Aggies’ NCAA bid rests with league tournament
COLLEGE STATION — The Aggies beg to differ when anyone claims league tournaments are meaningless, or right next to it, as part of the college basketball season.
“We have a lot riding on the SEC tournament,” Texas A&M sophomore center Tyler Davis said. “We know what it means.”
It means much more fun in March, if a middling league team like A&M manages to earn the conference tournament title.
“The big tournament — an NCAA Tournament berth,” Davis further explained of the SEC postseason’s real meaning. “We have to win to get in the NCAA Tournament, we know that.”
‘Get past Vanderbilt’
The 10th-seeded Aggies (16-14), who face seventhseeded Vanderbilt (17-14) at 6 p.m. Thursday in the tournament in Nashville, realize one win, two wins or even three wins in the SEC tournament won’t earn them an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. It will take A&M, which was 8-10 in league play, winning a conference postseason title to earn the automatic bid, reached with four straight victories.
“I just know we have to beat Vanderbilt to advance,” said A&M coach Billy Kennedy, when asked to address the varying scenarios, including a possible NIT bid. “Our league is balanced, so if we can get past Vanderbilt, we think we have a chance to get past the next one, for sure.”
Kentucky ran away with the regular season title at 16-2 in SEC play, while Florida followed at 14-4. The next 10 teams in the 14-team conference won between 12 and six games, with Missouri and LSU (each 2-16) easily the worst of the SEC.
Kentucky defeated A&M last season in overtime in the SEC tournament title game, but that Aggies squad featured four senior starters and would later advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. This one is hoping a win or two will at least push it into the NIT.
“If we can’t win the SEC tournament and we get an NIT bid, then it’s time to go play,” Davis said.
Kennedy was more hesitant when asked if the Aggies would entertain the idea of playing in the obscure CBI postseason, as they did three years ago.
“We’re banged up in a lot of ways, and we’re going to do what’s best for our program and for our guys right now,” Kennedy said. “Every team and every situation is a little bit different, and it’s (different) than when we played in (the CBI) a few years ago. I don’t know if there’s a benefit for us at this point to do that right now.”
No. 8 Kentucky (26-5) and No. 17 Florida (24-7) are the SEC’s lone ranked teams, and the Aggies would draw the Gators if they get past Vanderbilt, which finished 10-8 in SEC play. The Commodores, behind Luke Kornet, are playing some of the league’s best basketball of late, and they defeated A&M twice this season, at home and on the road.
“We owe them,” Davis said.
King of the hill
Kentucky, which only lost to Florida and Tennessee in the SEC regular season, apparently is owed by plenty of programs, but they all know they’ll have a tough time collecting in Nashville. The Wildcats, winners of eight straight, are led by league player of the year Malik Monk, along with fellow freshman guard De’Aaron Fox, a Cypress
Lakes graduate and one of the nation’s top guards on yet another loaded roster for coach John Calipari.
“The teams that are in (Nashville) all gave us good games and should have beat us,” Calipari said of the Wildcats’ multiple close calls this season. “But the SEC tournament is all about preparation.”
That would be preparation for the NCAA Tournament, where the Wildcats perennially contend for much more than a league title, whether that SEC championship comes via the regular season or the conference tournament.
“There are 12 teams in our league that have proven they can beat anybody,” Kennedy said. “It’s wide open. But everything goes through Kentucky.”
Kentucky has won eight national titles, the last coming in 2012, along with 48 regular-season SEC championships and 29 SEC tournament titles. This will be Fox’s first SEC tournament, but not the first he’s witnessed.
“I’ve seen it on TV,” he said. “There’s always a lot of blue there.”