Texas A&M
A ranked team earlier in the season, Texas A&M certainly sits on the brink of missing the Big Dance at this point in the season. Buzz Williams has done phenomenal work these last few years of putting the Aggies back into contending position, but they haven’t quite gotten over that hump.
Their season did start in style, picking up three Quad 1 wins in November, including true road wins over Ohio State and SMU and a victory against Iowa State during the ESPN Events Invitational. Their 3rd place finish in that tournament was certainly respectable, but the Aggies flailed later in nonconference play, dropping games to Virginia, Memphis, and Houston.
Clearly, SEC play provides numerous opportunities, and the Aggies have taken advantage to some degree. The big highlight is the overtime win at home over Kentucky back on January 13th, but home losses to LSU (by 15 points) and Ole Miss combine with a rough outing against Arkansas to more than offset that performance against the Wildcats.
Their 4-4 mark in Quad 1 games looks nice, but the 3-4 record in conference play is less inspiring. The Aggies have yet to play Alabama, Florida, or Tennessee and lost by double-digits against Auburn a few weeks ago. They’re sitting in a decent bubble position, but will certainly want another highlight win or two, especially if they keep dropping winnable home games.