Texas A&M dominates Arkansas, is the tourney now a lock?

Texas A&M basketball continued it’s streak of white-hot play en route to a dominant 82-64 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon. The Aggies never trailed in the game, and while they Hogs did pull within three points midway through the second half, A&M regained control of the game for a comfortable victory.

The win puts the Aggies in position to play for their first SEC Tournament championship in school history, and perhaps just as importantly, may have secured then a berth in the NCAA Tournament that seemed unfathomable one month ago.

After getting blown out by Auburn 75-58 on Feb. 12, A&M sat at 16-10 and 4-8 in SEC play, and the season seemed lost. Aggie fans were publicly questioning if Buzz Williams was the answer, and the NCAA Tournament was the last thing on anyone’s mind (outside of the locker room, at least). But since then, the Aggies have won eight of nine games, including two wins over NCAA bubble team Floridan and three ranked wins over Alabama, Auburn and Arkansas. The run has put them squarely in the running for a spot in the NCAA Tournament (many would say they’ve already earned their spot), but more importantly, the chance to earn some SEC hardware.

The Aggies will take on the Tennessee Volunteers at noon on Sunday in the SEC Tournament Final. The automatic bid to the big dance would be great, but it’s also a great chance to add to the Aggie Basketball trophy case in a major way. For the first time in Williams’ coaching tenure, it would seem this team really does have some Buzz.