Texas Longhorns: NCAA tournament experiences are the best

Working in this industry for two decades has provided the opportunity to watch the Texas Longhorns basketball teams compete in the NCAA tournament. Due to the timing of being in the business to cover the T.J. Ford recruitment, I’ve been witness to some great games in person. 

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With the NCAA tournament Round of 64 games set to begin today, thought it would be a great time to go back down memory lane. 

Texas’ loss to Oregon in the Sweet 16 in an unreal environment

Having been at American Airlines Center to watch No. 6 seed Texas beat No. 11 seed Boston College 70-57 and No. 3 seed Mississippi State 68-64 with a home court advantage, the thought of going to the Sweet 16 matchup against Oregon on late notice was a bit of a dream. 

Covering Ford’s recruitment, I became close with Leo and Mary Ford. They had already gone above and beyond for me, giving me an extra ticket to the McDonald’s All-American Game following T.J.’s senior season. The opportunity to watch the McDonald’s All-American Game in a packed Cameron Indoor was one hell of an experience. 

Well, the phone rang again the day after Texas advanced to the Sweet 16. I had two tickets to a Sweet 16 double-header at the Kohl Center with Texas and Oregon playing first, followed by Kansas and Illinois. Booked a flight to Chicago the same day, as there was no chance this opportunity would be missed. 

It was a packed house of 16,310 on Friday, March 22. The environment was absolutely insane. All four fan bases brought amazing energy. The momentum swings and the reaction in the arena that followed is still the best I have witnessed in person. Oregon beat Texas 72-70, and Kansas beat Illinois 73-69. I walked away from the Kohl Center that night believing I may not witness anything on that level again. 

To this day, the end of the Texas and Oregon game still stands out. Game was tied at 70, and Texas took their best player off the floor. Fredie Williams was a great defender, sure, but I was baffled that Rick Barnes took Ford off the floor. One, Ford had always made a play when his team needed it most dating back to his Willowridge days. Yes, Jones was a big guard and difficult matchup. But I remember thinking Barnes recruited the best player he will ever coach, only to sit him when the game was on the line. Not to mention that if Oregon scored, Texas’ best chance to hit the Ducks quickly was to immediately inbound the ball to Ford and let him outrace the Oregon defense. Texas called a timeout after the Oregon score. Barnes drew up a terrific inbounds play to get Ford the ball. Texas got a good look, but it didn’t go down. 

Later that night, I ran into T.J. I don’t remember the exact words 20 years later, but the message was that next year Texas would get to the Final Four.

One more thought on the 2001-02 season; had Chris Owens not torn his ACL in a game at Utah on December 29, the Longhorns would have advanced to the Final Four that season. Owens was averaging a team-leading 15.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and two blocked shots per game. 

Texas beats Michigan State to advance to the Final Four

After attending a number of games in the Drum during the 2003-04 season, my sights were set on the Sweet 16 and Eight Eight game. 

I passed on attending No. 1 seed Texas’ wins over No. 16 UNC-Asheville (82-61) and No. 9 Purdue (77-67).

My plan was to be in the Alamodome in San Antonio when Texas cut down the nets. 

Something family related then happened that kept me from attending the Sweet 16 win over Connecticut. 

There was zero chance I would miss the Elite Eight game against Michigan State. Tom Izzo, Magic Johnson, T.J. Ford and everything on the line. That day was my best in basketball. The feeling was different that day in San Antonio. The energy was off the charts. It was a Texas home game, obviously. 

Without going through a play-by-play that may not be 100 percent accurate 18 years later, the final couple of minutes of the game created an energy that Texas basketball hasn’t come close to since. My thoughts those last two minutes recalled watching Willowridge win back-to-back 5A state titles, the McDonald’s All-American Game at Duke, the Sweet 16 heartbreak a year before, and the win being a culmination of it all. My thoughts were what it meant for the state of Texas as a whole, as much as what it meant for Texas. What it meant to Texas was obvious. It ascended Texas basketball into the mind of young prospects all around the country. 

Ford brought an incredible four-year basketball experience to my life. I’m lucky to call T.J. Ford a good friend to this day. Thank you to Mary Ford for working with Rob Lanier to get T.J. to Texas when T.J. had different designs on his recruitment in the beginning. And thank you T.J. Ford for creating memories that will last a lifetime. 

Memphis was way too much for Texas in the Elite Eight

The 2007-08 Texas team was the best back-to-back perimeter shooting team the Longhorns have put on the floor in my days covering and watching. Kevin Durant was off to the NBA following the 2006-07 team. Texas shot 39.7 percent from three that season. 

There were days that I was in Denton A. Cooley Pavillion, and the ball didn’t even hit the rim for stretches. Texas had a great shooting team. 

The 2007-08 team shot 38.5 percent from three. The Longhorns had four players that created ideal floor spacing. D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams both shot 38 percent from three, combing to hit 192 three-pointers that season. Texas bigs Connor Atchley and Damion James both shot 41.3 percent from three with 81 combined makes. Even Justin Mason hit 34.6 percent that season with 27 makes. The Texas starting five hit 300 three-pointers on the season at a 38.6 percent clip. That dog will hunt in college basketball. 

And it got Texas to an Elite Eight for the third time under Rick Barnes. 

But that Sunday at Reliant Stadium had a different level of athlete and player than normally seen. Augustin was the best player on the court in just about every game he played that season. Augustin had a special feel and pace for the game, and could shoot the ball and score from all three levels. But he wasn’t even in the same stratosphere with Derrick Rose. Rose was so much better than anyone else on the floor that looking back I totally get why someone would cheat the SAT to get him to a college campus. 

That Texas team was really good. In the bracket with No. 1 seeds North Carolina or UCLA, Texas may well have advanced to the Final Four. But Memphis was a totally different animal. They were physically on another level. And the Tigers best player was even on another level than his talented teammates. Only being a horrible free throw shooting team kept the Tigers from taking it all.

Make plans to attend the tournament once

There were serval other NCAA tournament games I attended over the years covering Texas. For those that have never been, put it on the bucket list and make it happen. The momentum shifts in the NCAA tournament when it’s win or go home is unlike any other event one will attend. The overwhelming emotions of players knowing their careers are over and the fan base following with the emotion is different. Getting behind the underdog with the chance to pull an upset creates phenomenal energy. I could go on and on, but just go if you haven’t been before.