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Texas in the Big Dance? Tom Crean assesses case for the Longhorns
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Texas entered the SEC Basketball Tournament as a true bubble team for the NCAA Tournament. The Longhorns boosted their chances with a solid performance in Nashville, but they were not able to fully erase all doubt ahead of Selection Sunday.
On Friday, Texas fell to Tennessee, 83-72, to bow out of the conference tournament. The good news is Rodney Terry’s squad started the week with strong wins over Vanderbilt and Texas A&M, two teams who should be in the final bracket.
Overall, Texas ends the year 5-8 against AP Top 25 teams, but the Longhorns finished the year with 15 losses and a 6-12 mark in SEC play. Will that be enough to land in the Big Dance?
Tom Crean, now an ESPN analyst who spent stints coaching at Marquette, Indiana and Georgia, says it should be:
“I think they deserve to (be in),” said Crean after the game. “I think you judge a team on the bubble by do you think they can get to the next weekend (in the NCAA Tournament), and I don’t think there’s any question Texas can get to the second weekend.”
While Crean sees a Texas squad that passes the eye test, he admits there are some challenges to the full portfolio, including a poor nonconference schedule. With potential bid stealers hitting key conference tournament action, there is plenty of time for things to swing in the opposite direction and leave the Longhorns at home:
“They’ve got a superstar in Tre Johnson. They’ve got veterans, they can score. They can defend. To me, the problem they’re going to have is the 15th loss. That doesn’t look good. And their nonconference strength of schedule is not good,” Crean admitted. “But you’ve got to give them credit for playing in this league the way the league has been. They played good basketball this week, they ran into a really good Tennessee team. I hope their name is called, but it could definitely tilt the other way.”
Be sure to keep up with all the March Madness odds as Selection Sunday rushes towards us. Unfortunately for Texas, it’s now all a waiting game until the full bracket is revealed.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
