Texas A&M basketball ranked No. 17 in final Associated Press Poll
Following Selection Sunday, Texas A&M basketball appeared in the final Associated Press Top 25 rankings for just the fifth time in program history at No. 17.
The Aggies were previously No. 18 entering last week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. Earning a coveted double-bye, A&M defeated Arkansas and Vanderbilt before falling to highly-touted Alabama in Sunday’s championship, 82-63.
Despite a historic season that culminated in 15 conference wins and a 19th-place finish in NET, the Aggies were inexplicably under-seeded by the NCAA selection committee as the No. 7-seed in the Midwest Region. For perspective, A&M was seeded behind eight teams they ranked above in NET.
Buzz Williams & Co. will now face No. 10-seed Penn State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at 8:55 p.m. CT in Des Moines, IA.
Texas A&M was ranked just one spot outside the preseason poll but was awarded admission for the first time under Williams in Week 2 of the 2022-23 regular season.
While a tumultuous performance in non-conference play knocked the Aggies out of the rankings for 14 weeks, they re-entered in February during the height of their magnificent midseason surge and have stayed since.
The last time A&M finished in the AP Top 25 was during the 2015-16 season when the Aggies came in at No. 15 to polish off a 28-9 overall record.
Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri also represent the SEC in the final poll.
Associated Press Week 19 Poll
1. Alabama (+3)
2. Houston (-1)
3. Purdue (+2)
4. Kansas (-1)
5. Texas (+2)
6. Marquette
7. UCLA (-5)
8. Arizona
9. Gonzaga
10. UConn (+1)
11. Baylor (-1)
12. Duke (+9)
13. Xavier (+2)
14. Virginia (-1)
15. Kansas State (-3)
16. Miami (-2)
17. Texas A&M (+1)
18. San Diego State (+2)
19. Saint Mary’s (-3)
20. Tennessee (-3)
21. Indiana (-2)
22. TCU
23. Missouri (+2)
24. Memphis
25. Florida Atlantic
In: Memphis, Florida Atlantic
Out: Kentucky, Creighton
Note: Southeastern Conference programs are italicized.