Selection Sunday is usually a day for celebration, but for the teams that find themselves on the outside looking in at the NCAA tournament, the evening can take on a very different sort of mood.
In that particular category this year is Texas A&M. The Aggies bubble burst on Sunday night.
Despite a miraculous run to the SEC tournament championship game, Texas A&M (23–12, 9–9) was left out of the field of 68 on Sunday. The NCAA selection committee revealed that the Aggies were the fourth team out of this year’s bracket.
Buzz Williams’s team got hot at exactly the right time this past week, even if it ultimately wasn’t enough. As the No. 8 seed in the conference, Texas A&M knocked off Florida, top-seeded Auburn and Arkansas before finally falling to No. 2 Tennessee, 65–50.
Between their strong play at the conference tournament and winning their last four regular season games, many fans and media members felt that the Aggies were a lock to get into the NCAA tournament. When it was revealed that Texas A&M was left out of the mix, college basketball observers took to social media to air their frustrations with the committee’s decision.
A number of teams snuck into the field over Texas A&M, leading many to wonder why exactly the Aggies were left out of the Big Dance. Indiana, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Wyoming were the last four teams that made the bracket, according to the committee.
With hopes of an NCAA tournament berth now in the rearview mirror, Texas A&M will almost certainly receive an NIT bid, should the program choose to accept it. The NIT field will be revealed at 9 p.m. on Sunday.
