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Texas A&M picked up big win in SEC Tournament seeding race

Adam Luckettby:Adam Luckett•about 12 hours•

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Jan 11, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams talks with his players on the court during a timeout against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first half at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images
Jan 11, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams talks with his players on the court during a timeout against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first half at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images

We’ve reached the mid-week bye section of the season where SEC teams are getting some time off. That meant Auburn, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and LSU all got to sit at home and watch some basketball like the rest of us. Those teams saw some peers get some big wins.

Florida avoided disaster on the road against South Carolina, Tennessee recorded another big home victory, Arkansas finally found a win, and Texas got a big dub against Missouri. But no one was a bigger winner than Texas A&M.

A three from Manny Obaseki with 12.5 seconds left led to the Aggies stealing one away from Ole Miss in Oxford.

That result creates a shake-up in the standings. Using KenPom season projections, KSR is looking at what the SEC Tournament field could look like. Kentucky would find themselves buried by tiebreakers if these held true.

Current standings

  1. Auburn (5-0)
  2. Alabama (5-1)
  3. Florida (4-2)
  4. Tennessee (4-2)
  5. Missouri (4-2)
  6. Texas A&M (4-2)
  7. Ole Miss (4-2)
  8. Kentucky (3-2)
  9. Mississippi State (3-3)
  10. Vanderbilt (3-3)
  11. Texas (2-4)
  12. Georgia (2-4)
  13. LSU (1-4)
  14. Oklahoma (1-4)
  15. Arkansas (1-5)
  16. South Carolina (0-6)

Projected SEC standings

Using KenPom‘s projections, this is what the SEC Tournament field would look like today. I used some projected results to find tiebreaker winners. There are logjam at spots 2-4 and 6-9. Kentucky having true road games remaining against Ole Miss and Missouri (both projected losses) put the Cats in a tough place.

Kentucky is currently projected to open the SEC Tournament on Thursday afternoon in the 8-9 game with the winner playing Auburn on Friday. A&M was the big winner as their projection moved up one game after the win on Wednesday. The Aggies are currently in double-bye territory.

  1. Auburn (15-3)
  2. Tennessee (12-6)
  3. Alabama (12-6)
  4. Florida (12-6)
  5. Texas A&M (11-7)
  6. Missouri (10-8)
  7. Mississippi State (10-8)
  8. Ole Miss (10-8)
  9. Kentucky (10-8)
  10. Texas (8-10)
  11. Georgia (7-11)
  12. Vanderbilt (7-11)
  13. Arkansas (6-12)
  14. Oklahoma (6-12)
  15. LSU (4-14)
  16. South Carolina (3-15)

There is currently a tier forming after the No. 9 seed with a two game projected difference. Kentucky is just one game off from the No. 5 seed line. Catching Auburn will be difficult but the Cats are only two back of a potential No. 2 seed with three games remaining against Tennessee and Alabama. UK also has seven games remaining with teams projected to finish 10-16.

There is still a path for a double-bye, but Kentucky must start stacking wins. Pulling an upset or two would go a long way.

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2025-01-23