Texas A&M’s (15-11, 6-7 SEC) free fall has reached epic proportions just two weeks after defeating the highly ranked Tennessee Volunteers inside a packed Reed Arena, seemingly cementing their place in the NCAA Tournament.
Barring a collapse with eight games remaining on the schedule, ESPN’s “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi had the Aggies squarely slated at a 7-seed heading into their road matchup against Vanderbilt. Still, their once hopeful trip to Nashville was just the start of what has become a complete disaster.
After falling to the Commodores on a last-second shot, losing 100-75 against Alabama on the road was no surprise, but what shocked every Aggie on Tuesday night was the lack of urgency coupled with one of the poorest shooting performances on the year in the Aggies’ underwhelming 78-71 loss to Arkansas.
According to Lunardi, Texas A&M has now gone from squarely in the field to drop all the way down to the “last team in,” and if this squad still wants a shot at taking part in any postseason festivities outside of the N.I.T, finishing 4-1, or at worst, 3-2 (winning every home game), is only way forward.
From a NET rankings perspective, A&M’s impressive six Quad 1 wins are the only reason they’re still in the tournament conversation. At the same time, their four Quad 3 losses will be heavily taken into account by the selection committee.
Texas A&M will hit the road to face No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7:00 p.m. CT. The game will air on ESPN.
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