Seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s is in the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time under coach Randy Bennett, but deep runs haven’t been part of the story.

The Gaels begin pursuit of a breakthrough experience when they face No. 10 seed Texas A&M on Thursday night in South Region first-round play at Oklahoma City.

Saint Mary’s (27-5) is making its fifth straight March Madness appearance but only once have the Gaels reached the Sweet 16 during Bennett’s 25 seasons. That was in 2010 when Saint Mary’s was a No. 10 seed and beat Richmond and Villanova before being routed 72-49 by Baylor.

Gaels guard Joshua Dent covets an extended run this time around.

“It’s cool being in this position now, but like we’ve been trying to say, we want to cement our legacy above some of these other (Saint Mary’s) teams,” Dent said. “No disrespect to them, but we want to get further and see what we can do.”

The Gaels lost to Alabama in the second round last year.

Saint Mary’s first reached the NCAA Tournament during Bennett’s reign back in 2005. That also was in Oklahoma City and the Gaels lost to Southern Illinois in the first round.

Saint Mary’s faced just three ranked teams this season – splitting with West Coast Conference power Gonzaga and losing to Vanderbilt in nonconference play.

Texas A&M (21-11) also struggled (0-4) against ranked teams but made the NCAA field for the fourth straight season.

First-year coach Bucky McMillan finds that satisfying after only one player — reserve walk-on Chris McDermott — returned from last season’s team.

“It means a lot,” McMillan said. “When we didn’t have a roster, we were piecing (it) together, a lot of people didn’t know, ‘Hey, could we get in (the field)?’ And I thought this group could. I did from the start.”

A big piece for the Aggies is seventh-year forward Rashaun Agee, who previously had stops at New Mexico State, Bowling Green and Southern California.

Agee leads Texas A&M in scoring (14.7 points per game) and rebounding (8.9) and set a school record with 13 double-doubles.

Agee expects the Aggies to have a long stay.

“Everybody knows that in this time of basketball, each one of us, players and coaches, this can change our lives,” Agee said.

Texas A&M struggled down the stretch with seven losses in 11 games. The Aggies were one-and-done in the Southeastern Conference tournament, falling 83-63 to Oklahoma.

McMillan was hoping the late slumber wouldn’t cost his team a spot in the Big Dance.

“The SEC is the toughest league in the country, top to bottom,” McMillan said. “To finish tied for fourth in that league, it would have been a travesty if these guys didn’t get the opportunity.”

The Aggies rank 15th nationally with 10.8 3-point makes per game. Ruben Dominguez (10.3 ppg) has a team-best 82, Rylan Griffen (11.6) has 63 and Pop Isaacs (10.1) has 59.

For Saint Mary’s, Paulius Murauskas leads in scoring (18.8), while Mikey Lewis ranks second at 14.2 and Dent third at 13.0. Lewis leads the Gaels with 67 treys.

Saint Mary’s won eight straight games before losing to Santa Clara in the WCC tourney semifinals. Still, Dent is confident the team can make a run.

“Obviously, we’re not going there to win one or two games,” Dent said. “We’re going there to win as much as we can. Like we say, it’s do or die at this point.”

This is the third meeting between the Gaels and Aggies. They split two matchups in the mid-1990s.

The winner draws a second-round matchup Saturday against No. 2 Houston or No. 15 Idaho.

–Field Level Media

Second-seeded Houston lost in the NCAA title game last season and is primed to make another deep run this year.

But don’t dare ask Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson about a potential rematch against top-seeded Florida — last year’s champion — in the South Region final.

Sampson flat-out refuses to look past the opening contest, which is slated for Thursday night against No. 15 seed Idaho at Oklahoma City.

“I don’t focus on what’s ahead of us,” Sampson said with an edge on Monday. “I focus on what’s in front of us. I don’t start coaching differently because we’re in this tournament. Our next game is Idaho.”

The Vandals (21-14), the winners of five straight games and seven of their past eight, certainly have Sampson’s attention.

Sampson is well-versed when it comes to Idaho as he coached approximately nine miles to the West at Washington State for seven seasons (1987-94) early in his career.

He’s not willing to accept that the Cougars (28-6) are guaranteed an easy time in their opener.

“You’re playing a conference champion or a team that had a great year,” Sampson said of how first-round matchups work. “This isn’t an invitational tournament. You have to earn your way into this tournament. Whoever you play, whatever seed they are, you start with respect.

“We respect Idaho. To win four games in five days in the Big Sky tournament, you have to be tough.”

Houston went just 5-4 down the stretch, including a 79-74 setback against Arizona in the Big 12 tournament title game.

All six of the Cougars’ losses this season have come against ranked foes. They also have six victories by 30 or more points.

Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings leads Houston in scoring (16.4 points per game), assists (5.3) and with 53 steals.

Senior guard Emanuel Sharp has knocked down a team-best 89 3-pointers while averaging 15.3 points per game. Sharp (301) is the only player in school history to top 300 career treys.

Idaho is part of the NCAA Tournament field for the first time since 1990. The Vandals have one all-time March Madness victory, that coming in 1982 in overtime against Iowa.

The team isn’t lacking for confidence after running through the Big Sky tourney as a No. 7 seed.

“To play Houston is honestly going to be so exciting and so fun,” Idaho guard Isaiah Brickner said. “I’m really excited to play a high-level team like that and show what we can do on the court.”

The Vandals didn’t appear to resemble a possible NCAA Tournament team for most of the season. They were 14-13 with six losses in eight games before the impressive finishing kick.

“The year was kind of up and down,” Idaho coach Alex Pribble said. “They had to be a resilient group, They had to stick together. They had to stay with the process and it clicked at the right time for us.”

Forward Jackson Rasmussen agreed with his head coach.

“The tournament was the best we’ve played this season,” Rasmussen said, “but it’s not the best we can play and we know we can play better.”

Rasmussen leads the Vandals with a 13.9 scoring average with Kolton Mitchell (team-best 70 3-pointers) right behind at 13.7. Biko Johnson (12.4) and Brickner (12.1) also average in double digits.

This is the second meeting between the schools and the first was also held in Oklahoma City. Houston knocked off Idaho 76-61 on Dec. 27, 1963 in the All-College Tournament.

The winner of Thursday’s game will face either No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s or No. 10 Texas A&M on Saturday.

–Field Level Media

Team Italy will turn to right-hander Aaron Nola as the starter for Monday’s World Baseball Classic semifinal game against Venezuela at Miami, instead of right-hander Michael Lorenzen.

With an eye toward Tuesday’s championship game, Italy presumably will line up Lorenzen for a potential matchup against the United States for the WBC title. Lorenzen earned the win against the U.S. in pool play last Tuesday when he gave up two hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings.

Nola also dominated in his lone start of the tournament when he held Mexico without a run on four hits with five strikeouts to close out pool play on Wednesday. Italy finished 4-0 in pool play, while the United States went 3-1.

Nola, 32, is coming of the worst season of his career in 2025 when he was 5-10 with a 6.01 ERA in 17 starts for the Philadelphia Phillies, while battling ankle and rib injuries.

In 11 career seasons, all with the Phillies, Nola is 109-89 with a 3.83 ERA in 285 appearances (all starts) and finished as high as third in National League Cy Young Award voting in 2018 when he made his lone All-Star appearance.

Lorenzen, 34, signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Rockies in the offseason after going 7-11 with a 4.64 ERA in 27 appearances (26 starts) for the Kansas City Royals last season.

In 11 career seasons, Lorenzen is 54-55 with a 4.08 ERA in 395 games (119 starts) for six different clubs. He made his lone All-Star Game appearance in 2023 as a member of the Detroit Tigers.

–Field Level Media