Texas A&M basketball's entire NCAA Tournament history, record under HC Buzz Williams
Cameron Ohnysty- Texas A&M basketball will make their third straight NCAA tournament appearance, facing Yale in the first round.
- Head Coach Buzz Williams has led the Aggies to a 119-72 record in his six seasons, but has only one NCAA tournament win.
- Despite a strong season, the Aggies enter the tournament as a 4-seed after a late four-game losing streak.
Texas A&M basketball will return to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season under coach Buzz Williams. With eight seniors on the roster, the Aggies aim to make a deep run in the Big Dance for the first time since making the Sweet 16 during the 2017-2018 season.
Texas A&M is a 4-seed, ultimately losing its 3-seed bid to Iowa State just hours before the Selection Committee, and is set to take on 13-seed Yale in the Denver (CO) Regional in the South portion of the Bracket and will face off on Tuesday, March 20 at 6:45 p.m. CT. On paper, the Aggies are a 6.6-7.5 point favorite according to most betting sites, but expect the line to drop just hours before tip-off due to the Bulldog's offensive advantage.
However, Texas A&M's elite defense and rebounding,outside of defending the perimeter, places most opponents in a bind late in games. However, if the Aggies continue to struggle from the free throw line, Yale's shooting efficiency could pose a problem in the second half.
When analyzing Buzz Williams' tenure with the program, his recent quote after Selection Sunday regarding what he views as "success" resulted in fans wondering if winning games was all that mattered, but this was a microcosm was Buzz Williams mindset as a head coach, placing player development over wins/losses in the postseason:
"When you're living through it, the sustainability of our program is what proves what you are. We've done that. We still want to do well in the NCAA Tournament, but I don't think our success should all be based on the postseason."
While Texas A&M basketball isn't a blue-blood program, it certainly isn't lacking the funds and fan/alumni support to become a consistent title contender, but Buzz Williams will enter his most challenging offseason yet when all eight seniors on this year's roster depart, leaving more than a handful of holes to fill through the transfer portal.
Still, building the program from the lowest of lows since taking over during the 2019 season has been impressive. Here's a look back at Buzz Williams' six seasons with Texas A&M before the Aggies face off against Yale in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
2019-2020: Missed NCAA Tournament
Texas A&M finished 16-14 and 10-8 in the SEC during Buzz Williams's first season with the program, which was highlighted by the play of transfer forward Josh Nebo, while Williams' tough defensive mindset was instilled toward the end of the season, winning five out of their last seven, and looking like the hottest team in the SEC entering the conference Tournament.
However, the world changed as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on out nation, shutting down all sporting events from the start, including the SEC Tournament.
2020-2021 season: Missed Tournament
The 2020-2021 campaign was a disaster after Texas A&M finished 5-1 in nonconference play. However, due to COVID-19's effect on the roster's health, Texas A&M was forced to postpone/cancel eight conference games, leading to an 8-10 record and a 2-8 finish in SEC play. This remains Williams's only losing season during his time at Texas A&M.
2021-2022 season: Missed Tournament, made NIT Championship game
The fact that Texas and North Carolina made it into the 2025 NCAA Tournament field had every Aggie fan raging either internally or externally, knowing that the now-memorable 2021-2022 Texas A&M team was left out and could have easily made a run to the Elite 8.
Led by current Indiana Pacers guard Quenton Jackson, the Aggies started off the season strong with a 15-2 record, including a 4-0 start in SEC play, but an eight-game losing streak before winning five of their last six games heading into the SEC Tournament likely doomed their tournament chances.
However, after making an incredible run in the conference tournament, including wins over Florida, Auburn and Arkansas, Texas A&M ran out of steam against a tough Tennessee team, but seemingly did enough to make it into the tournament field.
The shock was real, and Buzz Williams' memorable condemnation of the Selection Committee resulted in the final time the Aggies were left out of the tournament. However, Texas A&M accepted its invite to the NIT as the No. 1 seed, making it all the way to the Championship game until losing to Xavier in the final seconds.
2022-2023 season: First-round loss
Penn State is not a basketball school by any means, but during the 2023 NCAA Tournament, the Nittany Lions completely dominated an Aggie defense that was good enough on paper to make a deep run. To preface, the Aggies were one of the best teams in the SEC, finishing 25-10 and 15-3 in the conference while making it all the way to the SEC Title Game before losing to Alabama.
However, due to a poor nonconference schedule, Texas A&M earned a 7-seed in the tournament field, which is consistently one of the more dangerous seeds in terms of first-round upset potential. However, the Aggies boasted a lineup that still exists today outside of guard Tyrece Radford and forward Dexter Dennis, as all-time leading scorer Wade Taylor IV was playing his best basketball, until facing Penn State.
Due to an issue that continues to linger on the current team, Texas A&M's poor 3-point defense led to the hot shooting Nittany Lions destroying the Aggies' defensive gameplan, and ending their season on a low note.
2023-2024 season: Round of 32 loss
It was a memorable season that ended at the free throw line, as Texas A&M's deepest run in the tournament under Buzz Williams ended against 2-seed Houston in a game that should have gone the other way if the Aggies had just knocked down their free shots.
Texas A&M's adversity-driven season included a five-game losing streak at the end of the season. The team then made it to the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament before losing to Florida. The Aggies entered the Big Dance with plenty of momentum as the 7-seed, first defeating a hot Nebraska team before facing Houston in one of the best games of the 2024 postseason.
In a back-and-forth contest in the first half, the Cougars eventually began to pull away late, but thanks to Wade Taylor IV's late 3-point shooting combined with Tyrece Radford's gritty play, Texas A&M's final chance to tie the game in regulation resulted in forward Andersson Garcia banking in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
However, Texas A&M's offense stalled out, as Houston made enough shots in overtime to seal the game and leave the Aggies heartbroken.
2024-2025 season: TBD — No. 4 seed in South region
Over the last four seasons, Texas A&M senior guard Wade Taylor IV and seven of his fellow veterans on the 2024-2025 roster will end their Aggie playing career sometime over the next three weeks, starting with a first-round matchup vs Yale in the Denver regional on Thursday night.
Texas A&M's similar struggles to last season included a late four-game losing streak, but consecutive wins over then No. 1-ranked Auburn and LSU on the road provided some momentum heading into the SEC Tournament.
However, the Aggies stumbled in overtime against Texas, finishing 1-2 against their rivals for an early exit that seemingly affected their seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Earning a 4-seed and facing Yale's offense will be a big challenge this week, meaning A&M's forward rotation led by Henry Coleman, Andersson Garcia, and Pharrel Payne will need to dominate inside to take advantage of Yale's size differential.
For Wade Taylor, knowing that this could be his last college game, I expect the senior to have one of his better performances barring any setbacks.
Recap
Buzz Williams is 119-72 overall, with just one win in the NCAA Tournament as Texas A&M's head coach. This is the most experienced team he's had during his time in College Station, so if the Aggies can't get past the Bulldogs in the first round, expect disappointment from the fan base.
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