Texas A&M basketball is smack dab in the middle of a four-game losing streak, dating back to their road loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Aggies have lost all momentum after riding a six-game win streak into that contest, including an impressive domination of the Georgia Bulldogs on the road.
This losing streak includes a surprising stumble against the Missouri Tigers from this past week at home, which is possibly the most deleterious loss of the year. The Aggies fell by only one point, but it added a Q2 loss to the column for an A&M team whose resume desperately needed to stay clean in that area.
Texas A&M is now at only 3-6 in Q1 games, according to the NET rankings, and 4-2 in Q2 games, with losses to Missouri and UCF. The Oklahoma State loss is right on the verge of dropping into the Q2 range, as if the Cowboys fall four more spots in the rankings, that game's designation will shift for the worse.
Texas A&M's updated metrics looking worse and worse as Selection Sunday approaches
The Aggies themselves are right at 43 in the NET, showing just how closely they're flirting with disaster as Selection Sunday is coming quickly. The field for the NCAA Tournament is obviously 68 teams, but given that each league champion gets an automatic bid, a team like the Aggies needs to be far above that line to merit consideration.
In other words, Texas A&M is dropping into territory where they may fall out of the field entirely, unless something changes. They'll have several more opportunities for some signature wins, including games at Arkansas and home against Texas and Kentucky, but if this slump we've seen out of them recently continues, it's hard to feel optimistic about those contests.
The good news is that Ken Pomeroy's rankings are a bit higher on the Aggies, currently slotting them at 35th. That's enough to make fans feel a little bit safer about where the Aggies stand, but still lower than many would like at this point.
Ten SEC wins should be the target, and the Aggies currently stand at 7-5 in the conference, good for 8th place at the moment. They can get to that number if they simply win their games against Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and LSU, but that would leave them without a signature victory in the conference— wins over Auburn, Texas, and Georgia are nice, but not quite the level the Aggies need.
I expect the Aggies to end up as a possible play-in team in tomorrow's bracketology update, meaning an 11 seed. There could still be a little bit of optimism in play and the Aggies could be on the 9 or 10 line, but given their loss of momentum, I'm not sure they'll have that benefit of the doubt.