Texas is Elite! Longhorns reach regional finals for first time since 2008

Simply making second weekend of the 2023 NCAA Tournament was sweet, but now the Texas Longhorns’ run can be considered elite.

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Thanks to an 83-71 win over No. 3 seed Xavier on Friday night, the No. 2 seed Longhorns have reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008. Texas will face the No. 4 seed Miami Hurricanes on Sunday for the Midwest regional championship.

Should Texas prevail on Sunday, it’ll clinch the program’s first appearance in the Final Four since TJ Ford led the Longhorns to the national semifinals in 2003.

The Longhorns advanced past the Musketeers thanks to double-figure scoring from five different players. Tyrese Hunter had 19 points, Marcus Carr scored 18 points, Christian Bishop added 18 points, Sir’Jabari Rice had 16 points, and Timmy Allen added 11 points.

Texas big man Dylan Disu played just two minutes before he was ruled out with a foot injury. Bishop scored 18 and pulled down nine rebounds in his stead, and was part of a tenacious defensive effort versus the Musketeers.

Xavier, one of the best offensive teams in the country, shot 44 percent from the field and only 41 percent from three. Texas’ defensive effort was critical in keeping the Musketeers off schedule, and helped to limit XU to only 25 points in the first half.

This is the Longhorns fifth Elite Eight since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, joining appearances in the regional finals in 1990, 2003, 2006, and 2008.

The Longhorns have been led all year by a group of experienced players, many in their fourth, fifth, or even sixth year of college basketball. Super-seniors Carr, Allen, Bishop, and Rice, seniors Disu and Cunningham, and transfer sophomore Hunter have all played key roles. Contributions from freshmen Arterio Morris and Dillon Mitchell have been sprinkled in as well.

Texas interim head coach Rodney Terry, who took over for Chris Beard after his dismissal on January 5, also played a key part in several of Rick Barnes’ Elite Eight runs at Texas. Terry was an assistant under Barnes for the 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2008 Elite Eight appearances. But this run to the regional finals is the first ascribed to his name.

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Plus, Terry has been assisted by one of the most experienced assistant coaching staffs in the country. Himself a former head coach at Fresno State and UTEP, where he tutored Xavier guard Souley Boum, Terry had former head coaches Chris Ogden, Bob Donewald Jr., and Steve McClain working with him after Beard’s dismissal.

The trip to the regional finals comes following one of the Longhorns’ best regular seasons in recent years. Texas opened the new Moody Center and won all but one contest on home court and spent nearly the entire season ranked within the top 10 of the AP poll. Texas finished second in the Big 12 but eventually took down top-seeded Kansas for the program’s second Big 12 Tournament title.

After disposing of Colgate, Penn State, and Xavier, Texas has joined elite company. The aspirations for the program are to make it to Houston instead of the Hurricanes. Beard called Texas a “Monday Night Program,” indicating the Longhorns had the ability in his mind to reach and win the national championship game.

One game separates the Longhorns from that goal. If Texas is able to emerge as the champions of the Midwest region, where Miami is the No. 4 seed, then the Final Four will have a burnt orange tint in NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

One additional Kansas City game must be traversed by the Longhorns before they can pack their bags for a home-state national semifinal. But for the first time in over a decade, Texas is playing in the second game of the second weekend.