Texas A&M wants to finish conference schedule strong
With NCAA bid likely, finishing conference play strong the goal
February 27, 2018
COLLEGE STATION - Perhaps too young and blissful to know any better, Texas A&M freshman guard T.J. Starks said he believes that the Aggies have a "good chance" of beating their final two regular-season opponents "by a great distance - a great amount of points."
If the Aggies do so against Georgia and Alabama, the victories will serve as reminders of their standout nonconference play - months-ago superiority that likely helped propel them to an NCAA Tournament bid in less than two weeks.
"That's been the best thing about our year right now," A&M coach Billy Kennedy said of solid nonconference victories over highly ranked teams at the time and an overall 11-2 mark against non-SEC foes. "Injuries and not having guys for the first three or four games in SEC play hurt us, no question. That's why we lost five in a row - we didn't have our top guys.
"The preseason was big for us, and hopefully that will be enough for us to weather this and finish strong and get in the NCAA Tournament."
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The Aggies (18-11, 7-9 SEC) play at Georgia (16-12, 7-9) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night, and they close out their regular season Saturday afternoon at home against Alabama. Next week is the SEC tournament in St. Louis, a chance for the Aggies to pad their NCAA Tournament résumé regardless of this week's outcomes.
Should A&M splits its last two regular-season games, the Aggies are still expected to squeeze into the NCAA Tournament even with a losing record in SEC play. Why? In particular, A&M's strong nonconference schedule and showing. The Aggies are 26th in the NCAA's rating percentage index (RPI).
The Aggies own wins over then-No. 11 West Virginia and then-No. 10 Southern California, along with victories over name programs like Oklahoma State and Penn State in nonconference action.
While league play hasn't gone as they'd like, they've also defeated then-No. 8 Auburn and then-No. 24 Kentucky. The Tigers are currently 14th and the Wildcats 23rd. A&M started SEC play 0-5 and has gone 7-4 since.
ESPN's latest projected NCAA bracket has A&M as a No. 7 seed. The Aggies, who missed the NCAA Tournament last year, advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2016.
"We still want to play well all the way down the stretch," Kennedy said. "It's important that we win some games and validate that (belief) and make sure we get into the NCAA Tournament. We don't want to be guessing on Selection Sunday."
Two wins to close out the regular season would eliminate any guesswork, regardless of what happens in the SEC tournament. That would give A&M a 9-9 mark in SEC play, matching the break-even marks of a couple of teams that made the NCAA postseason last year in their respective leagues (Wake Forest of the ACC and Xavier of the Big East).
The SEC placed five teams in the NCAA Tournament last season, with the worst league mark among the group Vanderbilt at 10-8. The SEC is considered an overall stronger league this season, however, and ESPN's Joe Lunardi this week has projected eight SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Starting Wednesday night at Georgia, the Aggies also will be playing to avoid a bottom-four finish in the 14-team league.
The league's bottom four teams must play on the first day of the SEC tournament, meaning they would have to go on quite a run to bring home a league tournament title.
"You don't want to be playing five nights in a row to try and win an SEC tournament championship," Kennedy said. "We've talked about that, and we understand the sense of urgency. Hopefully we'll play with the same sense of urgency we had at Vanderbilt."
A&M is coming off an 89-81 victory at Vanderbilt on Saturday, holding on after leading by 24 points in the second half against the Commodores. The Aggies snapped a three-game losing streak, and once again gave themselves reason for hope in the postseason.
Brent Zwerneman
Texas A&M beat writer