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It’s that time of year when the mornings turn cool, the leaves change color, and disgruntled Aggies look for something else to distract them from their football woes a path to the football playoffs. Enter Texas A&M Basketball, which will open its season at Reed Arena on Monday, November 1 with an exhibition against Texas A&M-Kingsville. There is a lot of anticipation for a new look basketball team after 7 members of last year’s team transferred to other programs and were replaced with 7 transfers into College Station along with 4 incoming freshmen.
Looking at the 2021-2022 Aggie Basketball schedule, in addition to the previously mentioned exhibition contest, Buzz Williams’s team will play 13 non-conference games and a full slate of 18 SEC games. The previously leaked non-conference schedule remains largely intact, but it saw the addition of one extra game. The Abilene Christian Wildcats will travel to Reed Arena on Friday, November 12 in the second game of the regular season. While this may not seem like an exciting addition to most casual observers, ACU has made the last two NCAA tournaments and provided one of the most exciting upsets in the first season in knocking off Texas.
The picture of the Maui Invitational tournament became a bit clearer. The Aggies will open the tournament against Wisconsin on Monday, November 22. Depending on the outcome, the Ags will then be paired up with either Butler or Houston on the following day. Wednesday will leave the Aggies with a final game against Oregon, Chaminade, St. Mary’s, or Notre Dame.
If you have already booked flights to the islands for a tropical Thanksgiving, live basketball action won’t be in your plans as the tournament has officially been moved to the Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. Hawaii still requires unvaccinated visitors to quarantine for 10 days when visiting the islands, and these restrictions were a significant constraint to welcoming 7 mainland teams (and their visiting fans) to the islands.
The remainder of the non-conference schedule features a neutral-site matchup against TCU at the Toyota Center in Houston on December 11 as well as a trip to Corvallis to face Oregon State on December 18.
The Aggies then open SEC play on the road at Georgia. Kentucky returns to Reed Arena on January 19, a game always guaranteed to draw large crowds. Florida also comes to College Station on February 15. The Ags will split home-and-home series with Arkansas, Missouri, Ole Miss, Georgia, and LSU.
Buzz Williams’s team is guaranteed to face at least 9 teams that made the NCAA tournament in 2021. Depending on Maui Invitational matchups, this number could be as high as 11 teams. While the non-conference schedule doesn’t feature a marquee home matchup like the Gonzaga game from 2 years ago, it is a solid schedule that contains plenty of opportunities to build a resume for The Big Dance.