I think the assumption (imo, a correct assumption) is that if this team isn’t good enough to beat A&M at home it’s not going to be good enough to win the games it needs to win down the road in order to make the NCAA. The A&M game as a single event is not a must win, but when taken into context of the games/performance already completed and the ones a head of us, it’s a must win.
Now, you could argue/draw an analogy/counter that this game is like the @ CU game last year. Just because we lost to CU didn’t preclude us from going on a run to get into the tournament……however, just because last year’s team went against the probability that it wasn’t going to get to the tourney (at the point in time it lost @ CU), doesn’t mean this year’s team will as well. It’s foolish to assume so.