Survive and Advance: Texas and NC State Looking for a Shot at Redemption

Waiting on pins and needles to see if they were going to make the NCAA Tournament field this season was not the future the Texas Longhorns or NC State Wolfpack saw for themselves. Both were long shots to be national champions coming into the season.

But making the Tournament field was a reasonable goal, which was reflected in their odds to win the NCAA Tournament.

After beating LSU on February 17 to improve to 17-9 and 8-5 in the SEC, things appeared to be shaping up for Texas. The same was true for NC State. The Wolfpack defeated then-No. 16 North Carolina on February 17 to improve to 19-8.

Like the Longhorns, they appeared to be destined for March Madness. But then, the worst thing other than a player getting injured happened to both teams. They started losing and just couldn’t stop.

A loss to Virginia after the UNC win led to an overtime loss to Notre Dame, a beatdown at the hands of the Blue Devils, and a one-point loss to Stanford to close out the regular season for NC State. A win over Pitt in the ACC Tournament was promising, until they lost to Virginia, 81-74.

The regular season ended in a similar fashion for Texas. They followed the win over LSU with a loss to Georgia and then another vs. Florida before rebounding with a win over their hated rival, Texas A&M. But the good times didn’t last.

Arkansas beat them by 20 following the win over A&M, and they ended the regular season with an overtime loss to Oklahoma. Ole Miss booted them out of the SEC Tournament in the first round.

At 20-13, 10-8 ACC, NC State still appeared to have a shot at the Tournament field, all be it a slim one. But at 18-14, 9-9 SEC, Texas looked destined more for the NIT than March Madness. But both made it in as two of the last teams to make the Field, as part of the First Four.

Only Can Earn Redemption (and a Shot at History)

Both teams saw promising seasons go down the drain in the final few weeks. Each was perceived as better than they were playing, but just couldn’t get it together. When he found out his team was going to the First Four, NC State head coach Will Wade had this to say:

“If we didn’t want to be in Dayton, we should have beaten Notre Dame or Stanford,” Wade said. “That’s just the way it works.”

Texas guard Chendall Weaver looked at it more as a second chance, telling his team that it was now or never:

"It's definitely now or never, I talked with the guys yesterday and really was just trying to get them in the right mindset, this could be our last game so just come out and play with everything we got.”

Both would love to earn a little redemption for their late-season swoon with a win Tuesday night. But for NC State, it goes a little deeper. Texas beat NC State in the Southwest Maui Invitational back in November, 102-97.

The Wolfpack was down 47-37 at the half, but battled back in the second, briefly taking a one-point lead that they couldn’t hold on to it.

In that game, NC State opened as a 2.5-point favorite but closed at 1.5 points. A high score was expected with two capable offenses and questionable defenses taking the court (O/U 161.5). This time, Texas is the 1.5-point favorite, but a high-scoring game is expected again, with the O/U set at 159.5 (at FanDuel Sportsbook).

To the winner, there will go a sense of redemption from past losses, but also a shot at history. The two most successful First Four teams since it was added to the Tournament in 2011 were No. 11 seeds, VCU in 2011 and UCLA in 2021; both went on to play in the Final Four.

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