Texas men’s basketball’s season isn’t over yet.
The Longhorns made it to the Big Dance, the 68-team NCAA tournament, for the fifth straight year. Despite being predicted to be one of the first four teams left out of the tournament by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s final bracketology due to their 6-12 finish in SEC play, the Longhorns’ seven Quad 1 wins were enough to impress the selection committee.
“I feel like it means a little bit more because teams really don’t respect us as much, and teams don’t think we’re as good as we are,” freshman guard Tre Johnson said. “But I feel like it does mean more when we get a chance to go step on the court and just be able to go out and play.”
When the University of North Carolina was revealed earlier in the show, the team slightly deflated. Different media outlets had predicted that it would come down to either UNC or Texas to take the final bubble spot.
“When their name popped up, we all looked at each other like ‘Ah that might’ve just crushed our hopes of getting in,’” junior guard Jordan Pope said.
But when the Midwest region was revealed, Texas was up at the top of the bracket, seeded 11th to face Xavier in the First Four.
“Man, you would have thought we won the Super Bowl,” graduate forward Jayson Kent said. “It was high energy, guys were happy. It’s good seeing the excitement that we had. I’m speechless.”
The team was jumping up and down, hugging each other. Along with some of the other guys on the team, Kent and Pope hadn’t made it to the tournament before at their previous schools, so to make it to the tournament was a dream come true.
“They helped me reach my dream,” Kent said. “I couldn’t be more grateful than what I am now, and I appreciate them so much for all the hard work, blood, sweat and tears we went through from the ups and downs. It’s just an honor to go through those battles with those guys and see it come through the light.”
But after the show ended, the team got to work. With the coaches off preparing scouting reports on Xavier, Pope and Johnson started to get some shots off, eager to begin practicing.
“Yeah, it is go time,” Pope said. “Once I’d seen our name, I was like, ‘I can’t wait to get out there and hoop and put some shots up.’ So, I’m excited. That’s why I came to Texas.”
Texas heads to Dayton, Ohio to face off in its first March Madness matchup against Xavier on Wednesday, March 19 at 8:10 p.m. CT.
