Texas Basketball: The Longhorns Have Played Their Way Onto the Right Side of the NCAA Bubble

Texas has made a strong case over the past few weeks for inclusion in the Big Dance

At 19-11 overall and 9-8 in conference play, Texas should be on the right side of the bubble when it comes to inclusion in the NCAA Tournament field. 

The Longhorns can't change the fact they don't have a strong non-conference schedule at this point (their biggest non-league win is probably on the road against a middling Purdue team), but their resume now looks good enough to earn a spot in the Big Dance. 

Texas has won four straight, three against teams in the tournament field, including back-to-back road contests. It has a chance to finish in third place in the regular-season conference standings. One would think even in a down year for the league that a third-place showing in the Big 12 is good enough to make the tournament. 

Since the win over Oklahoma CBS, ESPN and SB Nation have all included Texas in their tournament projections as one of the first four in, which would mean a potential play-in game for the Horns. 

Shaka Smart has been around several NCAA Tournament teams and believes this squad has the makeup of a Big Dance participant.

"I don't know where everybody else stands (and) I have not studied everyone's resume," Smart said of the potential tournament field. "I know that we are competing like an NCAA tournament team. I know that our guys believe like an NCAA tournament team. I know that our guys are connected like an NCAA tournament team."

None of this is a guarantee, of course. We all know the tournament committee is capable of some head-scratching decisions when it comes to at-large bids and there is always the possibility of upsets in the mid-major tournaments that could throw the whole field for a loop. 

Smart and his team know the best remedy to all of those problems is to just keep winning. 

"You got to move forward," Smart said after the win over Oklahoma. "We've got an off-day tomorrow (Wednesday) and then three days left in our regular season. We play a really good Oklahoma State team on Saturday. So we have to continue to find ways to get better."