Texas Basketball: What are the Longhorns odds of making the Final Four?

The time of year that all college hoops fans wait for is finally here, and it is also a year when Texas basketball fans have a ton of hope for the postseason. March Madness is here after the selection committee decided on the NCAA Tournament bracket on Selection Sunday (March 12).

Interim head coach Rodney Terry and the Longhorns locked in a two-seed in the Midwest Region, which pits them against the 15-seed Colgate Raiders in a Round of 64 matchup on March 16. The Big 12 Men’s Tournament champs Texas will get to face one of the most efficient offensive teams in the country to open up the Big Dance in the Patriot League regular season and conference tournament champ Colgate.

Texas opened up as 14-point favorites over Colgate (per DraftKings Sportsbook) just after its first-round matchup was announced on Selection Sunday. That puts Texas right about in the middle of the pack in terms of the two seeds with the most comfortable odds in the opening spreads for the Round of 64.

But where do the odds lie for Terry and the Longhorns to make a deeper postseason run?

Early odds for Texas basketball to make the Final Four in 2023

There isn’t anything out of the ordinary in terms of the way the oddsmakers feel in regard to Texas’ odds to make it out of the Midwest Region. Texas has the second-best odds (+400) to win the Midwest Region (per FanDuel), only behind the one-seed Houston Cougars (+120).

A sizable distance exists between Texas in second place and the third-place team with the best odds to win the Midwest Region, which is the three-seed Xavier Musketeers (+950).

How Texas stacks up against the entire field?

Texas has the eighth-best odds to make it to the Final Four of every team in the NCAA Tournament field. That actually pegs Texas with the worst odds to win its region of any of the two seeds in the Big Dance this year.

• No. 1 Houston (+120)
• No. 1 Alabama (+190)
• No. 1 Kansas (+330)
• No. 2 UCLA, No. 1 Purdue (+340)
• No. 2 Arizona (+360)
• No. 2 Marquette (+370)
• No. 2 Texas (+400)
• No. 3 Gonzaga (+420)
• No. 3 Tennessee, No. 3 Baylor (+550)

A possible reason for this could be the oddsmakers’ belief that top-seeded Houston will make a deep run this postseason. Houston has a pretty good edge in terms of boasting the best odds to win its region of any team in the country.

Texas heads into the NCAA Tournament with a record of 26-8 (12-6 Big 12) following a dominant 76-56 win in the Big 12 Tournament final on March 11. The Longhorns and Raiders will square off in the Round of 64 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA, on March 16 at 6:25 p.m. CT.

According to the ESPN Basketball Power Index, Texas has a 91.7 percent chance of beating Colgate in the Round of 64.