The game at OU jumps out at me. We win that one and I see only 2 or fewer losses with the confidence this team is playing with at this time.

Texas offense is ridiculous. 2nd in country in FG% and 5th in country in 3pt %. We better defend the perimeter well because they knock down open threes easily.

They're a strange team. I can't decide if I think they're any good at all. I'll be moderately surprised at this point if they win enough SEC games to clear the bubble. Might still get in but I think it's gonna be close.

taylorswift13_ said:

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We are not starting out 1-3, Oklahoma isn't going to be a top SEC team! Purdue beat Bama, so it's not a given we lose against them, and at home! Kentucky is overrated. I don't think you all realize how good our team is and that if we hadn't blown 2 double digit leads we'd probably be undefeated. I like how the schedule lays out, if we go 3-1, and can knock off Ole Miss at their place, then we will be in the running for first in the conference…

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Home court advantage is a real thing, especially in college basketball. I do believe this is a great team, and I'm not worried at all. I also think that OU and Kentucky are overrated, but I do think they're a tough out at their place. I absolutely realize how good this team is, that's why I think we can go 5-3 through this tough stretch. Previous years I would have said I'd be happy with 3-5 for these next 8, now I'm saying that's the floor. My point wasn't to be disparaging, but to have a realistic discussion about the next month of games

bobinator said:

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Off the top of my head I'd probably argue last February was tougher, and our toughest stretch of games is probably at the end of the season but that crosses into March.

I think we're gonna crush Texas but I have no idea after that, this is gonna be wild in league play. Just have to protect our home court.

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Time will definitely tell about this January vs last February… that was a tough stretch for sure, but I think the quality of the unranked opponents this January makes this years schedule slightly tougher than last year. I also agree that our last 5 games is probably the toughest 5 game stretch we will play this year (or maybe ever outside of the tournament) but that spans end of February beginning of March.

bobinator said:

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They're a strange team. I can't decide if I think they're any good at all. I'll be moderately surprised at this point if they win enough SEC games to clear the bubble. Might still get in but I think it's gonna be close.

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Loving the confidence for this game coming up. What's your main reason why? On paper, we're absolutely better, but blowouts are hard.

I'm absolutely ecstatic about where this squad is at. It's by far, especially at this point in the year, the best of the Buzz teams.

I mostly just think they're kinda soft and they haven't played anyone quite like us. They also got blown out on their own court by the last good team they've played and I expect the arena to be pretty full which should lift our team.

That said our shooting is always a potentially limiting factor on us blowing anyone out. I think we win by 8-10 if we shoot our usual numbers and by 18-20 if we're hot from 3 at all.

amercer said:

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Conference play is going to be a bloodbath.

Very much on brand for A&M to have our best team in years when the SEC might be the best conference ever…

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But in this great sport .500 gets you a great seed.

I think 9-9 is going to be a really good year in this league. We are going to take some frustrating losses. Just need to grab our share of wins also.

I think there are some similar teams out there that if you play them would prepare you fairly well for us. Houston and Tennessee are probably two of them.

agspirit_09 said:

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Win vs tu
Loss @ ou (12)
Close loss vs bama (5)
Loss @ uk (10)
Win vs LSU
Close win @ ole miss (16)
Win @ tu
Win vs ou (12)

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I'm gonna go with 5-3; although I don't know where the wins and losses are, but I also think we win big against tu.

Speaking of tu... I'm glad we dont have their January schedule. All but one game in their eight games in January are against ranked teams. @TAMU, Auburn, Tenn, @OU, @Florida, Missouri, TAMU, @Ole Miss
That is a brutal schedule and they're lucky they get Auburn and Tennessee at home. They just might start conference play 1-7 by the time they play LSU in February.

Don't think it's terrible, definitely could be worse.

Texas and OU have not played a true road game and there SOS Kenpom rating is above 340, they also open conference play at A&M and at Bama. They both finish in the bottom half of the league.

Looking at OU statistically - hi level. They only go 8 deep and they aren't really a good rebounding team. They live and die - mostly live so far - on their hi fg and 3 pt shooting . We don't seem like a very good matchup for them.

If we can shot decently for us in all our games, we'll have a really good chance to win, IMO. Our switching defense is very unusual, and with our experience and depth, we have a number of variations that make it even more difficult for opponents who see us only once.

Since everyone in the SEC plays everyone else, relative difficulty results from who you play twice and where the single games are played. We play tu, Ok, and LSU twice. None of those are gimmes, but UT, UK, Alabama, and Auburn aren't on that list, so that's good. Alabama, Tennessee, and Auburn are all at home, so you'd think those are extra chances in those games.

Who knows what "unknown" teams will step up or be on a hot streak when we play them? But right now the schedule doesn't look as bad as it could be.

LB12Diamond said:

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The game at OU jumps out at me. We win that one and I see only 2 or fewer losses with the confidence this team is playing with at this time.

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So I'm liking this January schedule now.

I'll gladly say I was wrong about this game in my prediction!! Whoop! What a win to start the year 2-0

agspirit_09 said:

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Looking at the first 8 games of the schedule… is this the toughest month in Aggie basketball history? Here's my prediction for the next 8 games:

Win vs tu
Loss @ ou (12)
Close loss vs bama (5)
Loss @ uk (10)
Win vs LSU
Close win @ ole miss (16)
Win @ tu
Win vs ou (12)

Very tough stretch of games ahead. I'm confident our floor here is 3-5 through January. My prediction is 5-3 but I would be absolutely ecstatic with 6-2 or better.

What do yall think?

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My record prediction was right! 5-3 through January. I was right about everything except I flipped the away vs t.u and away vs OU… crazy to think we were 2 free throws away from beating tu and going 6-2. Happy with the result overall.

agspirit_09 said:

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agspirit_09 said:

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Looking at the first 8 games of the schedule… is this the toughest month in Aggie basketball history? Here's my prediction for the next 8 games:

Win vs tu
Loss @ ou (12)
Close loss vs bama (5)
Loss @ uk (10)
Win vs LSU
Close win @ ole miss (16)
Win @ tu
Win vs ou (12)

Very tough stretch of games ahead. I'm confident our floor here is 3-5 through January. My prediction is 5-3 but I would be absolutely ecstatic with 6-2 or better.

What do yall think?

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My record prediction was right! 5-3 through January. I was right about everything except I flipped the away vs t.u and away vs OU… crazy to think we were 2 free throws away from beating tu and going 6-2. Happy with the result overall.

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Thankfully we pulled out 2 amazing come from behinds against OU and OM, but at the same time we gave sip a huge come from behind win.

we are now 5-3 it is imperative we build that record to 9-3, 8-4 at worst going into the last 6 games of the season. that last 6 is a doozy. we have a string of 5 straight games bs ranked teams before closing the season with LSU on the road. miss st, tennessee, vandy, florida and auburn. if we can get to 9-3 we have a very good chance to finish 11-7 to 12-6 in conference which would be outstanding. but we absolutely have to make hay these next 4 games to put ourselves in position for those last 6.

The February schedule is brutal. We're gonna see what this team is truly made of coming up shortly