COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — The Texas A&M men's basketball team earned a four seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament, marking their third highest seed in program history.
The Texas A&M men’s basketball team found out their NCAA Tournament fate Sunday afternoon, earning a No. 4 seed in the Big Dance. The Maroon & White will head to Denver to take on the 13-seeded Yale Bulldogs in the first round.
“I know they’re in the Ivy League, and I know Coach Jones, but I don’t know anything else, so we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams said.
“It’s a blessing, man, this what we dream of, everybody’s dreamed of,” senior guard Manny Obaseki said. “The fact that we’re all able to do this together as a collective group means a lot.”
The Aggies will take on a Yale team that as a 13 seed last season, beat then 4th seeded Auburn in the first round of the tournament. The Bulldogs present a challenge behind the arc, finishing the regular season with the 16th best 3-point percentage in the country.
“We’re going to stick to our game plan, we’re going to play at a high level we’re going to rebound the ball,” graduate forward Henry Coleman III said, “Like I said we’re going to look back and study film and do the right things come tomorrow for practice. We just got to play hard and play Texas A&M basketball, they still got to guard us too.”
The SEC set a record for most teams making it to the Big Dance with 14 of the 16 schools earning bids, which is why the Aggies believe the gauntlet of a conference schedule the played will prepare them for what’s ahead.
“I think we play in the best conference in the world,” Obaseki said. “So I think we’re very well prepared for whatever comes at us but like Henry [Coleman] said we don’t really know much about them [Yale], but it doesn’t matter. We just have to stick to our foundation and our principles, be us, and we’ll be just fine.”
“I don’t think that there’s been any relief in regards to the caliber of the opponent or the location,” Williams said. “So it won’t be for lack of reps. Not just for us but for any of the 14 teams that are going…So I think that speaks to the metrics that the committee looks at, so I think you are as prepared as possible going into a tournament.”
The 4th seeded Aggies will take on 13th seeded Yale, Thursday evening at the Ball Arena in Denver. Tipoff is set for 6:25 CT on TBS.
