May 19, 2025
NCAA Basketball: SEC Conference Tournament Quarterfinal - Texas vs Tennessee
Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Longhorns managed to be a part of the field as one of the teams in the First Four.

The Texas Longhorns were a long shot heading into Selection Sunday but did enough to make the NCAA Tournament field to face off against the Xavier Musketeers in the First Four on Wednesday in Dayton at approximately 8:10 p.m. Central on truTV.

Texas opens as a 2.5-point underdog against the Musketeers, according to Fanduel, setting them up for a potential Cinderella Run. The wins over the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Texas A&M Aggies in the SEC Tournament, which both made the field as higher seeds than the Longhorns, seemingly put them over the edge in the eyes of the selection committee. Texas finished the season with a 19-15 record, with 12 of those 15 losses coming in SEC play.

Running the gauntlet of the SEC may be the Longhorns’ biggest advantage heading into the tournament, with the conference boasting a record 14 tournament bids this year.

Xavier finished their season with a 21-11 mark, including a 13-7 record in Big East play, riding a seven-game win streak heading into the conference tournament. They didn’t fare well in the Big East Tournament, getting bounced in the first round by Marquette — their second loss to the Golden Eagles of the season.

Texas and Xavier square off in Dayton on Wednesday for the right to travel to take on Illinois at the Milwaukee site on Friday. If they can pull off both upsets, they will take on the winner of Kentucky and Troy in the Round of 32. That regional also features the Houston Cougars as the No. 1 seed, the Tennessee Volunteers as the No. 2 seed, and the Georgia Bulldogs as the No. 9 seed.

Leave a Reply