up a seed line is never a bad thing. The Aggies' prospective path to the Final Four in these rankings would include Houston, Nebraska, and UConn.
At 17-4 right now, the Aggies' record is better than their seed projection may suggest, however. That has a lot to do with what Texas A&M has upcoming on their schedule— the worst of which will be coming down the pike this very week.
Texas A&M could make massive jump in Bracketology this week or tumble down rankings
The Aggies will face off with the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa this week in a homecoming for Bucky McMillan, as the Aggie head coach will square off with the team he grew up rooting for. Nate Oats's squad plays a similar style to the Ags, but McMillan's team has already summarily dispatched with one team that fits that bill in Georgia.
After the Tide, the Aggies will return home (finally) to get their first Quad 1 home game of the year, as they will host the Florida Gators. The highest-ranked SEC team in the NET will be a tough out, of course, but the Aggies have the skill to do it— and we've seen the Ags pull off big time upsets at Reed Arena before.
Win both of those games, and a 19-4 Aggie team could jump into the 4 or 5 seed range— maybe even the three-line, though that may be to much to hope for. Florida currently projects as a 3 and Alabama as a 5, and the Aggies in that case would have wins over and better records than both teams.
Of course, if things go sideways, then it could get dicey for the Ags. This week will be a proving grounds for Bucky's team in a big way; people are starting to take note of Texas A&M, and if they falter now, they could be written off until much later in the year.