The Texas Longhorns (20-12) will face the Northern Iowa Panthers (22-12) in Oklahoma City on Friday to begin NCAA Tournament play. Texas was slotted as the 6 seed in the West Region while Northern Iowa, who finished 5th in the Missouri Valley Conference, earned the 11 seed.
The Longhorns finished Shaka Smart’s first regular season as head coach with 4 wins over AP Top-10 opponents and 6 over AP Top-20 opponents. They beat Oklahoma State to end the regular season but lost to Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals.
Northern Iowa ended the season on a hot streak, winning their last 6 games, including the Missouri Valley Conference Championship Game 56-54 over Evansville.
The selection into the NCAA Tournament marks the 17th time in 18 years the Longhorns have punched their ticket to the Big Dance.
Should the Longhorns beat the Panthers and advance, they will face the winner of the (#3) Texas A&M/ (#14) Green Bay game.
A look at the West Region Bracket:
