Despite the Longhorns' seven Quad 1 wins and three Quad 2 wins this season, the certainty of an NCAA Tournament appearance by Texas is highly questionable. The Horns had an abysmal regular season against conference opponents, finishing 6-12 in their first year in the SEC.
However, Texas' impressive (and somewhat surprising) performance in the SEC Tournament led to more of the nation looking at the Longhorns as a tournament-ready team.
What are Quad 1 and Quad 2 games?
All of collegiate basketball is split into four quadrants (Quad 1, Quad 2, Quad 3, and Quad 4) with the most importance being placed on Quads 1 and 2. The selection committee uses these quadrants to determine and justify their seedings in the NCAA Tournament.
Quad 1 wins are home games versus teams RPI (rating percentage index) ranked No. 1-30, neutral games versus No. 1-50, and away games versus No. 1–75. For example, a home win against a top-30 team would count as a Quad 1 win, while an away game against a top-75 team would also count as a Quad 1 victory.
A Quad 2 win is one at home versus the RPI No. 31–75, neutral versus No. 51–100, and away victories versus RPI No. 76–135.
With wins over Vanderbilt and No. 14 Texas A&M in the Horns' first two games of the conference tournament, Texas' Quad 1 win total went up to seven, a drastic improvement from the 5-9 record in Quad 1 games that the team entered the tournament with.
The loss to Tennessee did tack on yet another Quad 1 loss to the Longhorns' resume but now, Texas sits at 7-10 in Quad 1 matchups and a run to the SEC Tournament quarterfinals in its back pocket. Yet, despite the impressive postseason run by head coach Rodney Terry and his team, Texas fans still weren't feeling certain about the Longhorns' fate in the postseason.
With Texas' loss to Tennessee yesterday, do you think the Longhorns deserve a spot in the NCAA Tournament?
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) March 15, 2025
After the loss to Tennessee, Terry was still adamant that his team deserves to go to the Big Dance, despite boasting a sub-par 18-15 overall record.
“We'd be a dangerous matchup in the NCAA Tournament because we're finally healthy,” Terry said after the loss. “We have our full allotment of guys. We're playing pretty good at the right time of year. We have a guy that can go into the tournament, and he can score 30 points in a game. When you have scoring and star power like that, you're always a dangerous team.”
Meanwhile, for veteran players like seniors Jordan Pope and Kadin Shedrick, the anticipation ahead of Selection Sunday is more stressful than anything else.
“It's definitely going to be nerve-wracking for me,” Pope said. “I understand we're a team I guess that's on the bubble. It's out of our hands. It's not in our control. We feel like we've proved throughout the season that we deserve to be in the tournament with games we won.”
Selection Sunday is scheduled for March 16 at 5 p.m. CT. Longhorn nation and the rest of the country can tune into CBS to see if their team's season will continue.