Like every other team in the SEC, Texas got their season off to a very solid start. The Longhorns were 11-2 when nonconference play came to an end right before New Year’s. They then entered what has become a behemoth of a conference, as the SEC season has been brutal game after brutal game for all 16 of these teams, but have the Longhorns done enough to get back to the Big Dance?
We’re talking about the Longhorns because this is a program squarely on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. Texas fell to just 5-10 in conference play after Wednesday night’s overtime loss to Arkansas, giving them an ill-timed defeat against a team right there beside them on the Tourney bubble. Additionally, with five losses in their last six games, it’s fair to wonder just what this team can do when the calendar hits March.
The first problem for Texas is that despite that great record early, this team really didn’t do much in nonconference play. They picked up some impressive blowout wins and did win on the road against a disappointing NC State squad, but faltered their two chances against Ohio State and UConn.
In fact, all four of Texas’s Quad 1 victories have come since SEC play began. Now we can’t dismiss a team with those quality wins, with the Longhorns knocking off Missouri, Texas A&M, and recently Kentucky on their home court. However, they’ve had such a quantity of opportunities that have gone by the wayside you have to wonder how their entire resume will be evaluated.
Texas sits 16-12 and with a NET that’s recently fallen to 39. Their schedule is littered with resume-building chances, but they’ve also taken some disappointing losses that have hurt those same chances. In all reality, the Longhorns could be pretty solidly into the Tournament field had their last four weeks not included losses to South Carolina and Vanderbilt and a sweep at the hands of Arkansas.
Even two wins in those four games puts Texas safely into the field, but of course there’s still time for the Longhorns. Their only remaining Quad 1 game is next week at Mississippi State, which will be challenging, but home games with Georgia and Oklahoma are both solid opportunities. If the Longhorns get to 7-11 in the SEC with those quality wins, it might depend on what they do in the SEC Tournament.
The Selection Committee leans heavily on those metrics and what we’ve seen from this team. Texas is going to have a month-long span where their only win was over Kentucky and a disappointing finish to the season won’t sit well with the Committee regardless of those Quad 1 victories. The Longhorns need to make an impression in these final games, and if they do that then Rodney Terry’s team will be back in the Dance, perhaps one of a dozen SEC squads in the field.