Getty Image / Kevin Langley
- Texas A&M and Florida met in a battle of bubble teams in the first round of the SEC Tournament
- A&M needed a buzzer beater to keep their March Madness hopes alive
- Read more BroBible articles here
As Champ Week really starts to heat up, we’ve already seen quite a bit of drama on the NCAA tournament bubble. The bubble had already survived one potential bid stealer on Saturday when Murray State prevailed against Morehead State, but the bubble teams haven’t done much to help themselves since.
BYU fell to San Francisco in the WCC quarterfinals. Wake Forest lost to 13-18 Boston College in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Xavier couldn’t hit a free throw late against Butler and got sent home from the Big East Tournament. Michigan blew a 17 point lead to Indiana today. All of these results created an opportunity for Texas A&M and Florida.
Both teams were in Joe Lunardi’s “Next 4 Out” coming into today, but both had the chance to help themselves out with a win and all of these teams ahead of them suffering early losses in their conference tournaments.
The matchup didn’t disappoint. A&M got out to a quick start, getting out to 16 point lead in the first half, but Florida was able to battle all the way back to force overtime. The teams spent OT trading scores, with neither team leading by more than 3 in the period.
A&M ended up with the game’s last possession, tied at 80, when Hassan Diarra became a hero.
HASSAN
DIARRA
BALLGAME
🚨🚨🚨🚨@aggiembk pic.twitter.com/2iqDiuhTo0— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 10, 2022
The result should seal Flordia’s fate of being relegated to the NIT. It will also keep Texas A&M’s NCAA Tournament hopes alive. They will now take on Auburn in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals tomorrow. A win there would likely put them on the right side of the bubble.
It’s these kinds of intense matchups with everything on the line that make Champ Week so great.