In the absence of college basketball, March Madness has transcended into a new, transient era of March Sadness. While neither the Aggie men’s nor women’s basketball teams were able to see tournament season through, here’s a list of Texas A&M basketball’s best NCAA Tournament moments from years past to get you through the sports hiatus.
10. Women’s Sweet 16 — (2) Texas A&M 77, (3) Duke 63 — March 30, 2008
One of the hottest teams in the country at the time, the Aggie women’s basketball team dominated Duke in front of a favorably maroon crowd of 10,032 fans at the Oklahoma City Regional in the Sweet 16. The Aggies jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead and didn’t look back. Patrice Reado and Takia Starks led a group of four Aggies to reach double-digit points while maintaining the lead for all but two short stretches in the first half. In the fifth year of his tenure in College Station, Gary Blair and his Aggies were Elite Eight bound for the first time in program history.
In danger of a second-round exit from the Big Dance, the Aggies pulled off the fourth-largest comeback in NCAA Tournament history. The Aggies trailed the Blue Demons by 17 early in the 3rd quarter but rallied back to a one-possession score with 43.5 seconds left in regulation. Then, the unthinkable happened. Chennedy Carter drove the length of the court and sunk a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 2.8 seconds remaining, sending Texas A&M to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2014. The All-American dropped 37 points in the game, putting a bow on her campaign for unanimous National Freshman of the Year.
8. Men’s Second Round — (6) Texas A&M 78, (3) UNC 61 (2OT) — March 8, 1980
Under the direction of Shelby Metcalf, the Texas A&M men’s basketball team conquered the University of North Carolina, 78-61, in a double-overtime rally in Denton, Texas. Tied at 53, the Tar Heels had the last shot to win the game in regulation but missed and sent the game into overtime. After a scoreless first OT period, the Ags kicked things into overdrive and rallied to win by 17 and advanced to the Sweet 16.
7. Men’s First Round — (12) Texas A&M 66, (5) Syracuse 58 — March 15, 2006
After missing the NCAA tournament for nearly 20 consecutive years, Billy Clyde Gillispie conquered a giant in the first round of the Big Dance by upsetting the 2006 Big East champions, the Syracuse Orange. Texas A&M came out of the gates blazing hot from behind the arc, while Syracuse star point guard Gerry McNamara was ice cold all night. A 23-point performance from Acie Law IV and a dominant defensive effort helped the Aggies edge the Orange, 66-58, and set a new competitive standard in Aggie hoops for years to come.
6. Men’s Second Round — (3) Texas A&M 72, (6) Louisville 69 — March 17, 2007
Acie Law IV and Dominique Kirk led one of the best A&M men’s basketball teams in program history to a berth in the Sweet 16 after defeating Louisville near their home turf in Lexington, Kentucky. The Cardinals grabbed the lead early as the Aggies struggled to contain Edgar Sosa. That is until he ran out of magic. After making 15 straight free throws, Sosa missed two with 29.8 seconds left, and the Cardinals trailed by one. In a game that was ultimately won at the charity stripe, the Maroon & White put the nail in the coffin with a final score of 72-69. In this season, Texas A&M was the only program in the Big 12 to have both men's and women's teams competing in the NCAA Tournament – the men as a #3 seed, and the women as a #4 seed.
After losing eight straight games to Baylor, including the Big 12 Tournament title game one week prior, Texas A&M pulled through when it mattered most. The Aggies came out with guns blazing and didn’t look back, controlling the Elite 8 matchup for the entire 40 minutes and shutting down Baylor’s 6’8” All-American Brittney Griner. With the 56-48 win in the Dallas Regional final, the Aggies wrote their ticket to the first Final Four in program history.
The Aggie men’s squad stunned UNC with a dominant 86-65 win, sending Billy Kennedy to his second Sweet 16 in three years and ending the reign of the defending national champions. The Tar Heels’ hopes of making their third straight Final Four were crushed just 90 seconds into the second half when the Aggies took a 20 point lead and never looked back. Texas A&M manhandled the glass, used their size to control the paint, and had five players reach double-digit figures, ultimately handing UNC head coach Roy Williams his largest margin of defeat in an NCAA tournament game. To top it all off, both the Aggie men’s and women’s teams advanced to the Sweet 16 together for the first time in ten years.
3. Women’s Final Four — (2) Texas A&M 63, (1) Stanford 62 — April 3, 2011
With a trip to the title game on the line in Indianapolis, Texas A&M and Stanford fought tooth and nail the entire 40 minutes, and what happened in the final five would go down in Texas A&M history. The Maroon & White battled their way back from a 10-point deficit with under six to go. The two teams traded leads five times in the final 60 seconds. Sydney Colson drove the length of the floor to find Tyra White for a layup with 3.3 seconds remaining, solidifying the victory that sent the Aggies to the National Championship game for the first time in school history.
The most unbelievable comeback in NCAA Tournament history. Period. Down 12 points with 44 seconds to go, Texas A&M clawed its way back to force overtime against Northern Iowa in Oklahoma City. Admon Gilder stole a throwaway and made a game-tying layup with 1.9 seconds remaining to send the game into an extra frame. Once into overtime, it was Alex Caruso who sent the game into a second OT with a drive and a layup to tie the game at 83. In the second overtime, two of Northern Iowa’s players had fouled out, and the Aggies finally wore them down to pull away with a 92-88 win to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007.
1. Women’s National Championship — (2) Texas A&M 76, (1) Notre Dame 70 — April 5, 2011
On April 5, 2011, in his eighth season in College Station, Gary Blair’s right hand got a little heavier. The Aggie women’s basketball team defeated #1 seeds Baylor and Stanford en route to the NCAA title game against Notre Dame in Indianapolis. Texas A&M answered the Fighting Irish basket-for-basket until they took over with a second-half resurgence. The Aggies’ first-ever All-American, Danielle Adams wreaked havoc on Muffet McGraw and Co., dropping 22 points in the second half alone to solidify the 76-70 win. The team brought the hardware home to Aggieland for the first time in program history, forever ingraining Gary Blair’s legendary status in Texas A&M basketball.
The final seconds by Colson and White against Stanford will always be my favorite A&M basketball play ... Colson just wouldn't let the Ags lose that night.
"Can I Ask What Exactly Is An Aggie? Sure! An Aggie is quite simply the best thing anyone can strive to be!" - Sydney Colson
Totally agree with dcbowers. The 1980 A&M-NC game set a few March madness records that still stand to this day, including the most points scored in an overtime game and the largest margin of victory in an overtime game. This should have been mentioned in the story.
I agree with the list, except I'd move up the 1980 2 OT win over UNC a few notches (New Army doesn't appreciate anything that happened pre-2000).
Is there video of the 1980 game available anywhere?
I was at that game. Heart stopped, as well as the game before against Bradley. Against Bradley, Goff stole the ball with a few seconds left and made 2 FTs for the 2 point win.
Totally agree with dcbowers. The 1980 A&M-NC game set a few March madness records that still stand to this day, including the most points scored in an overtime game and the largest margin of victory in an overtime game. This should have been mentioned in the story.
We're the only school besides Arizona to have a winning record against UNC with multiple games played in the NCAA tournament...and our average margin of victory is 19 points.
