Halfway through the 2025-2026 season, Texas A&M basketball is trending upwards. Now that’s well and good for a team with a solid staff, continuity and years of adopting the same system, but its downright shocking when its a squad that retained just one player from its old regime.
Which bring the case of head coach Bucky McMillan’s rookie season into light, as the first-time Southeastern Conference is not only guiding a winning program thus far, but excelling in the face of what should be a year with more pain than gain.
The latest Bracketology by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Aggies trending up higher and higher in seeding, with the most recent installment predicting McMillan’s crew arriving in Greenville, North Carolina as No. 9 seed in the men’s NCAA Tournament.
Building a Winning Program
The years go by quickly when operating under a microscope in such an age that is defined by NIL deals and winning games, and the Aggies have seemed to hit a home run hire when bringing McMillan in to coach their program.
McMillan has made a massive jump through the coaching rankings, as he was still a high school basketball coach when the Maroon and White first hired former head coach Buzz Williams to head the program. When Williams left and took much of his A&M staff and team with him, there were questions as to what a coach from outside the power conferences could bring.
Thus far, it has brought a winning, fast-paced identity, with McMillan coaching his way to early contention for the SEC Coach of the Year honor. Crazier still, is how McMillan is outperforming Williams’ first year at Maryland, despite having an “early start” to building the Terrapins’ season.
The Terrapins are off to a horrific start in Big Ten play, having lost all but one game so far this season, including a humiliating 91-48 loss to No. 7 Michigan State. The Aggies, however, are off to a red-hot start with six wins in the SEC, with their lone loss coming in double overtime to then-No. 21 Tennessee.
The three-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year is not unfamiliar with playing above expectations, as he captured two regular season championships as well as a tournament championship in his five productive years at Samford.
Though there are plenty of games left to define the season A&M will have when the last buzzer shows triple zeros, there is hope that McMillan can continue to coach his brand of Bucky Ball basketball and get the Aggies back to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year.
