Bucky McMillan in favor of mid-major programs earning NCAA bids for regular season title
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Bucky McMillan has his own NCAA Tournament fate to worry about this season, as Texas A&M enters this week’s SEC Tournament with some work to do before it can breathe easy on Selection Sunday.
Yes, his Aggies won 21 games during the just-completed regular season, finishing with a solid 21-10 record. And, yes, that overall record includes an equally solid 11-7 SEC record, which landed Texas A&M in the upper half of existence in the SEC as McMillan prepares for Thursday night’s 2nd-round SEC Tournament game against an opponent to be determined.
Starting Thursday night and, hopefully for McMillan, Friday and beyond, the Aggies will try to pad their NCAA Tournament portfolio with another victory or more. As McMillan gets set for that challenge, he joined the Wake Up Barstool podcast on Tuesday morning to discuss his own plight as well as that of mid-major programs who skate on thin ice when they head to their own conference tournaments.
McMillan has a theory on those mid-majors who win their regular season titles but have to prove themselves all over again when the conference tournament rolls around. He’s got the ultimate perspective, too, having spent the previous 5 seasons at tiny Samford before taking over this season at Texas A&M.
“I feel it for these coaches at mid-majors. I’ve been through that. It’s no joke,” said McMillan, who went 99-52 at Samford and got the Bulldogs into the NCAA Tournament during the 2023-24 season. “You’re sweating bullets. I’ve always thought that mid-major basketball, they should take the winner of the regular season (title). But that’s the largest sample size.”
Right now, McMillan’s theory isn’t the theory that goes into who actually gets into the NCAA Tournament, and that can make Selection Sunday a really tough day for those mid-major coaches.
“It is a nightmare for those mid-major programs,” said McMillan, who speaks from heavy experience, of course.
Here is McMillan’s full comments on the touchy subject:
McMillan will try to get his own program over the hump and into the NCAA Tournament this season, and that challenge continues this week at the SEC Tournament. Here are Kalshi’s current odds of what teams have the best chance to win that SEC Tournament:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
