Longhorns to Face Penn State in Round of 32 After Aggies Falter

The Longhorns have advanced to the Round of 32, but will miss out on facing an old rival

Matt Galatzan | Mar 17, 2023

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Texas Longhorns

The No. 2 seed Texas Longhorns took care of business on Thursday night against No. 15 Colgate in Des Moines 81-61, moving to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.

And now, they know their opponent.

Unfortunately for Texas sports fans, it will not be against their old arch-rival Texas A&M Aggies, who fell in blowout fashion in the Des Moines nightcap.

Instead, the Horns will take on the No. 10-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions, who dismantled the Aggies in the final 10 minutes of the first half, to take a 38-22 lead into the locker room.

From there, the Nittany Lions continued to dominate, ending the night with a 76-59 win.

In one sense, the idea of the old rivalry making a comeback in one of college sports' greatest stages was probably too good to be true.

In another, it could also be a good thing for the Longhorns, who will now have one less distraction to face as they attempt to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2007-2008 season under Rick Barnes.

The Horns would eventually go on to reach the Elite 8 that season, finally falling to John Calipari, Derrick Rose, and the national runner-up Memphis Tigers.

So unfortunately, the Horns will likely have to wait until they move to the SEC for 2024 season to face the Aggies in another sporting event.

But now, they can focus on what truly matters - the matchup with Penn State on Saturday.

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Published Mar 17, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.