Tom Crean defends Texas as NCAA tournament team: 'I hope their name is called'

Texas headed into its first-ever SEC tournament squarely on the March Madness bubble. The Longhorns looked to seal a bid to the NCAA tournament this weekend in Nashville, and two wins could have helped their case.

After Friday’s loss to Tennessee, Texas’ third game of the conference tournament, there are still questions about whether the Longhorns will hear their name called on Selection Sunday. To ESPN analyst Tom Crean, they should.

Crean defended Texas as an NCAA tournament team, pointing out criteria for argument for bubble teams. He doesn’t look so much at the resume, but rather at the eye test and whether they can win two games. To Crean, the Longhorns are fully capable of doing so.

“I think they deserve to [be in the tournament],” Crean said on SportsCenter after Texas’ loss to Tennessee. “I think you judge a team on the bubble by, do you think they can get to the next weekend? And I don’t think there’s any question Texas can get to the second weekend. … They’ve got a superstar in Tre Johnson, they’ve got veterans, they can score, they can defend.”

However, Crean sees the argument for why Texas might miss out on the Field of 68. The Longhorns’ non-conference strength of schedule ranks 142nd in college basketball, according to ESPN’s BPI. Although they have seven Quadrant 1 wins and rank 38th in the NET rankings, that non-conference slate – coupled with 15 losses on the season – could be what keeps Texas on the outside looking in.

“To me, the problem they’re going to have is this is their 15th loss,” Crean said. “That doesn’t look good. And their non-conference strength of schedule is not good. But you’ve got to give them some 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.”

Entering Friday, Texas was one of On3’s James Fletcher III’s last four teams in the NCAA tournament field in his most recent Bracketology. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi said the Longhorns likely needed two wins to feel “comfortable” about their chances of hearing their name called on Sunday, and they got them by taking down Vanderbilt and Texas A&M at Bridgestone Arena. Now, all eyes will turn to CBS Sunday evening for the reveal show at 6 p.m. ET.