Tre Johnson on Texas' NCAA Tournament chances after win vs. Texas A&M: 'We have done enough'

Heading into Tuesday’s action, On3’s James Fletcher had Texas as the first team out of the NCAA Tournament. Getting a win against Vanderbilt on Wednesday was a must but a follow-up was needed against an in-state rival. A result against Texas A&M and the Longhorns might hear their name called on Selection Sunday.

A few more days will need to pass before knowing for sure but if you ask Tre Johnson, he feels like Texas should be in. Johnson is looking to play in the postseason in what should be his lone season of college basketball. Beating Texas A&M, in his opinion, was enough to secure a spot.

“I feel like we have,” Johnson said postgame. “I most definitely feel like we have done enough. But we can still come out and win another one.”

Shortly after the double-overtime buzzer sounded, Fletcher did update his Bracketology. He upgraded Texas to the ‘Last Four In’ spots, overtaking Indiana. This would send Rodney Terry‘s team to Dayton for the First Four along with North Carolina, West Virginia, and Xavier.

“I feel like we play in the best league in the country,” Terry said when asked for his message to the selection committee. “Every night, you have to play an NCAA Tournament game. I think when you play in a league where every single night is an NCAA-caliber team you’re playing against — our guys have handled adversity.

“We haven’t been healthy all year long. We are now healthy, we have all our guys and we have star power. We don’t shy away, we have star power. We have guys that can step up and answer the bell and we’re an entertaining team to watch play.”

Beating Texas A&M gave Texas its eighth Quad 1 victory of the season, seven of which were against SEC opponents. A weak nonconference schedule is why the Longhorns are in this position with seven Quad 4 games on the resume. But the big-time wins are there to make a case for NCAA Tournament inclusion.

Winning on Friday afternoon likely would end any kind of doubt. As Johnson mentioned, Texas still wants to go out and attempt to win one more game. Tennessee is the quarterfinal matchup, another meeting against former head coach Rick Barnes.

Campaigning is already underway, both from Johnson and Terry. Soon, the mindset will quickly change to the game upcoming with a semifinal spot on the line.