Let’s get this out of the way. If the Texas Longhorns beat Tennessee on Friday in the SEC Tournament, UT will be in the NCAA Tournament. What if the Horns lose to the Vols? Is the 94-89 in a double-overtime upset win over rival Texas A&M enough? Maybe.
Right now, ESPN’s Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi moved Texas into the tournament as the last team into the field. But that could change based on a number of factors. Smaller conferences could have a tournament upset that sends two teams to March Madness rather than just the expected one. Or Texas could get blown out by Tennessee and leave a bad final impression on the selection committee.
But Texas has done what they can so far. And it may just save head coach Rodney Terry’s job. Terry has a knack for making tournament runs. He lead Texas to its second Big 12 tournament win and a final eight run in the NCAA tourney in 2023 that helped Terry secure the permanent Texas head coaching job. He might be pulling off a similar feat to keep it.
The wins over Vanderbilt in Nashville and the ranked Aggies have definitely helped repair the damage done by losing to Oklahoma last weekend. Terry after the game Texas is finally fully healthy after battling injuries in SEC play. “We have star power,” Terry said. “We’re playing well. We have our team that we anticipated that having to play for us right now, and we’re playing good basketball. So I think all that matters down the stretch.”
Texas’ star freshman Tre Johnson, who led the Longhorns with 20 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in double-overtime, is confident. “I think we should be in by now for sure,” Johnson said. “But if not, we can still put our hard hats on and come back and get another one tomorrow.”
If the Longhorns do secure a bid it would likely put 14 SEC teams into the Big Dance. The most any conference has put in the NCAA tournament prior was the Big East’s 11 bids in 2011.
