Texas A&M (19-9) (NET: 42)
4-6 (Q1), 4-3 (Q2), 3-0 (Q3), 8-0 (Q4)
While it took a few weeks to really sink in, the first season for Bucky McMillan in College Station has gone better than many expected. The Aggies got off to a very hot start this season and were even sitting atop the SEC standings around a month ago, but they haven’t quite secured their position just yet.
Having four Quad 1 wins is the blessing here and they’ve all come on the road, as the Aggies downed Auburn, Texas, and Georgia during their hot start to league play. A recent road win at Oklahoma became the latest Quad 1 win, though that one is more precarious with how the Sooners have played this season.
The negative here is how Texas A&M fell out of the SEC lead with a four-game losing streak to begin February. There are also those two tough Quad 2 losses in the opening weeks of the season, including a 24-point defeat at the hands of an Oklahoma State team that’s not a factor in the Big 12. Still, they avoid the kind of loss that would sink a resume.
Few expected to see Texas A&M at 9-6 in the SEC at this point and it’s hard to imagine a team missing the Big Dance with a resume like that. However, the Aggies have to stick the landing and have some tricky games to close the regular season, with both Texas and Kentucky coming to town before the regular season concludes.
Tulsa (21-6) (NET: 56)
0-1 (Q1), 3-3 (Q2), 9-2 (Q3), 9-0 (Q4)
With 21 wins and pretty decent metrics, Tulsa is having about a good a season as they’ve had in recent memory. The Golden Hurricane are looking to get back to the NCAA Tournament and have stayed afloat in the American this season. While there’s always the chance at conference tournament success, they very much are still a bubble team thanks to that NET.
An unfortunately weak nonconference schedule only included a singular Quad 2 win over Northern Iowa, though they added to that with great showings at UAB and Florida Atlantic with emphatic wins. The Golden Hurricane have put together some nice winning streaks, including a 7-gamer during league play that included those two wins.
They have lost five conference games, and two of those are the Quad 3 losses. Tulsa had a tough outing at North Texas to start January while later losing their rematch to UAB as part of a recent 3-game losing streak. Suffice to say their resume was in better shape two or three weeks ago.
Is it game over for the Golden Hurricane? They’ve gotten back on track here recently but their final two regular season games are Quad 4. It’s hard to anticipate this type of team catching the eye of the Selection Committee, so Tulsa really needs a great showing at the American Tournament.