Snubbed: Texas A&M's SEC Run Doesn't Earn NCAA Tournament Bid
Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said he didn't know if the Aggies did enough to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. He doesn't have to worry anymore since the committee made up its mind.
It wasn't the outcome expected.
Texas A&M won't be going dancing as the clock struck midnight on its Cinderella run. The Aggies' late-season magic, including upsets over SEC top seed Auburn and No. 4 seed Arkansas in the conference tournament, wasn't enough to be one of the 68 teams. Texas A&M was left as of the first four out.
Over the past month, Texas A&M played its best ball after suffering through an eight-game losing streak. During their seven-game winning streak prior to Sunday's 65-50 loss to No. 2 seed Tennessee, the Aggies beat three ranked teams.
Tennessee raced out to a 14-0 lead Sunday and never looked back. Volunteers guard Santiago Vescovi led the way with 17 points, while Josiah Jordan-James and Kennedy Chandler scored 16 and 14, respectively.
Texas A&M was led by guard Tyrece Radford, who had 13 points. Forward Henry Coleman was the only other Aggie in double-digits with 12. Coleman grabbed seven rebounds and Radford had six.
Tennessee won its first SEC tournament title since 1979 and its first under Rick Barnes. Since arriving in College Station, Williams has posted 47–35 record, recording two winning seasons in 2020 and 2022.
Barnes, who also has ties to the Lone Star State from his tenure at Texas, praised the Aggies postgame, stating they've done enough to enter March Madness.
"I think that the job that Coach Williams and his staff did through this tournament, I felt all year that the SEC was the best basketball league in the country," Barnes said postgame. "And for them to do what they did over four days was really remarkable. Again, they deserve to be in the tournament.”
Texas A&M last made an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018.
Six teams will represent the SEC this postseason. The matchups, with seeds and regions, are:
No. 4 Arkansas (West) vs. No. 13 Vermont
No. 6 Alabama (West) vs. winner of No. 11 Notre Dame/Rutgers
No. 3 Tennessee (South) vs. No. 14 Longwood
No. 2 Auburn (Midwest) vs. No. 15 Jacksonville State
No. 6 LSU (Midwest) vs. No. 11 Iowa State
No. 2 Kentucky (East) vs. No. 15 St.Peters.
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