Jay Bilas predicts winner for Texas A&M-Saint Mary’s Round 1 matchup
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Jay Bilas has made his picks for every game in the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
The popular ESPN analyst shared his thoughts on every game in the bracket, working his way up to a national championship pick. That means he also weighed in on the Round 1 matchup between the No. 10-seed Texas A&M Aggies and the No. 7-seed Saint Mary’s Gaels.
That game will be played in Oklahoma City as part of the South Region. It is perhaps one of the biggest contrasts in styles possible at the Division I level. Saint Mary’s takes the air out of the ball with a slow, grind-it-out pace. Meanwhile, Texas A&M wants to run and gun under first-year head coach Bucky McMillan.
So who does Bilas think will win? He expects the Gaels to survive and advance to Round 2:
Talk about a contrast in styles. Texas A&M under Bucky McMillan wants to get up and down the floor; the Aggies want to press, they want to be annoying. But Saint Mary’s is going to be a problem to play against. It seems different to take Saint Mary’s here and call it chalk, but the Gaels will slow the game down.
Winner: Saint Mary’s
The Aggies enter the tournament having lost 3 of their last 5 games. On the good side, 1 of their 2 wins was against a tough Kentucky squad. On the bad side, they were blown out 83-63 in Round 2 of the SEC Tournament by Oklahoma.
Which Texas A&M squad will show up in OKC? We’ll find out at 7:35 p.m. ET on Thursday. The game can be seen on truTV.
Kalshi currently gives the Aggies a 41% chance to win their Round 1 game:
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
