Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari was asked Sunday whether he believed Texas A&M belonged in the NCAA tournament.
“It’s disappointing that Texas A&M isn’t in the field, that’s a tournament team,” Calipari said on Sunday evening.
Calipari added in his comments to the SEC Network that he’d like to see the SEC tournament championship get moved to Saturday so that the selection committee has more time to digest the results of the games.
The Aggies were the most notable snub from the field of 68 on Sunday night after making a strong case to make the Big Dance in the SEC tournament.
Texas A&M lost in Sunday’s conference title game to eventual No. 3 seed Tennessee, but not before the Aggies knocked top-seeded Auburn out of the SEC tournament in the quarterfinals and No. 4 seed Arkansas in the conference semis. With two wins against AP Top 25 opponents this week, including one top five opponent in No. 4 Auburn, many expected Texas A&M to make the field.
Ultimately, it was Wyoming who earned one of the final at-large bids into the tournament. When adding in Richmond’s bid-stealing Atlantic-10 championship win, the Aggies were relegated to the NIT.
A&M begins their quest for an NIT championship on Tuesday night as they host Alcorn State in College Station.
