Texas A&M (25-9, 15-3 SEC) will travel to Des Moines, Iowa as a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament to face the red-hot 10-seed Penn State Nittany Lions (22-13, 10-10 Big Ten) on Thursday at 9:55 p.m. ET., 8:55 p.m. CT. on TBS. Yes, you read that right, you’re Aggies are a 7-seed.
After falling to the Alabama Crimson Tide 82-63 in the SEC Championship early Sunday, Texas A&M already knew that they would be included among the 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament, but were unsure where they’d be seeded after an impressive second consecutive appearance in the Title game after going 15-3 in the SEC during the regular season.
With a NET ranking of 19 even after the loss, many, including myself, felt the Aggies had done more than enough in the last three months to earn at most a 5-seed in the tournament, but when Selection Sunday finally started rolling through their list of matchups, it was announced that Texas A&M would play in Des Moines, Iowa as a, yes, 7-seed.
Taking on one of the hottest teams in college basketball in Penn State on Thursday in the opening round seems like a minor punishment after Head coach Buzz Williams spoke out against the selection committee at the end of last season, but nevertheless, the Aggies are back in the Big Dance for the first time since 2018, and first time under Buzz Williams leadership.
After Texas A&M was selected, Buzz Williams spoke to the local media who traveled with the team to Nashville, Tennessee for the SEC Tournament, as Williams discussed A&M’s resume this season while giving insight on the reasoning behind their seeding selection. Here’s what he had to say on the matter.
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