Texas Misses Out On NCAA Tourney

Unfortunately, the Texas Longhorns have missed out on March Madness. They were not given an NCAA tournament bid this past Selection Sunday. Instead, the Longhorns are gearing up for the NIT tournament as the number two seed. The Longhorns will face no. 7 ranked South Dakota State this Tuesday.
According to mysanantonio.com, this marks the second time in the past three years that the Longhorns have missed on the March tourney. It is also the first time Texas will participate in the NIT in 34 years. Texas ended with an overall record of 16-16 and were 8-10 in Big 12 conference play. They ended the season on a low note losing six out of their last eight games.
The lost the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament when they lost to Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals this past Thursday night. Even though it was a close loss, many felt the Longhorns did not have an impressive enough resume to garner a tournament invite.
Joe Lunardi of ESPN had Texas listed within his First Four Out before the Selection Show even began. Other analysts like Jerry Palm agreed with Lunardi’s assumption.
No .500 team has ever made the NCAA tournament as an at-large bid. Even though the team was ranked No. 30 in KenPom’s rankings, the losses were too much to overcome. The Longhorns lost to weak squads including Radford, Georgia, and Providence. They failed to even make the committee’s first four out.
Since the Longhorns were one of the better teams left out of the March tourney, they were awarded a high seed in the NIT. Their upcoming opponent, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits finished the season at 24-8 and won their regular season conference title.
Although he missed out on the NCAA tournament in his fourth year as coach, many are confident that coach Shaka Smart will retain his position at the head of the Longhorns. Smart is exactly .500 overall as the coach for Texas. He has not been able to win an NCAA tournament game during his tenure as coach.
To read more about the Longhorns’ recent struggles, check out this in-depth look released by SportsDay.