March Madness Predictions: Texas vs. Duke a Potential Matchup?

If the Texas Longhorns can move on to the Round of 32 in the latest March Madness projections, some inciting matchups could await them.

Despite some inconsistency as of late, the No. 8 Texas Longhorns remain highly regarded in the latest March Madness predictions from ESPN that were released Friday.

ESPN's NCAA Tournament Bracketology has Texas projected as a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, drawing a first-round matchup against Kennesaw State. The Longhorns could vault themselves into a No. 1 spot should they finish first in the Big 12 regular-season standings and go deep in the conference tournament.

If this projection comes to fruition, Texas should be able to avoid an upset this time around, unlike in 2021 when the team lost to No. 14 seed Abilene Christian.

And if the Longhorns move on to the Round of 32 in this scenario... some inciting matchups could await them.

Texas' side of the bracket has the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils facing off against the No. 10 Missouri Tigers in the first round. Though this is just the case in this projection, the Longhorns could find themselves in a matchup against either an old Big 12 rival in Mizzou or a historical blue blood in Duke.

In 24 meetings with Mizzou - the 17th-most against one team in program history- the Longhorns are 11-13.

Meanwhile, Duke is 5-0 all-time against Texas. The Blue Devils took down the Horns 85-78 in an overtime thriller in 2017, which marked the most recent meeting between the two programs.

The Longhorns are set to have some exciting games ahead as the end of the season draws closer, and a scenario that would see them facing either Duke or Mizzou certainly qualifies.

The Longhorns visit the No. 9 Baylor Bears in Waco on Saturday.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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