Gulp! Texas men's basketball is at risk of missing the NCAA Tournament | Bohls
While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:
Texas hoops hoping for more
1. Hoops hotbed: The Texas basketball team missed a glorious chance to make a statement and record its signature win of the season when it let No. 4 Houston escape Moody Center with an overtime victory. It was a valiant try against the nation’s most suffocating defense but almost a microcosm of the Longhorns’ season. Rodney Terry’s bunch just has trouble finishing and suffered its third Big 12 home loss in four games. Yes, there is plenty of time to make up for this loss, but Texas probably has to post no worse than an 8-10 league record since it played a weak nonconference schedule and doesn't have a high-profile win other than victories over Baylor and Oklahoma. No Big 12 team with fewer than seven league wins in the 18-game format has made the NCAA Tournament, but six of the dozen teams with 8-10 marks got invites and three teams reached the Dance with a 7-11 record. I liked Dylan Disu’s reaction when he said, “We don't do moral victories.” … At this point, Terry would settle for any kind of victories. He has to find more rebounding to provide second-chance points — a killer against Houston — and get more offense regularly out of players besides Max Abmas and Disu. ESPN color analyst Fran Fraschilla told me Tuesday, “It took Texas 20 minutes to realize they were in a street fight. After they did, they had an opportunity to win a game against the No. 4 team in the country. But they have to play with that same sense of urgency 40 minutes every single night.” … Fraschilla sees the Longhorns’ plight but also their potential. At 3-5 in the Big 12, Texas sits in 12th place and faces a gantlet with road games against the top five teams in the standings in Texas Tech, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas and TCU and another away game at Baylor. "Texas is in danger of not being in the NCAA Tournament,” Fraschilla said. “If they can figure out a way to get seven or eight conference wins, I think they have a real chance to get to the Sweet 16. This league is unforgiving. But what I saw from Texas in the final 20 minutes, there's something there. Texas just has to be consistent.” I totally agree with his assessment. It must improve its defense to get some critical stops at the end of games and better develop some team chemistry.
In the Mood-y
2. Longhorns, Cougars not far apart: Houston’s Kelvin Sampson has a terrific team — a Final Four-caliber team — and said it “can be” one of his best defenses ever. The Cougars are extremely long, athletic and very active and play on-the-ball defense as good as any team I’ve seen for an entire game. Sampson also raved about Moody Center, calling it “a mini-NBA area. Just beautiful. It's such a huge aid in recruiting.” He also likes the Longhorns. “They’re talented, man. A really, really talented team. We’ve played Xavier, A&M, Utah, Dayton. None of them are any more talented than those guys.” … “I think this team still has a high ceiling,” Terry said. “We have a good team. We’ve got to stay the course, but we control our own destiny. Houston’s elite in the country in trying to take away a strength and one of the best blocking teams.” … Texas made some strides with a strong performance and terrific games from an emerging Dillon Mitchell and the frenetic Chendall Weaver, who is emerging as a potential lock-down defender. “He’s a guy we count on defensively to give us a lot of toughness. I think he’ll be one of the guys who can grow at a high level. He’s a big-time competitor.”
More: The Texas basketball team fell in OT to No. 4 Houston. Here are three things we saw.
This league's a beast
3. Monster of a league: I don’t know if there’s a super team in the Big 12 — I kind of think there is at least one, if not two — but this is the Godzilla of all basketball conferences. Oklahoma State has struggled. So has West Virginia, but the Mountaineers at least have beaten Kansas and Texas. Of course, who hasn’t beaten the Jayhawks lately? I think come March, Houston will emerge as the elite of the elite, but I could see Iowa State and BYU in that rarefied air as well. I watched all or parts of four Big 12 games on Saturday. The Cougars were dominant. Both Cougars, Houston and BYU. Does another team have a better home-court advantage than the Cyclones? Baylor and TCU played a marathon game before the Horned Frogs hung on to win 105-102 in a third overtime. That may have been the Big 12 Game of the Year or just a normal Saturday in this league. I don’t know what Big 12 teams charge for admission, but it’s not nearly enough.
Lions roaring and raring to come back
4. Draft do-over: I wonder if we held an NFL draft today, knowing what we know now, when would Brock Purdy get drafted? He has to be a first-rounder, but realistically he might not get picked until maybe the third round. But he was on target in the second half, ran better than Lamar Jackson and brought his team back to make the Super Bowl. … Just hate the loss for the Detroit Lions, who were the story of the year. I don’t think they’re going away with such great talent like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta, three of seven Lions in this year's Pro Bowl. Dan Campbell is a stud coach and wasn’t defensive about strategy questions. And yeah, I would have kicked the field goals, too, but Campbell stuck to who he was. That said, I don’t really like that explanation — “it’s who we are” — and think the Lions could have won with two more field goals. I prefer a coach’s gut over analytics, but man, the Super Bowl is on the line. … Was that Jackson’s worst game of the year? Probably. And certainly, John Harbaugh’s. No run game, Ravens? Really? But Jackson’s catch of his own batted pass and Brandon Aiyuk’s catch off the Lion’s helmet were two of the craziest plays I’ve ever seen. David Tyree, move over. … I’ll say this about Zay Flowers. His bonehead taunting penalty has to be the most stupid, selfish penalty of the year, considering all the circumstances and the fact the rookie receiver didn’t just double down, but tripled down. Then add to that his costly fumble at the goal line, and Flowers now has a legacy he has to overcome in his career. And I think he will. That’s one thing about Bill Belichick’s Patriots. Yeah, he’s drafted horribly for a long time, but he loved smart players. … Hey, Baltimore, what kind of scouting report ignores Travis Kelce? Horrendous defensive game plan in the opening half. …. The 49ers, on the other hand, were spectacular in the second half, overcoming a 17-point deficit and scoring on every second-half possession until the kneel-down. … Tell me again why Patrick Mahomes never won a bowl game in college, Kliff Kingsbury, and played in only one. And he was rated a three-star recruit by Rivals. That’s as incredible as his 14-3 record in the NFL playoffs. … If I’m the Chiefs, I draft 6-foot-4 Texas wideout Adonai Mitchell. He’d be perfect in that offense and take some heat off Kelce. … I’m curious if people are as sick of the Chiefs as they were the Patriots.
More: Former Texas receiver Kyle Shanahan holds Longhorns football close to his heart | Golden
Touchback rule still touching some nerves
5. Touchback turmoil: Yes, the topic came up again in the Chiefs game although Flower’s fumble was recovered in the end zone and didn’t go out of bounds. But I did see on X a logical solution to that controversy. Fantasy expert Matthew Berry suggested, had the ball gone out of bounds or maybe even if it didn’t, give Kansas City the ball at its own 1. Found that interesting. That may be a tad too punitive, but I could go for giving the Chiefs possession at the KC 5 or even the 10.
More: Texas baseball notebook: All eyes on Tanner Witt, freshmen outfielders as practices begin
Strong up the middle ... and more
6. Play ball: Texas baseball’s season opener is still two weeks away, but this roster has the makings of a very good team with the potential for dominant pitching, solid defense and more power than last season. I’d worry a little about the bullpen and catcher, but I’d say the No. 16 ranking is too low. Texas should be very strong up the middle with the potential for an outstanding rotation, solid Jack O’Dowd at second base, defensively strong Jalin Flores at shortstop and either Jared Thomas or impressive walk-on Tommy Farmer in center. Just find a reliable catcher. … Head coach David Pierce will assume the role of pitching coach, sort of like the late Cliff Gustafson as head coach and de facto pitching coach. “I’m a baseball guy,” said Pierce, who has served in that role before. “I’ve done it for a long time.” When asked if he would continue to be the third-base coach as well or let someone else handle that while he's in the dugout conferring with his pitchers, he said, “I don't know yet. I haven't decided.” Gus did all three duties also. Of course, he didn't trust anyone else in the box to give the take sign to every hitter except Keith Moreland. … He also added he won't object if opponents do the Horns down gesture. “I think it's a compliment. It shows we’re always on their minds.”
Texas football to-do list
7. Spring cleanup: When I asked Longhorn Nation on X where the Texas football team needs to improve this spring, the majority of responses listed the secondary. The second area was a tie among the pass rush, red zone offensive efficiency and specifically the defensive line. Several mentioned clock management, play-calling and Quinn Ewers’ deep ball passes. One even cited the wide receivers with the top four targets graduating or leaving for the NFL draft. A couple voted for an upgrade with play-calling and decision-making. No one mentioned trick plays or fake field goals.
More: No one would make a better college football commissioner than Nick Saban, trust me | Bohls
Scattershooting for tennis star
8. Scattershooting: While wondering whatever happened to 2013 Longhorns All-American singles player Soren Hess-Olesen from Denmark. I learned last week’s target, former Texas basketball player Brad Buckman, is the vice-president of sales at Crazy Mountain Ranch, selling home sites in Montana after having worked for commercial real estate firms.
Row, row, row your boat for gold
9. On the couch: “The Boys in the Boat.” How did this true-life film about the 1936 Olympic rowing team from the University of Washington not get an Oscar nomination? May have been my second favorite movie in 2023 after “Oppenheimer.” Some critics pan it, but audiences loved it. Gave it 8 ducks.
So you're saying there's a chance
Crazy prediction: The Texas men will make the NCAA Tournament.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas basketball slips to 1-3 at home, risks staying home during NCAAs
