Texas A&M Cracks Top 25, But Coach McMillan Keeps the Focus on the Bigger Picture
With 17 wins under their belt and the top spot in the SEC standings, Texas A&M basketball is finally getting some national recognition. The Aggies have broken into the US LBM Coaches Poll at No. 25 - their first appearance in the rankings this season - and are knocking on the door of the AP Top 25. But don’t expect head coach Bucky McMillan to get caught up in the hype.
For McMillan, the rankings are more of a footnote than a headline. His message to the team remains the same: play high-level basketball, and everything else will fall into place.
“I would put stock in the rankings if the NCAA tournament committee cared about it,” McMillan said. “All you can do is focus on playing your best basketball.
If you play well in this league, you're going to end up putting yourself in a great position to be in the NCAA Tournament - and obviously to get the best seed possible. That’s what you’re after.”
That mindset has served the Aggies well so far. They’ve been consistent, disciplined, and resilient - three traits you need to survive the SEC grind. And with the regular season title well within reach, Texas A&M is positioning itself not just for a strong finish, but for a legitimate run in March.
Next up? A road test in Tuscaloosa.
The Aggies will face Alabama on Wednesday night in what could be a defining game in the SEC title race. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. inside Coleman Coliseum, and while the stakes are high, McMillan isn’t letting anything - or anyone - distract his team from the task at hand.
That includes the ongoing eligibility saga involving Alabama big man Charles Bediako, a former NBA G-League center who continues to play while his situation works its way through the legal system. It’s a storyline that’s drawn attention, but McMillan is tuning out the noise.
“We’ve got to block out the noise,” he said. “Whatever people think about any of their players - whether they’re playing or not - it doesn’t impact our team.
Our team’s got to be about us playing the best we can play. Whoever they line up across from us is who they line up across from us.
I think that when we play well, we’ve done well.”
That’s been the theme all season for Texas A&M: control what you can control, compete at a high level, and let the rest take care of itself. With the SEC crown in sight and postseason dreams starting to take shape, the Aggies aren’t looking for validation in the polls. They’re chasing something bigger.
And if they keep playing the way they have been, they just might catch it.