AUSTIN (KXAN) — On the heels of their first back-to-back wins since mid-January, the Texas men’s basketball team isn’t quite back in the Associated Press top 25, but they’re closer than they’ve been in a while.
Texas (19-10, 8-8 Big 12) received 10 votes, along with Texas Tech, and sit four spots out of the rankings behind Nevada, Florida and Boise State. The Longhorns picked up a road win over the Red Raiders on Feb. 27 81-69 and then topped Oklahoma State at home 81-65 on March 2.
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A big matchup looms Monday night in Waco against No. 11 Baylor, and a win there not only improves their standing for the upcoming Big 12 tournament, but would give them a Quad 1 win and boost their NET ranking, currently at No. 27. Texas beat Baylor on Jan. 20 75-73 at Moody Center and Tyrese Hunter scored 21 points, including the game-winning bucket,
Houston remained No. 1 in the country in this week’s poll, followed by Connecticut, Purdue, Tennessee and Arizona. Iowa State moved up two spots to No. 6 with North Carolina, Marquette, Duke and Creighton rounding out the top 10. There are five Big 12 teams in the rankings with Kansas at No. 14 and BYU at No. 20.
The Longhorns have two regular season games remaining, Monday’s against the Bears and the season finale Saturday at home against rival Oklahoma. Winning cures everything in sports, and the Longhorns have certainly improved their chances of being selected for the NCAA tournament with these past two wins. Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry said his team has turned up its intensity in practice, which has shown over the past two games.
CBS Sports bracket expert Jerry Palm released a new projection Sunday, and he moved the Longhorns up a seed line to No. 9 in the West Region. Palm’s projection has Texas taking on Florida Atlantic in the first round in Charlotte with a potential second-round game against top-seeded Tennessee and former Texas head coach Rick Barnes.