Texas Basketball could have just penciled itself in the NCAA Tournament and be the 14th SEC team in the Big Dance after today’s big win over rival Texas A&M.
Texas by the numbers:
Heading into Nashville, Texas, entered on the first four out after a 17-win regular season and needed to do some work to be on the right side of the bubble. The Longhorns are 7-9 in Quad 1 games, with two coming this week, with wins over Vanderbilt 79-72 and Texas A&M 94-89 in double overtime.
The Longhorns are 3-5 in Quad 2 games and are a combined 9-0 in Quad 3 and 4 games.
The team’s signature win was a home win against Kentucky, and now it has two wins against top-15 Texas A&M.
The team is ranked 41st in the most recent NCAA Net Rankings, which are used by the selection committee.
As of today, CBB Review Bracketology Texas is still not listed on the bubble, but things are always changing.
Texas basketball storylines:
The Longhorns have been led by SEC Freshman of the Year and projected lottery pick Tre Johnson, who is must-see TV and is a walking bucket. The tournament and those who only tune in for March deserve to see Johnson next week. Creighton transfer Arthur Kaluma has also been a big bright spot for the Longhorns.
Rodney Terry entered Nashville firmly on the hot seat and has been coaching like his job has been on the line these past two games.
Texas will now play Tennessee tomorrow afternoon at around 2:30 CT. If it can win against former head coach Rick Barnes, the Longhorns should be penciled into the field, but for now, they will be sweating out for potential bid thieves until Selection Sunday.
If Texas basketball squeaks into the field, it would be the most bids a conference has received for the NCAA Tournament, with 14 teams making the dance.
[…] Payne had reached double figures 14 times, but had struggled in Texas A&M basketball’s 94-89 loss to Texas in the second round of the SEC tournament. The Minnesota transfer was searching for a […]
[…] Payne had reached double figures 14 times, but had struggled in Texas A&M basketball’s 94-89 loss to Texas in the second round of the SEC tournament. The Minnesota transfer was searching for a […]