By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Columnist

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The Texas A&M men's basketball team could pay a hefty price for failing to defend its home court.

If A&M loses to Baylor and Kansas this week, the Aggies probably would have to win the Big 12 tournament to make the NCAA Tournament.

This precarious situation would have been avoided with home victories over Baylor, Oklahoma State and Nebraska. Even if A&M had won two of those three games, the Aggies would be 23-6 overall with a 9-5 league record, and an NCAA Tournament berth would be a lock.

A&M is an inexcusable 4-3 at Reed Arena, where the three previous Aggie teams were a combined 19-5 in league play. Those teams were successful with just a handful of sellout crowds. More fans have showed up this season, which should have made winning easier, not harder. But this team hasn't been good enough to protect its home court, which is a cardinal sin in college basketball.

Texas and Kansas are unbeaten at home in league play, which is why they are atop the standings.

Baylor, which is trying to earn its first NCAA Tournament bid in 20 years, is 5-2 at home. Three other teams battling the Aggies for position in the Big 12 standings -- Kansas State (7-1), Oklahoma (5-2) and Oklahoma State (5-2) -- have been consistent at home. Even Texas Tech, which has been awful on the road, is 6-1 at home.

It's not rocket science. You are supposed to be better at home, especially if you have a veteran club and fan support. A&M certainly has both.

The Aggies can make the NCAA Tournament with victories over Baylor and Kansas this week, but they should have been in position to improve their postseason resume, not save it.

First-year A&M coach Mark Turgeon said he's been around bad teams that didn't lose games by as many points as this team has -- 75-54 at Kansas State, 77-50 at Texas and 64-37 at Oklahoma.

"They've got to play better and be tougher," Turgeon said of his Aggies. "They can't expect the other team to roll over. We don't compete when we absolutely have to compete, and that's just the most disappointing thing."

The A&M women's team won't defend its co-Big 12 title because of its slip-ups at home, but the Aggie women have been good enough to overcome their early struggles.

A&M (22-7, 10-5 Big 12) has recovered from home losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma State to be in position for a first-round bye in the league tournament at Kansas City. To earn that bye, A&M must beat Oklahoma (11-4) on Thursday at Reed Arena.

Assuming a victory over Oklahoma, the Aggies can improve to the No. 3 seed if Baylor beats Oklahoma State but will be fourth if the Cowgirls beat the Lady Bears.

If A&M loses to Oklahoma, the Aggies will drop to fifth regardless of the Baylor-Oklahoma State outcome.

A&M still has an outside chance of matching last season's No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which is remarkable considering its 1-4 league start.

Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale says she is glad the Sooners are playing the league's hottest team after an embarrassing 65-50 home loss to Texas on Sunday.

Coale said it wasn't Texas' defense against OU's All-American Courtney Paris that was the key, but rather it was her team's inability to play with passion or pride.

She said the Sooners have a chance to regain their identity against A&M.

Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey said during Tuesday's Big 12 teleconference that the Aggies might be the team to beat next week in Kansas City.

• Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.

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