NCAA Basketball: Preview of all 31 autobids for 2021 NCAA Tournament

Texas Southern Tigers – SWAC

Texas Southern being in the NCAA tournament is a shock to everyone that follows the SWAC. They destroyed the conference favorite Prairie View A&M in the SWAC title game. The Tigers have been the SWAC representative in five of the last eight years.

This year they proved that they are still the class of the conference. Texas Southern has always been a destination for high major transfers who are looking for a fresh start so they do have talent and they have been known to give a top team a little bit of a game for a while, given they do have high major division one talent.

Texas Southern is going to have an advantage against anyone they play given they are one of the best rebounding teams in the country and that leads them to easy baskets. They are one of the worst shooting teams in the country but do a lot of damage in the paint.

Best Player: Michael Weathers

Weathers is on his third school in five college seasons and it seems to be working out well at Texas Southern. The junior guard took his game to another level in the SWAC tournament and willed the Tigers to a win in the Semifinal game by hitting a ton of huge shots at the end of regulation and overtime.

The guard is not a good shooter but he is really fast and can blow by defenders to get into the paint and get easy baskets. He does also shoot 79% from the free throw line so he can hurt you in the paint and at the line. Weathers made a ton of threes in the SWAC tournament so maybe he is turning a corner there and it would be a huge boost for the Tigers if he can hit shots from outside.

Chance at Upset

The Tigers are a 16 seed and to no one’s surprise, they were given a first four game. The SWAC conference is usually always in a first four game just given the way the conference usually performs against the rest of the country. No fear though because the Tigers are good enough to win that first four game.

In addition to Weathers, they have a force in the paint in Joirdon Karl Nicholas and he can change a game for Texas Southern. The Tigers have a good chance to win the first four game but then will have to play a one seed in which they may come out firing and give their best effort but won’t win. They will likely score the most of any 16 seed against a one though. Chance at upset: 5%.

Texas Longhorns – Big 12

Texas is a tough team to figure out. They have the potential to make a final four with the talent they have, but they had a mid-season swoon when they looked like they would be out the first game they played.

The Longhorns figured it out behind fantastic play from their backcourt and were able to run through and beat a lot of good teams in the Big 12. Texas crushed Kansas this year and has beat Oklahoma State for the Big 12. When Texas is engaged and playing well they are good enough to make a final four.

Best Player: Matt Coleman

Every good offense starts with the point guard and if you have a great point guard your offense can do a lot of things and that is what Coleman brings to the Longhorns offense. He is the team’s offensive leader in pretty much every category and is going to be the guy who head coach Shaka Smart is going to count on to get the offense rolling and help them break a slump. Coleman scored 30 points in the Big 12 title game, and Texas needed every one of them to win the game.  His presence is important and when he is on the floor the Longhorns are so much better

Chance at Being Upset

Texas is a three seed and they were going to get into the tournament even if they didn’t win the league championship and their seed line likely would not have changed much either. Texas does have a tendency to get stagnant on offense and when the ball gets sticky Texas doesn’t do much either. The Longhorns are still capable of making a final four.

They have a tremendously talented frontcourt led by lottery pick Greg Brown and they can protect the rim and rebound like crazy. That is going to be too much for any mid-major to handle. Chance of getting upset is at 25%.