The NCAA Didn't Forget Buzz Williams' Comments, Which Explains Texas A&M's Baffling 7-Seed

The NCAA Tournament has 68 spots up for grabs. Eight of those 68 teams will participate in a play-in game, bringing it down to 64 teams as part of March Madness. From here, we will have the final No. 1-No. 16 seeds across the four regions.

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Each year, however, there's a difference in opinions about who gets into the tournament and who's not in, and who got what seeding. This year, one team may — or may not — be part of a conspiracy involving why they got the seed they did.

That team? The Texas A&M Aggies.

The Aggies are the No. 7 seed in the Midwest Region and will take on No. 10 Penn State in the Round of 64. As Carter Karels of GigEm247 points out, the Aggies were projected as a No. 4 or No. 5 seed. 

Did Buzz Williams' Comments Affect TAMU's Seeding?

Last month, Joe Lunardi told me that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee might punish Texas A&M after Buzz's comments last year.

I can't help but think about that after the Aggies received a 7 seed ... and were projected to be a 4 or 5 seed. https://t.co/Ud3huxTF4f

— Carter Karels (@CarterKarels) March 12, 2023

So what's the deal?

Karels points out an assessment of the situation by ESPN's Joe Lunardi — that the NCAA may be "punishing" the Aggies for comments made by head coach Buzz Williams about the Selection Committee excluding his team from the tournament. 

Lunardi told GigEm247 they could be punished if they were to "comfortably land" in the 68-team field. He also said that Williams should've perhaps not spoken out.

"Had I been working at Texas A&M, I would have advised against it," Lunardi said. "Because in my real life for 40 years, I was a strategic communications professional in higher ed. There was way more bad than good that could have come out of making a stink."

Last year, Williams spoke at length after the Aggies narrowly missed the tournament. He even distributed a nine-page package of research explaining why A&M deserved to make the tournament to reporters.

"After studying all this nonstop the last two days and looking at it from every vantage point," he said last year, "it defies logic that we are not in the NCAA tournament."

He continued: "The process is obviously flawed, and it is apparent that there is way more included that is unseen and unknown in the selection of the 36 at-large teams than what the public is made aware of,'' Williams said. "Until there is complete transparency and accountability, the system will stay broken and this will continue to happen."

You can view that impassioned speech below:

Coach Williams’ opening statement after tonight’s win over Alcorn State: pic.twitter.com/I4vKIBOr4Z

— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) March 16, 2022

With all of this involved, let's look at whether A&M deserved a higher seed and what the No. 7 seed means for them. 

Comparing Texas A&M to No. 4 and No. 5 Seeds

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Let's look at the tournament's No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.

• No. 4 seeds: Virginia, Indiana, Tennessee, UConn
• No. 5 seeds: San Diego State, Miami (Florida), Saint Mary's, Duke

When looking at Quad 1 wins, here's how each team and Texas A&M shake out. Quad 1 wins are significant because they show your success against top competition. They involve strength of schedule, record, net rankings and more. 

• Texas A&M: 7-6
• Virginia: 5-5
• Indiana: 6-9
• Tennessee: 7-7
• UConn: 7-6
• San Diego State: 5-5
• Miami (Florida): 5-5
• Saint Mary's: 2-3
• Duke: 5-6

As you can see, the Aggies are one of two teams in the list above with a winning record and at least seven wins. 

The Aggies only played Tennessee from the list above, and the Aggies beat them 68-63. They finished second in the SEC — going 15-3 in conference play and 25-9 in overall record — and lost just one game at home. 

In terms of strength of schedule, A&M finished with a higher rating than Virginia, San Diego State, Duke and Saint Mary's, according to Team Rankings. 

What the No. 7 Seed Means For A&M

The No. 7 seed puts A&M at a massive disadvantage, especially in its region.

First, they take on the No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions, who are also likely under-seeded. They lost to the No. 1 seed Purdue Boilermakers in the Big Ten championship game by just two points. 

If A&M wins, it takes on the winner of the No. 2 Texas Longhorns and No. 15 Colgate game.

Texas will almost certainly prevail. While A&M got snubbed, this is likely where its NCAA Tournament bid ends, as the Longhorns are considered one of the favorites to win the tournament. 

Was Texas A&M Snubbed?

Absolutely.

Unequivocally.

No question.

And clearly.

This is embarrassing for the Selection Committee. The Aggies arguably have a better resume? than every No. 4 and No. 5 seed in the tournament. They were tied for the most success in Quad 1 wins, they're in the SEC, and they have a better strength of schedule than one No. 4 seed and three No. 5 seeds. 

This No. 7 seeding puts them on track for an early exit, when they likely could have made it further with a No. 4 or No. 5 placement. 

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