Dancing! Longhorns earn seven-seed in NCAA Tournament, will face First Four opponent in first round
After a 20-12 campaign with its share of ups, downs, and everything in between, the Texas Longhorns have earned an at-large selection to the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Texas received a seven-seed and will face off against Virginia or Colorado State in the Midwest regional on Thursday in Charlotte, N.C.
[Join Inside Texas and get ONE MONTH of Longhorn intel for just $1!]
The two-seed in the Midwest regional is Tennessee. The 15-seed is St. Peters.
This is the Longhorns’ 30th NCAA Tournament appearance in the past 40 seasons and the 38th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
The Longhorns have now made four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, a feat the program hasn’t accomplished since Texas made 14 straight tournaments under Rick Barnes from 1999-2012. The Longhorns were a two-seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, a six-seed in the 2022 tournament, and a three-seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament
It’s Terry’s third career NCAA Tournament appearances and second at Texas. The Longhorns reached the Elite Eight last season with Terry as interim head coach in the wake of the dismissal of Chris Beard. Terry also appeared in the NCAA Tournament while head coach of Fresno State in 2016. The Bulldogs were a 14-seed and lost in the first round to three-seed Utah.
Texas is lead on the offensive end by Max Abmas (17.1 points per game) and Dylan Disu (15.8 points per game). Tyrese Hunter and Dillon Mitchell also average double figures, with Hunter posting 11.1 ppg and Mitchell scoring 10.1 points per contest. Mitchell also pulls down a team-best 7.7 rebounds per game.
The Longhorns also receive regular contributions from UT-Arlington transfer Chendall Weaver, Virginia transfer Kadin Shedrick, and sixth-year senior Brock Cunningham.
Entering Sunday, Texas was No. 30 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool, or NET, the primary sorting tool for evaluating teams. Texas’ record in Quadrant 1 games, contests against the highest ranked teams in the nation, was a respectable 5-9. Texas was 3-2 in Quadrant 2 games and 5-1 in Quadrant 3 games. UT was an undefeated 7-0 in Quadrant 4 games.
Texas started the season ranked No. 18 and won the first five games of the year before losing to then-No. 5 Connecticut in Madison Square Garden. One more non-conference loss on the road at then-No. 8 Marquette would be Texas’ only blemish entering conference play. The Longhorns were 11-2 entering league play with its best win a neutral site victory over LSU in Houston.
A 1-3 start to conference preceded the program’s first-ever stretch of six consecutive ranked opponents. The Longhorns went 3-3 in the span to approach .500 then won five of their final eight games to make it to 9-9 in conference play.
Texas lost to the Kansas State Wildcats in the Big 12 Tournament.
[Subscribe to the brand new Inside Texas YouTube channel!]
The Longhorns have a 39-40 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament. On Thursday, they’ll look to make it 40-40 as they attempt to make it to the National Championship.
