Rodney Terry emphasizes Texas controlling 'what we can control' with NCAA seeding

When Rodney Terry took over the Texas program, the team’s potential was still extremely high. Terry had been part of the staff to build up the roster and was one of the favorites to make a deep NCAA Tournament run. To this point, the Longhorns have lived up to expectations, finishing second in the Big 12 and playing in the tournament championship on Saturday night.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projects Texas as a two-seed heading into the Kansas matchup. The final one-seed is thought to be up for grabs, with a few teams competing for the spot. Terry was asked if he felt they deserved the honor if the nets are cut down in Kansas City.

“You know what? We have just tried to control what we can control,” Terry said. “We got forty minutes in front of us against a really good team that we know is going to come out and be a motivated team to play really well tomorrow.”

It’s no secret how good the Big 12 has been this season. Every night is a battle in the conference, will all 10 teams having NCAA Tournament conversations at one point of the season. Texas has played as well as anyone and will be rewarded either way come Selection Sunday.

Saturday is still on the mind of Terry, though. Getting a Big 12 Tournament win would be a huge accomplishment for not just the interim head coach but the program as a whole.

“We’ve got to come out and do tomorrow what we have done over the last three ball games, and that’s try to sit down and play as hard as we can defensively and have our defense travel,” Terry said.

Texas competing with others for final one-seed on Selection Sunday

Three teams are thought to be locks to be on the top line Sunday afternoon. Alabama and Kansas are duking it out for No. 1 overall, while Houston will slot third. Texas is one of three teams competing for the final spot, going up against Purdue and UCLA.

Both are playing in their respective conference championship game as well. Purdue booked its ticket in the Big Ten title game on Saturday, defeating Ohio State in Chicago. UCLA will face off against Arizona on Saturday night, looking to take home both the Pac-12 regular season and tournament title.

Texas is for sure playing from behind heading into Saturday. Adding a win against Kansas would be huge for the resume.