Show Me My Opponent, 2023-24: Texas A&M, Part One
Buzz, your shooting, woof
Tennessee travels to the big, beautiful state of Texas to play the Texas A&M Aggies on a Saturday night in February. I must bring up the previous time they did this, because it was during the season that everyone collectively agreed upon as their favorite season of all time. One where an awful A&M offense shot 44% from three, outrebounded Tennessee heavily on the boards, and…still lost by 17 without any real doubt to it.
The context here is different. That team left the game 20-1, 8-0 SEC; this team is ranked #5 like that one was but has played a much harder schedule. A&M is also a lot friskier now than they were then, in the dying days of the Billy Kennedy tenure. The Aggies have been an infrequent bugaboo of Tennessee’s since this game, splitting the four regular season battles. This is the first year in Buzz’s entire time there they’ll play twice, so there’s that.
Ignoring all of that, though, there are some similarities. This Tennessee team is one road test away from a potential third straight win…which could very easily turn into seven straight wins.
A&M will become a big part of your/my/our life over the next two weeks, so prepare yourself for a lot of missed shots, a lot of offensive rebounds, and more junk defenses than you’ve seen all season long. The kitchen cabinet will be deployed; it is on Tennessee to limit the leaks and land the plane.
BEHIND THE WALL ($): Aggro Aggies