College basketball is just around the corner, with the Longhorns season opener against Louisiana scheduled for Nov. 10 in Austin. Shaka Smart will enter the season with a warm seat, needing to make the NCAA Tournament.
According to ESPN’s latest bracketology, not only will Texas make the big dance, but they will be a four-seed in the Midwest region. This is one seed lower since analyst Joe Lunardi’s previous prediction, which had the Longhorns as a three-seed.
Lunardi has Texas facing Murray State in the first round, a team coming from the Ohio Valley Conference. The Racers were 23-9 last season, finishing first in the OVC regular-season rankings.
If Smart’s squad got a win in the first round, the winner of Tennessee/Western Kentucky would be on the cards.
Here is the full region:
Five other Big 12 teams are in Lunardi’s latest projection, the fourth most for a single conference in the country.
Baylor (one-seed), Kansas (two-seed), Oklahoma (10-seed), Texas Tech (three-seed), and West Virginia (three-seed) will join Texas in representing the Big 12.
Texas will have the opportunity to rise from a projected four-seed throughout the entire season. Once again, the Big 12 is going to be the toughest conference in all of college basketball. Playing teams such as Kansas, Baylor, and Texas Tech twice a season gives the Longhorns great opportunities to boost their resume.
Shaka Smart did an excellent job scheduling nonconference games as well, starting with Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are the preseason No. 1 team in the country and will be visiting Austin on Nov. 13.
Then, Texas will be traveling to Maui, Hawaii to play in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. The field consists of Alabama, Davidson, Indiana, North Carolina, Providence, Stanford, and UNLV.
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