It’s that time of the year. College basketball fans across the country have their eye on bracket updates from leading NCAA tournament analysts.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released his recent projections at 12:30 a.m. CT on March 15. It placed the Longhorns solidly in the tournament as a No. 9 seed.
The projection pits Texas against No. 8 seeded Nebraska, and in the same region as the reigning national champion UConn Huskies who defeated Texas earlier this season. Much has changed since the Longhorns faced the projected No. 1 seeded Huskies, but the matchup probably isn’t one Texas should relish.
On the other hand, anything can happen in March. It just takes a good weekend to reach the Sweet 16, and that’s what Texas hopes it can find in the early going of the NCAA tournament.
Other notable projections placed rivals in the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas A&M Aggies into the field. The Aggies were noted as the last team in the tournament while Oklahoma was given one of the last four byes. Given the Sooners won 20 games in the Big 12, they should be a lock to make it into the tournament.
The Kansas State Wildcats (19-14) are likely out of contention despite defeating Texas on Wednesday. The team was eliminated from the Big 12 tournament in a loss to Iowa State, 76-57.
NCAA tournament predictions see changes as more teams add data points in conference tournament games. Even so, Texas looks to be safe heading into Sunday’s tournament announcement.