SPOKANE, Wash. -- It wasn't supposed to end like this.
It wasn't supposed to end yet, at least not without one more week of Aggie men's basketball dominating the conversation in the Brazos Valley.
Texas A&M had finished the regular season playing its best ball. The Aggies didn't expect what came, a 63-61 overtime loss to Purdue on Sunday.
Coach Mark Turgeon talked constantly about how his team was getting better every day. It was a coach's dream. It was also the truth.
With their point guard in street clothes, the No. 23 Aggies led the No. 1 team in the nation, Kansas, in its backyard until the final eight minutes.
It got better in the first round of the NCAA tournament. A&M pushed aside a No. 12 seed in a game many thought would be the Aggies' toughest test before getting to the Sweet 16.
It looked easy.
After that game, Utah State coach Stew Morrill made it sound as if he was proud of his players if they got a shot off against the A&M defense, let alone made one.
At the offensive end, others were stepping up in support of Donald Sloan, who early in the season had carried the Aggies offensively almost every time they were in need of something good.
Khris Middleton had found his stroke, which opened up the inside for either David Loubeau or Bryan Davis. B.J Holmes was beginning to stretch the defense from off the bench, and he proved he could be trusted in any situation after taking the lead when Dash Harris was injured.
Most of all, the Aggies enjoyed playing together, with players that understood their roles.
On Friday, Texas A&M was clearly the best of the eight teams to play at the Spokane Arena. Michigan State went down to the last possession before securing a victory over New Mexico State, which was second to Utah State in the Western Athletic Conference.
Maryland was impressive, but in reality the Terrapins didn't have to look like world-beaters to defeat Houston, which made it to the dance thanks to one week of magic in the Conference USA tournament. The Terps had talent, but defense -- which has been proven over and over again to be the main ingredient for success in the NCAA tournament -- was obviously not a priority.
Then there was Purdue, a team that was missing its best all-around player in Robbie Hummel and struggled for a majority of its first-round game against Siena.
If the Boilermakers were to beat the Aggies, it was going to be ugly, or as coach Matt Painter said later, "We had to make it a grind-it-out game."
With only one player in the starting lineup taller than 6-foot-4, A&M could exploit Purdue inside. And with Hummel's 15.7 points a game sitting back in West Lafayette, Ind., having to watch on TV while recovering from knee surgery, the Boilermakers looked vulnerable thanks to long dry spells offensively.
With the way Purdue had played down the stretch it was en vogue to pick against it. Many even liked Metro Atlantic champ Sienna, a No. 13 seed, in the opening round against the Boilermakers.
So there it was, an A&M team that had performed well all year and only appeared to be getting better going up against a squad searching for an identity since losing Hummel.
The Aggies were set up for a triumphant return home and then a short drive to Houston for an opportunity to add another chapter to a program that has written more history over the past five seasons than in the rest of its existence combined.
There was already discussion of playing No. 1 seed Duke. A third Baylor-A&M matchup was also intriguing and being thought about if not by the players then at least the Aggie fans, of which there were close to 1,000 enjoying the ride in Washington.
This is the NCAA tournament, though. As Kansas, Villanova, Georgetown and Pittsburgh can attest, there are no guarantees. Upsets have almost become the norm in a tournament that has gained its popularity from its lose-and-you're-done format.
A&M did not play its best game against Purdue, nor did it shoot anywhere near the way it had in recent weeks. And because of that and the grit of a Boilermaker team that is just as physical and plays with the same passion as the Aggies, all the good A&M had built up over the past months was pulled out from under it in two hours, or maybe more painfully, a handful of seconds.
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