The Texas Longhorns can breathe... for a short moment.
After being a constant presence as a bubble-watch team this season, the Horns made their way into the field of 68. However, the hard work is still ahead of them, and their matchup in the First Four, just to earn a spot in the actual bracket, is nearly as difficult as possible.
Texas will play the NC State Wolfpack to earn a place as the No. 11 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. Not exactly an easy opponent to bounce back from a terrible performance in the SEC Tournament.
Texas narrowly favored over NC State in First Four
As NC State clearly clinched a winning record in the regular season, the Horns eked their out, going 18-13 odds before losing to the Ole Miss Rebels in the first round of the conference tournament.
Now, they have to play yet another game in a tournament-opening round, and the odds virtually couldn't be closer.
Despite the Wolfpack going 20-13 overall and finishing seventh in the highly competitive ACC, the Longhorns are actually favored by 1.5 points, according to the opening odds after the bracket was revealed on Selection Sunday.
Texas and NC State were seeded as the First Four matchup for the West Region, which includes some of the best teams in the nation, including the No. 1-seed Arizona Wildcats (who were No. 2 in the national standings) and the No. 2-seed Purdue Boilermakers (who just beat the Michigan Wolverines in the Big Ten Championship).
Simply put, the Longhorns and head coach Sean Miller are going to have to play their best basketball, which was far from how they performed against Ole Miss, just to get to the actual first round of the Big Dance.
The Longhorns and the Wolfpack are scheduled to tip off on Monday, March 17, to determine who will move on to the First Round, where the winner will face none other than the No. 6-seed BYU Cougars.