SEC Basketball: Power rankings heading into the SEC season
By Kevin Miller
SEC Basketball Power Rankings:
No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies
The deep SEC shows just how deep it is when looking at the top half. Texas A&M is a top-20 team in the NET rankings, and Buzz Williams’ team plays a really good, old-school style.
The Aggies play strong defense, they dominate the offensive glass (they are the best offensive rebounding team in the country), and they don’t turn the ball over (second-lowest turnover total in the SEC).
Where A&M struggles is scoring, especially from outside. Only the miserable Vanderbilt Commodores shoot a worse percentage from the field than the Aggies, and no team in the league shoots worse from the perimeter.
Wade Taylor IV is among the highest-usage players in the conference, and forward Henry Coleman III is an All-SEC candidate down low. If they continue playing well, the Aggies probably will, as well.
Texas A&M has four losses, but all four were to good teams (two of them were to elite teams Florida Atlantic and Houston). They also beat Penn State, Iowa State, Ohio State, and SMU all away from College Station.
Back-to-back seasons with 27 and 25 wins the past two years, respectively, will be hard to live up to this year, but with the Aggies' strength of schedule, they won't have to win an obscene amount of games to make the NCAA Tournament.