Aggies History

After Watkins resigned, Billy Gillispie, was hired out of UTEP after leading the Miners to an NCAA Tournament appearance and having the largest turnaround of any team in the nation, from 6-24 in 2002-03 to 24-8 in 2003-04. The Aggies, though picked by Big 12 coaches to finish last in the conference, immediately improved under Gillispie, winning their first 10 games and finishing at 21-10, 8-8 in conference. Along the way, the team defeated ranked, in-state rivals Texas and Texas Tech. The team earned an NIT bid, Texas A&M's first postseason in 11 years, reaching the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Gillispie's second year featured further improvement, with the Aggies defeating three ranked opponents in Colorado, Texas, and Syracuse. The team finished with a league record of 10-6 and a win in the Big 12 Tournament, Texas A&M's first since the conference first began play in 1996-97. The Aggies reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1987 as a 12-seed, upsetting fifth-seed Syracuse in the first round. The Aggies fell in the second round to LSU.

In 2007, as Gillispie's team began to gel, A&M was ranked as high as #10 in the pre-season polls. Despite early-season losses to LSU and UCLA, the Aggies accomplished several feats not seen in years by the Aggies, including a win at Allen Fieldhouse over then-#6 Kansas, a first for a Big 12 South team since the conference was formed. They suffered three losses in conference play, a sweep by Texas Tech and a double-overtime loss to a Kevin Durant-led Texas in Austin, and were able to secure the #2 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. The Aggies lost in the quarterfinals to Oklahoma State. The Aggies received a #3 seed in the 2007 NCAA championship tournament, their highest seed ever. In the postseason, the Aggies achieved a #9 ranking by the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today coaches polls, the highest ranking ever attained in school history.

On April 6, 2007, Gillispie resigned his position as head coach at Texas A&M to coach at the University of Kentucky.Four days later, on April 10, Mark Turgeon, head coach of Wichita State University, was announced as the new men's basketball head coach at A&M.

The Aggies started the 2007-08 season ranked 14th in the preseason Coaches Poll. Once the season progressed, they won the 2007 NIT Season Tip-Off to extend their winning streak to 7–0. Their first loss of the season came to unranked Arizona. After the Arizona game, they would then win eight straight home games against unranked opponents. Team performance spiraled down once conference play had begun, losing three straight unranked teams—at Texas Tech, at Michael Beasley-led Kansas State, and at home to Baylor. The Aggies could post wins at their next five matchups, including one over the 10th-ranked rival Texas Longhorns and three away games. They then regressed, losing to Oklahoma State and Nebraska at home. Another high point came when they defeated Texas Tech 98–54 at home, matching their highest margin of victory in school history (set in 1959 against Texas). The Aggies regressed once again, this time losing 64–37 at Oklahoma. After the blowout, the Aggies were able to revenge Baylor in Waco, though came back home to lose their final regular season game to eventual national champion Kansas to finish the season at 8-8 in conference play. The team received a No. 6 bid to the Big 12 tournament, defeating Iowa State and Kansas State in the first two rounds, but lost to Kansas again in the semifinals. With their 24–10 record after the Big 12 tournament, the Aggies received a No. 9 at-large bid to the West Regional of the NCAA tournament. In the first round, they defeated 8th-seeded BYU 67–62 at Anaheim. In the second round, they faced UCLA at the same site, though allowed them to escape with a close 51–49 win. The Aggies finished the season with a 25–11 record. The 25 wins matches the record for most wins by a first-year coach at a Big 12 school, set by former Texas coach Tom Penders in the 1988–89 season.