Steve Denton's Aggies host NCAA matches at Mitchell this weekend

The first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament return to the Mitchell Tennis Center this weekend as Texas A&M men's golf is the No. 15 national seed. On Thursday, head coach Steve Denton joined TexAgs Radio to discuss the Ags making the postseason for a 30th straight year.

Key notes from Steve Denton interview

• Baylor, who is always a tough team, is playing San Diego, who is the higher seed after winning the Western Conference. San Diego has had a good year. Both of them would be formidable opponents, but for us, not looking ahead of Rice is key. Rice is going to come in here and give us their best shot.
   
• It is never nice to have the selection show in someone else’s hands. We had to have some things go our way to allow us to host, and one of those things was San Diego winning. When you put it into somebody else’s hands, it makes it difficult. We had a good beginning of the season with some good head-to-head results, and we were able to slip into the No. 15 national seed to allow us to host.
   
• This is a new team, and they don’t know that we’ve won 16 straight first-round matches. We’ve been really good at home for a long time. The 12th Man helps us. The guys are comfortable on our courts, and that gives us an advantage. We’ll see if we can take advantage of it.
   
• All of our struggles this year were all on the road. Overall, we have had a great record at home. We’re tough to beat here. For someone to beat us, they will have to play really, really well.
   
• In past years, our graduation weekend has been this week. That has kept crowds from being big, but this year, there is not much going on in College Station this weekend. There is some potential to have some great crowds at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
   
• The weather is a little unsettling for the guys and their sleep patterns and training patterns. We were supposed to practice at 10 a.m. today, but we won’t get on the courts until later this afternoon. We’re just fine-tuning. It’s more mental than anything right now.
   
• Raphael Perot has had a great season. I’m proud of this kid. He was playing on courts six and seven when he came here, but he has made his way up to the top of the lineup. He gives it his all for every single point, and he’s fun to watch. He’s the type of player that makes opponents work really hard. He has been our rock this year. On his senior day, we lost that match. I didn’t want that to be his last experience on these courts, so it’s a blessing for him to play in front of our fans again at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
   
• JC Roddick has been a real surprise this year. Last year, he was injured and didn’t play much. He has won a lot of big matches against some really good players. We’re excited to see him out there again. He has a big serve and is very athletic. He comes from a famous family, so he’s excited to get rolling in the NCAA Tournament.
   
• The messaging this week is that the season starts over. We’ve had good and bad experiences this year that we need to glean from to let us play our best tennis. The guys should be excited about getting another opportunity to play. Our guys need to take advantage of it this weekend.