Longhorns Rise in AP Top 25 as Big 12 Tournament Begins

After their blowout win over the Kansas Jayhawks, the Texas Longhorns remain a top-10 team in the country headed into the Big 12 Tournament.

The Texas Longhorns have risen up two spots from No. 9 to No. 7 in Monday's release of the latest AP Top 25 rankings.

The Longhorns (23-8, 12-6) finished off the regular season with a convincing 75-59 win over the No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, who remained at their No. 3 ranking despite the loss.

Kansas already had the Big 12 regular-season title locked up, but Texas was able to finish just one game back of the defending national champions in conference play by coming away with the blowout win.

The Big 12 is once again well represented in the latest rankings release:

- No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks

- No. 7 Texas Longhorns

- No. 10 Baylor Bears

- No. 12 Kansas State Wildcats

- No. 22 TCU Horned Frogs

The Longhorns will now play either the Oklahoma Sooners or Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday in Kansas City at 6 p.m. CT. 

Texas is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will get what is essentially a first-round bye. Should the Longhorns beat OSU or OU, they'd face the winner of TCU vs. Kansas State on Friday.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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