Kentucky, Texas A&M meet with NCAA bubble stakes rising

Field Level Media|published: Mon 2nd March, 19:36 2026

Feb 24, 2026; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope directs his team against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

Kentucky and Texas A&M will be in resume-padding mode when they square off Tuesday in College Station, Texas, in the penultimate game of the Southeastern Conference regular season for both teams.

The Wildcats (19-10, 10-6 SEC) don't need to do much, if anything, to prove their NCAA Tournament worthiness. They are tied for fourth in the SEC with Tennessee and Missouri while Texas A&M (19-10, 9-7) is knotted with Vanderbilt and Texas in seventh.

Kentucky, which opened this week at No. 27 in the national NET rankings, still has a chance to earn a double bye in the SEC tournament. The winner of Tuesday's game also gains a head-to-head tiebreaker over the loser, which could be useful for the league tournament seeding process.

The Wildcats travel to the Brazos Valley carrying a two-game winning streak, the most recent a 91-77 home victory on Saturday over then-No. 25 Vanderbilt.

Collin Chandler scored a career-high 23 points, including six 3-pointers, as the Wildcats avenged an earlier 25-point loss to the Commodores. Otega Oweh also scored 23 points while Denzel Aberdeen added 15 and Malachi Moreno contributed 11.

The Wildcats shot 58.8% from the floor and went 11 of 22 from long distance.

"It's fun to make shots -- it makes life easier," Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. "What are we, probably the second-best 3-point shooting team in the conference right now? We make shots. That's the way this team was put together, and it's what we do and it's what we are doing. We trust that we will make shots, and our guys have done it."

Texas A&M missed an opportunity to rise in the standings with a 76-70 loss Saturday at home to rival Texas. Rashaun Agee led A&M with 22 points, Marcus Hill added 17 and Pop Issacs scored 14, but the Aggies went over five minutes without a field goal during the final stretch and shot just 38.3% for the game.

"We played better in that game with a lot of fight than in games we've won," Texas A&M coach Bucky McMillan said. "There's a great fight. Great tenacity. Great no-quit attitude, but we've got to get to the next game. We know what time it is. We've got to be guns blazing on Tuesday."

The Aggies started SEC play with a 7-1 record, but have struggled since. They have dropped six of their past eight games, including their last two, to drop from No. 35 to 43 in the NET rankings.

--Field Level Media