Two big name college basketball programs will face off when the Xavier Musketeers take on the Texas Longhorns in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament. Both of these teams snuck into the field of 68 as two of the last four in the bracket.
Xavier struggled early in the season sitting at 13-9 and looking like a longshot to make the tournament. They finished strong though, using a seven game win streak in the Big East to end the regular season and get here despite a 1-9 record in Quad 1 games. Sean Miller has an experienced group that is led by five year starter and second team All-Big East member Zach Freemantle who is averaging 17.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. They found their way into this opening round game after a loss in the first round of the Big East tournament to Marquette in a game where they led by 14 points in the second half. The Musketeers are making their 30th NCAA tournament appearance all-time but this is only their second in the past five years.
Texas comes in with a lackluster 6-12 record in conference play in their first year in the daunting SEC. The Longhorns won two games in the SEC tournament, including a double OT thriller against No. 19 Texas A&M, before falling to Tennessee in the quarterfinals. This is a team that has been consistently average this season, often taking care of business against lesser opponents while failing to step up in big games. They are led by freshman guard and future top NBA Draft pick Tre Johnson, but outside of him they are an older team with plenty of college basketball experience. The Longhorns are making their fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament but this will be their first time playing in the First Four.
The winner of this play-in game will be the 11 seed in the Midwest region and will head to Milwaukee to take on Illinois in the Round of 64.
How to watch Xavier vs. Texas
- Date: Wednesday, March 19
- Time: 9:10 p.m. ET
- Venue: UD Arena
- How to Watch (TV): TruTV
- Streaming: fubo TV
- Xavier record: 21-11 (13-7)
- Texas record: 19-15 (6-12)
Xavier vs. Texas odds, spread and total
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- Xavier -152
- Texas +126
Spread
- Xavier -2.5 (-120)
- Texas +2.5 (-102)
Total
- 149.5 (over -105/under -115)
Xavier injury report
- Trey Green, G: Out (undisclosed)
Texas injury report
- N/A
Texas and Xavier series history
- Texas all-time record vs. Xavier: 4-2
- Texas defeated Xavier 83-71 in Sweet 16 of 2023 NCAA Tournament
Xavier vs. Texas prediction
As most First Four games are, this is a very even matchup and I would not be surprised to see either team win and advance. Xavier is one of the top teams in the country shooting 38.8% from behind the three point line and have gotten consistent scoring from Freemantle and Ryan Conwell all year. I like Texas’ size in this one with Arthur Kaluma and Tramon Mark and they just got back guard Chendall Weaver who is a huge difference maker on the defensive end.
Both teams will be somewhat well rested with both losing early in their conference tournament so I would expect this one to be up tempo and high scoring. At the end of the day this game is a real toss up and I will give the upper hand to the team who ended the season hot in Xavier and who will be playing in front of a home crowd at Dayton which is under an hour away from them. Look for Musketeers guard Dailyn Swain to step up and be that third scoring option to help power Xavier over Texas and into the first round.
Texas Longhorns
Xavier Musketeers