Things didn't quite go perfectly for the Longhorns on Saturday, with Oklahoma State beating Kansas State to sew up the No. 3 seed. That means that — should the Longhorns get past TCU and the Wildcats in the first two rounds — the Cowboys would likely be waiting in the semifinals. Prior to the Cowboys' victory (and had Oklahoma beaten TCU), there was a chance that Texas could have gotten to the finals by only playing one team the Longhorns didn't beat in the regular season (Kansas State). That possibility still exists if Baylor gets by Oklahoma State in the second round.
At 15-16, the Longhorns' only chance to make the NCAA Tournament is to gain the automatic bid that comes with winning the Big 12 Tournament. The Longhorns have never missed the NCAAs under coach Rick Barnes, but haven't won the Big 12 Tournament under him either, despite reaching the Big 12 title game six times. Also of note: no team seeded worse than third has ever won the Big 12 Tournament.
Here's the Big 12 Tournament schedule:
First Round, Wednesday March 13
No. 8 West Virginia (13-18, 6-12 Big 12) vs. No. 9 Texas Tech (10-19, 3-15), 6 p.m.
No. 7 Texas (15-16, 7-11) vs. No. 10 TCU (11-20, 2-16), 8:30 p.m.
Second Round, Thursday March 14
No. 4 Oklahoma (20-10, 11-7) vs. No. 5 Iowa State (21-10, 11-7), 11:30 a.m.
No. 1 Kansas (26-5, 14-4) vs. WVU/TT winner, 2 p.m.
No. 2 Kansas State (25-6, 14-4) vs. Texas/TCU winner, 6 p.m.
No. 3 Oklahoma State (23-7, 13-5) vs. No. 6 Baylor (18-13, 9-9), 8:30 p.m.
Semifinals, Friday March 15
Afternoon Winners — 6:30 p.m.
Evening Winners — 9 p.m.
Finals, Saturday March 16
Championship Game — 5 p.m.