The Texas Longhorns should feel better about their (already surprising) seeding in the NCAA Tournament after the entirely admonished North Carolina Tar Heels obliterated the San Diego State Aztecs in a similar situation.
Both UNC and Texas faced a fellow No. 11 seed in the First Four round of the Big Dance, the Heels playing SDSU and the Horns playing Xavier. However, North Carolina faced San Diego State a day earlier and entirely ran away with the victory.
By halftime, the Tar Heels held a 24-point lead over the Aztecs which only grew as the second half progressed. To put it simply, UNC blew SDSU out of the water and proved that the highly doubted team might have actually deserved its spot in the Tournament.
Similarly, Texas was a team that struggled throughout the regular season and the largest reason it found itself in the NCAA Tournament was a shockingly deep run in its conference tournament. So, as the Longhorns prepared for their matchup with the Xavier Musketeers, UNC's blowout win over SDSU should have put a slight ease on Texas' nerves.
The Tar Heels shot over 52 percent from the field and an astonishing 58.3 percent from beyond the arc as they obliterated the Aztecs. Not to mention, they forced 11 turnovers and outrebounded San Diego State by nearly a dozen boards.
Texas and Xavier wouldn't tip off until nearly 24 hours later but North Carolina's 95-68 win over San Diego State proved that even a team that didn't look like it belonged in March Madness could prove its worth this postseason.
The Longhorns and the Musketeers were scheduled to tip off at 8:10 p.m. CT on Wednesday, March 19. The game would be broadcast on truTV.