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Texas' loss to Georgia leaves the Longhorns with one nearly-impossible path to the NCAA Tournament

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•03/02/25•

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Tre Johnson
Tre Johnson (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

With 11 SEC losses and a 6-13 record in Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 games, all but one path for Texas to the NCAA Tournament has been eliminated. For the Longhorns and Rodney Terry, who started the year ranked No. 19 before very quickly falling out of the rankings, the only remaining way for Texas to make the field of 68 is to earn the automatic berth given to the SEC Tournament champion.

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But with the way the Longhorns are playing, even with near do-or-die stakes, that seems just as unlikely as Texas remaining at 11 SEC losses with two games versus at Mississippi State and versus Oklahoma left.

With great stakes on Saturday night, the Longhorns flopped versus Georgia. The Bulldogs led 46-29 at halftime, and Texas’ second-half effort trimmed the lead by one point before the final buzzer sounded on the 83-67 loss. Four Longhorns were in double figures, with Arthur Kaluma scoring 15, Jayson Kent with 14, Tre Johnson with 12, and Jordan Pope with 10.

But in important stats, the Horns were dominated.

The Longhorns never led.

Texas’ tournament resume isn’t much of one anymore. The Longhorns currently are No. 45 in the NET rankings, right by other bubble teams like North Carolina, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Even with the bubble as weak as it is, it’s hard to think a 7-11 conference record in the rough-and-tumble SEC would be enough to do it. It’s also hard to think Texas can get to 7-11 by winning its next two games.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee rarely rewards efforts made in the conference tournament, preferring to look at a season of data instead of one weekend. But they have no choice but to invite the team that plays the best and wins every game during that weekend on the way to becoming tournament champions. Therein lies Texas’ only path to the NCAA Tournament.

The SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament runs from March 12-16 in Nashville, Tenn. Teams in the bottom half of the league standings, which describes Texas at the current moment, play in the first round starting on Wednesday the 12th. Teams in the first round have to win five games in five days to win the championship.

The task would not be easy. Texas would have to defeat teams on bye in their second round and quarterfinals games. They’d have to play better basketball than they’ve showed of late, which means better basketball than they’ve played all season.

For Terry, the pressure has ratcheted up on the second-year full-time head coach. Missing the NCAA Tournament is viewed as an unforgiveable sin amongst Texas fans, especially when his boss in athletic director Chris Del Conte declared that every Texas sport should be top-five nationally and contending for national championships.

There’s no way to contend for a national championship without making the NCAA Tournament. There’s almost no way currently for the Longhorns to earn a NCAA Tournament at-large bid.

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With two games in the regular season, there remains just one path forward for Texas to make March Madness: an unlikely run in Nashville at the SEC Tournament.

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