Longhorns Projected to Renew SWC Rivalry in NCAA Tournament

The latest NCAA Bracketology put together by CBS Sports has Texas as a No. 6 seed and facing an old rival in the first round

Matthew Postins | Feb 28, 2022

If the NCAA Tournament started today, the Texas Longhorns would renew their old Southwest Conference rivalry with SMU.

That is according to CBS bracketologist Jerry Palm, who updated his projected 68-team field on Sunday.

Texas (21-8, 10-6 in Big 12) is on a two-game winning streak entering tonight’s game with Baylor.

Jase Febres

Texas Longhorns

Texas Longhorns vs. TCU

Palm has Texas as a No. 6 seed in the East Region, where the Sweet 16 will be played in Philadelphia. The Longhorns are in fourth place by themselves in the Big 12, two games ahead of TCU. The Longhorns are a game back of Texas Tech for third place, but the Red Raiders swept the season series.

SMU (20-7, 11-4) is in second place in the American Athletic Conference, behind only Houston. The Mustangs have games remaining against Cincinnati at Tulane before the AAC Tournament.

The Longhorns and Mustangs have never played each other in the NCAA Tournament. But, because of their membership in the Southwest Conference, the Mustangs have played the Longhorns 105 times in their history. In fact, the two teams have not met since the last SWC Tournament on March 8, 1996, with Texas winning that game, 89-67. SMU hasn’t beaten Texas since 1993.

Selection Sunday is March 13.

How the bracket looks for the Big 12 as of Feb. 28:

Courtney Ramey

Courtney Ramey and Christian Bishop

West Region (San Francisco)

No. 7 Iowa State vs. No. 10 Davidson

East Region (Philadelphia)

No. 1 Baylor vs. No. 16 Colgate

No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 SMU

South Region (San Antonio)

No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 15 Montana State

No. 8 Seton Hall vs. No. 9 TCU

Midwest Region (Chicago)

No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 Texas State

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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Published Feb 28, 2022

MATTHEW POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist writes for CowboyMaven. He also writes for Inside the Rangers, CowboyMaven,DallasBasketball.com, Longhorn Country, All Aggies, Inside The Texans, Washington Football, covers the Big 12 for HeartlandCollegeSports.com and is the Editor of the College Football America Yearbook.