The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 112 is Texas A&M basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of Texas A&M basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 5
- NCAA wins: 16
- Bids: 18
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 13.7
- Bids per season: 0.16
- AP Polls: 146
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 1
- NBA players drafted & played: 10
- Conference Players of the Year: 7
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 12
- Conference tournament titles: 2
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Texas A&M basketball
The Aggies really match Arizona State as another Power 5 program with an overall great history, but not a lot of March Madness success to show for. After all, they’ve made the tourney 18 times and have 16 wins in it, but have never advanced past the Sweet 16, where they’ve gone five times.
It does seem like Texas A&M is getting closer. They’ve been to the big dance four straight years and 12 times since 2006. The program has really built itself into something since its days in the Southwest Conference. Being in the Big 12 and now the SEC has paid dividends.
The majority of Texas A&M’s history hasn’t been this good, but they did go an undefeated 19-0 in 1919-20 and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 1951. But their bids would be spread out, going again in 1964, 1969, 1975, 1980, and 1987. All of those were under longtime head coach Shelby Metcalf, who won 443 games with the Aggies from 1963-90. While he was great for the program at the time, he wasn’t able to elevate it into a powerhouse.
Since the 2000s, lots of notable coaches have contributed to A&M’s success. Billy Gillispie, Mark Turgeon, Billy Kennedy, Buzz Williams, and now, Bucky McMillan have all helped to keep them not just relevant, but a top-tier team in the Big 12 and SEC. In fact, in the last 22 seasons, Texas A&M has had 20+ wins 15 times. For an SEC school not named Kentucky, that’s a very good track record for nearly a quarter of a century.
Finally, some great NBA players have once played for the Aggies. DeAndre Jordan, Khris Middleton, Alex Caruso, and Robert Williams all suited up for the program. However, it was Acie Law who was their only Consensus All-American in 2007.
It’ll be interesting to see if Texas A&M can reach the next level of success. If they can, we might be talking about a top 100, even top 75 program all-time very soon. But they are kept outside of the top 100 due to some bad stretches, and the good seasons not resulting in long March Madness runs.