After the Texas Longhorns narrowly defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Thursday night, they were scheduled to take on the Kansas Jayhawks in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament on Friday night.
However, after a Kansas player tested positive for COVID-19, the third meeting between the Jayhawks and Longhorns this season will not be happening. Kansas had to remove themselves from the Big 12 tournament, which automatically advances the Longhorns to the conference championship on Saturday.
This will be Texas’ first appearance in the Big 12 championship game since 2011, where they (ironically) lost to Kansas and later went on to conclude their season in round two of the NCAA Tournament.
Kansas has officially withdrawn from the 2021 Big 12 Tournament due to issues related to COVID-19, per release. Texas moves on to Saturday's title game.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 12, 2021
With the news that blue blood programs Duke and Kentucky will not be able to participate in the NCAA Tournament, there’s no word yet if Kansas will join them in what’s been a down year for these elite programs.
Texas will play the winner of tonight’s game between the Baylor Bears and the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Big 12 championship game on Saturday.