Aggies poised to end 5-year drought
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M is safely in the NCAA Tournament following a year in which the Aggies figured they were in the 68-team dance, only to be left out.
Based on A&M finishing second in the Southeastern Conference regular season among the league’s 14 teams and beating No. 2 Alabama on Saturday in Reed Arena as the cherry on top, Aggies star guard Wade Taylor IV was asked to discuss the Aggies’ solid NCAA résumé heading into the postseason.
“Winning the SEC tournament,” Taylor said. But what about … “Winning the SEC tournament,” Taylor said, before repeating his “take ’em one tournament at a time” edict for emphasis.
In other words, the Aggies are taking nothing for granted rolling into the NCAA Tournament and have their minds set on winning their first league tournament since 1987, when they competed in the Southwest Conference.
“A game at a time,” A&M guard Tyrece Radford said when asked about the long-term possibilities for the Aggies.
The SEC tournament starts Wednesday, but the Aggies don’t play until Friday based on earning one of the format’s four doublebyes. Meaning they only need wins in the quarterfinals, semifinals and the finale to earn the title.
A&M (23-8) will face either No. 7 seed Auburn or No. 10 seed Arkansas on Friday night in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The Aggies likely cannot really help or hurt their NCAA Tournament seeding — projected by ESPN on Sunday as a No. 7 seed — in the league tournament.
The Crimson Tide, despite Saturday’s 6-point setback, still project as one of four No. 1 seeds of the NCAA postseason, no matter what happens in Nashville. Traditional national power Kentucky is the program to keep an eye on in Music City, as the Wildcats wound up seeded third behind Alabama and A&M after starting league play 1-3. Kentucky (21-10) capped its regular season by winning five of its last six games.
“We’re on that rise,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “At this time of year you’re trying to have them empowered … they’re (the ones) calling plays in the huddle now. … It’s off my plate and now it’s on their plate to make it work, and I want that.
“… You want them empowered and you want them confident, but just as important you want them to have a ball playing. Even when it gets rough and the other team makes a run, you’ve got to have a ball playing basketball. Especially this time of year, because you don’t want it to end.”
Meantime Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt (the fourth, fifth and sixth seeds) all had 11-7 records in SEC play, with Vanderbilt as of this week projected by ESPN on the outside looking in concerning the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt is the program that perhaps could help itself most with a strong run in Nashville, although that didn’t help A&M in a similar situation last year, when the Aggies lost in the league tournament title game to Tennessee.
“What we envisioned for this season is starting to pay off and come to fruition for us,” said Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse, the former NBA All-Star guard.
The Commodores closed out the regular season by winning eight of their last nine. Following an opening-round bye, Vanderbilt will face either No. 11 seed Georgia or No. 14 seed LSU.
The SEC tournament has had four different winners the last four times it has been held: Kentucky in 2018, Auburn in 2019, Alabama in 2021 and Tennessee in 2022. The 2020 tournament was called off because of the pandemic.
For its part, A&M had not made the NCAA Tournament in five years and will do so for the first time under fourth-year coach Buzz Williams.
“I haven’t wanted my heart to be full of anxiousness on things that I can’t control,” he said. “… The regular season is over so, yeah, I would like to understand (the NCAA projections) a little bit better. I’m also excited about the new season.”