Steve Sarkisian recap of NFL Draft:

 “There’s nothing like seeing our players achieve their lifelong dreams of being drafted to the NFL, and that goes for the ones that will sign as free agents, too. When you look at last year’s draft with a school-record 11 guys, and this year breaking that with 12, that’s 23 players in two years drafted off a team that in year one (in 2021) we didn’t have any. That says a lot about the work these guys have poured into building our program and the trajectory of where we’re headed because of these guys. This group of guys went to back-to-back college football playoff semifinals, led us to top-five rankings the last two years, won the Big 12, were in the SEC Championship game in overtime – things that hadn’t been done at Texas for a long time. They set a standard and there’s a lot of be proud of with this group because of what they’ve meant to our program. To think, when we got here there were 32 players total from Texas on rosters in the NFL and when you add this group in, we’ve nearly equaled that number in the last three drafts (28) – 23 in the last two alone – which is pretty incredible. I couldn’t be prouder of every one of these guys and the future they have ahead of them. It’s not really when you get drafted, it’s what you do with the opportunity, and I’m confident all these guys – along with the ones signing as free agents –understand that and will maximize the opportunity in front of them.”

 “These guys are one of the groups that helped change the culture of our program. We were excited to see their names called on draft day, but more importantly, want to let the teams that picked them know that they’ll not only give it their all on the field, but be great teammates, tremendous representatives of their franchises and outstanding members of the community. We are incredibly proud of each and every one of them and so happy for them and their families.”

 “They really put in the work, bought in, committed to being great, and it says a lot about our staff and all they poured into them, as well. Their explosiveness and power, football IQ, ability to do a great job interviewing with teams, the way they conduct themselves, those are all things we take great pride in here, and these guys are a great reflection of that. It’s a great moment for them and their families, but it’s also definitely motivating for the guys that are on our roster now. The message to them is if you follow the recipe for success here and focus on team success, the individual accolades, awards and honors will come. We’ve got a hungry group that wants to help the team be successful. It’s a roster full of ‘want to’ guys and not ‘have to’ guys, and I credit a lot of the players before them for creating that ‘want to’ mentality that our team has right now.”

A new leadership nucleus is forming during spring practice. Based on the early returns and what Sarkisian, Arch Manning and Quintrevion Wisner have said in their recent post-practice press scrums, the current Texas squad oozes intensity and swagger, which are rubbing off of a robust group of new faces in the locker room.

“We come with just a tad bit more juice. Just a tad,” Wisner said on Thursday. “No offense to older guys, but the younger guys, we definitely have more energy.

“We've got a bunch of freshmen new to the playing lifestyle,” he added. “For them to come in and match our energy and juice is good.”

With Manning, Wisner and DJ Campbell setting the tone on offense, and Anthony Hill, Colin Simmons and Michael Taaffe leading the defense, these leaders have what it takes to end the program’s 20-year national championship drought.

That’s saying a lot. It’s an incredibly high bar to clear.

Nevertheless, these Longhorns give off vibes similar to the 2008 team, one that was more than deserving of a chance to play for the national title.

Quan Cosby, Colt McCoy, Roy Miller and Brian Orakpo led a club that was arguably college football’s best. The young, inexperienced members of the roster — Sam Acho, Keenan Robinson, Earl Thomas and Fozzy Whittaker among them — got in line, helping Texas win 25 of 27 games over two seasons, including the program’s most recent conference championship before the Longhorns won the Big 12 on their way out of the league in 2023.

Sarkisian now knows the quality depth it takes to play upwards of 17 games to be the last team standing when the curtain falls on the CFP at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 19, 2026. That’s why the positive early returns on the likes of James Simon, the young wide receivers (Parker Livingstone and four newcomers: Jaime Ffrench, Kaliq Lockett and Daylan McCutcheon and Michael Terry III), Brandon Baker, Nick Brooks, Nate Kibble, Graceson Littleton, Kade Phillips and Santana Wilson are significant developments to monitor as the overall outlook on depth clears up.

“This is the most young players we've ever had at one time in spring practice,” Sarkisian said during his press conference on Tuesday. “It's been a little bit different for us.”

According to ESPN.com’s Bill Connelly, Texas enters Sarkisian’s fifth season ranked No. 103 nationally in returning production. Of the 136 FBS programs, the Longhorns are 126th in returning offensive production.

Still, that shouldn’t keep the Longhorns from competing for the SEC title and getting over the CFP semifinal hump.

For starters, what Texas lacks in experience it makes up for in talent. Furthermore, the exodus of players with COVID-19 eligibility waivers coinciding with the neverending roster volatility created by the transfer portal has the Longhorns facing the same reality Ohio State (No. 101 in returning production), Georgia (No. 105), Oregon (No. 109), Ole Miss (No. 113 and other SEC and/or national title contenders.

“These young guys want to be good and they bring good energy,” Manning said on Thursday. “That's what makes practice more fun.”

With half of spring practice over, Manning has laid the foundation needed to make that vision a reality.

“He's got a very infectious personality and I think people gravitate to him,” Sarkisian said of Manning on Tuesday. “One of the things I see right now is, naturally, he's leading a group of some younger players, especially the skill spots, like at the wideout spot. His confidence, I think, helps them. His understanding, his ability to connect to those guys in between series and talk to him has been helpful.

“I also see a competitive spirit affecting the defensive side of the ball,” he added. “I think they like competing against Arch. I think they know he's going to talk a little smack to them. He's going to have fun with it, and I think that's bringing out some personality in an Anthony Hill or a [Malik] Muhammad or a Michael Taaffe.

“Every day is competitive because they know 16 is going to bring it and if he gets them, he's going to let them know about it.”

Sarkisian has hammered growth home leading up to spring practice, and he mentioned it several times on Tuesday.

If Manning starts to trend upward, and the team’s growth mirrors his, Texas can head into the postseason as a team nobody wants to face.

Still, Jalin Flores and Will Gasparino highlighted a five-run seventh inning with two-run doubles and righty Max Grubbs held the Bulldogs scoreless during 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, propelling the Longhorns to their 11th come-from-behind win of the season. Pulling off such an effort — ignited when Texas (25-4, 10-1 SEC) trailed Georgia (29-4, 8-3) in the fifth inning, 4-0, and Jaquae Stewart drilled a 409-foot laser to right field for a two-run home run — against one of the nation’s hottest clubs (the Bulldogs had won 26 of their last 27 games coming into the series with three series wins in a row over ranked opponents) — is a credit to the championship culture coach Jim Schlossnagle has established in his first season on the Forty Acres.

If the Longhorns hadn’t bought into Schlossnagle’s mantra of playing to a standard instead of the scoreboard when he accepted the job last summer, they wouldn’t be the first SEC squad to reach the 10-win mark in conference play.

“We pitch well enough to where, when we're down, we're not normally down by a ton,” Schlossnagle said. “We've set a culture where you just keep playing and try to keep your eyes off the scoreboard.”

That’s an apropos description of starting pitcher Luke Harrison’s day.

The southpaw allowed three RBI doubles among six hits during a 5.2-inning outing (96 total pitches). Nevertheless, Harrison minimized his mistakes (one walk, a balk, and two hit batters) and fired a career-high nine strikeouts before passing the baton to Grubbs, who gave up just two hits and struck out two without allowing any free passes.

“He kept us in the ballgame,” Schlossnagle said of Harrison. “He kept us close enough.”

Stewart’s home run was one of the few mistakes Brian Curley made while limiting Texas to three hits and striking out nine over five innings. The Longhorns didn’t panic or press. Instead, they stuck to their process of taking pitches and working counts while looking for an opportune time to strike.

“An at-bat in the seventh inning needs to be the same as an at-bat in the third,” Schlossnagle said. “It should be at least. We see pitches and try to use the whole field and don't panic. Make the pitcher bring it over the plate.”

One of the key statistics Schlossnagle tracks in the free pass battle. Texas finished the game with a plus-4 edge in free passes, 7-3. Walks preceding the big extra-base blows by Stewart, Flores and Gasparino helped the Longhorns make the most of their clutch hits.

“I think we've played really good team offense for two days, and then we try to get the timely hit,” Schlossnagle said regarding what worked at the plate through the first two games of the series. Saturday's win improved the team's record to 3-1 when trailing after six innings.

“Just sticking with how we like to play offense,” he added. “We don't have as many marquee players — nationally known marquee players — in there, but Flores came up big today with his best at-bat. Obviously, Gasparino has been swinging the bat really well for a while.”

The same approach that led to a series-clinching win over Georgia positioned Texas for a ninth-inning rally in Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to Texas State. Whereas Kimble Schuessler’s two-out line drive in the bottom of the ninth lacked the lift to get over Dawson Park’s head at second base, Ethan Mendoza’s seventh-inning fly ball got caught in a stiff breeze blowing out to right field, causing outfielder Dan Jackson to misplay it, resulting in an error.

With runners in scoring position, the next batter up was Flores, who laced the game-tying double to the wall in center field.

While Schlossnagle would prefer the Longhorns play from ahead, the mindset required to string together come-from-behind wins should benefit Texas over the long haul. Maintaining pitch-by-pitch, inning-by-inning, game-by-game mentality is the only way Texas can make the most of a red-hot start while facing some of the best teams in the SEC.

“When you have some comeback wins then you don't panic and you just keep playing,” Schlossnagle said. “It doesn't spook you when you get behind.”

What Spencer did in Friday’s 5-1 win over No. 3 Georgia provided further evidence that their hunch was correct. The work Spencer has done under Weiner’s tutelage helped him win the job heading up the weekend rotation in the Longhorns’ first season in the SEC, playing the role of staff ace to perfection in front of 7,246 fans at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

“Max felt like we could get him some extra pitches,” Schlossnagle said regarding Spencer's recruitment. With Weiner’s help, Spencer developed a changeup to go along with the fastball and slider he relied on heavily during his time with the Sycamores.

“He can really pitch,” Schlossnagle said. “I think he’s showing professional baseball he’s capable of being a starting pitcher.”

Spencer once again showed the SEC he’s worthy of being the ace of the pitching staff for No. 5 Texas (24-4, 9-1 SEC), setting the tone for a critical three-game conference series against the Bulldogs. Running his fastball up to 97 mph and mixing it with a slider he used to ring up eight of the 11 Georgia (29-3, 8-2) batters he struck out, Spencer shut the Bulldogs down to the tune of a season-low one run on two hits while throwing a career-high 111 pitches in 7.2 brilliant innings on the bump.

When asked how he’d describe the win, which allowed the Longhorns to keep pace with No. 1 Tennessee (the reigning national champions no-hit Texas A&M in a 10-0 run-rule victory in Knoxville on Friday) atop the SEC standings, Schlossnagle said it was because Texas had “a great pitcher.”

“To me, the game begins and ends with starting pitching, even though it’s not as prevalent these days to see guys go deep in games,” said Schlossnagle, who mentioned the two-hit, complete-game shutout with 14 strikeouts No. 7 LSU got from Kade Anderson in a 2-0 win over No. 10 Oklahoma on Thursday. Spencer, Schlossnagle said, “is right up there” with the Tigers' dominant lefty, especially after what he did to a Georgia lineup that entered the game leading Division I home runs per game (2.71) and slugging percentage (.629) while ranking second in hits (339), runs per game (10.5) and on-base percentage (.466) with a .324 team batting average that was No. 14 nationally before Spencer befuddled the Bulldog bats.

“The story is Spencer,” Schlossnagle said. “You’re holding down that offense. The wind was blowing in early, but the balls we hit went out, and the one ball they hit went out. They're certainly capable of changing the game with one swing.”

Georgia left fielder Nolan McCarthy’s seventh home run of the season was a 391-foot blast to left field in the top of the seventh inning. Thankfully, the Longhorns had a 5-0 lead at the time, with an RBI double by Kimble Schuessler and two-run home runs by Casey Borba and Will Gasparino (his seventh in the team’s last six games) doing the damage in the middle innings.

It’s a lot to toe the rubber as the Friday starter for a program that’s won six national championships and whose tradition of starting pitching is second to none. Still, whether it’s embracing the role as the staff ace, shaking off a home run that broke up a shutout or laughing after firing a pitch over the head of Rylan Galvan to the backstop in the eighth inning, Spencer’s mental makeup is helping him climb the ranks of starting pitchers in the SEC as much or more than his electric array of pitches.

“He's a big, strong guy from Michigan that doesn't get phased by things,” Schlossnagle said. “What's really awesome about Spence is he had to go through a lot of summer school stuff to get enough credits to transfer into Texas after three years of college. It's really hard to do. He could've said 'screw that' at any time and signed because he got drafted. It tells you a lot about him that he went through that because he wanted to be here.

“He and Max together are a great combination.”

After getting the Longhorns started on the right foot against the Bulldogs, Spencer ranks among the SEC leaders in innings pitched (tied for fourth) and strikeouts (sixth). Spencer is the face of a Texas pitching staff that came into the series ranked No. 3 nationally in ERA (3.13), sixth in hits allowed per nine innings (6.99) and ninth in walks and hits allowed per nine innings pitched (a 1.19 WHIP).

Even with Spencer surrendering the home run to McCarthy, the Longhorns have allowed an SEC-low 15 long balls through 28 games. Texas has given up the third-fewest hits in the SEC (186), while a .212 batting average for the Longhorns’ opponents is tied for the third-best in the conference.

With Spencer leading the charge and Weiner working his magic behind the scenes, a pitching revival is afoot on the Forty Acres. For his part, Spencer isn’t thinking too far into the future.

Instead, he's living by Weiner's advice, taking a one-pitch-at-a-time approach to his final college baseball season. That's helping him embrace his role and have fun while doing his best to put Texas in the win column whenever he's given the ball.

“I'm taking it day by day, enjoying it while I'm there,” Spencer said. “[I’m] grateful for the opportunity that I have. I’ll enjoy it and have fun while I can.”

The Longhorns are turning the page to a new era inside Moody Center, and I’ve got three thoughts on the 56-year-old Miller taking over on the Forty Acres.

1. We’ve discussed this on our YouTube channel and the OTF Forum, but I love Miller’s potential to get more juice out of international recruiting than Texas has before.

Scott Drew made me believe in international recruiting during his early years at Baylor. Due to scholarship restrictions and the stigma attached to the program, Drew and his staff went far and wide to fill out the roster; guard Aaron Bruce (Australia) and center Mamadou Diene (Senegal) were a part of Drew’s first recruiting class, helping the Bears go from the Big 12 basement to the NCAA Tournament in four years.

Kenny Cherry (Canada), Brady Heslip (Canada), Manu Lecomte (Belgium), Jo Lual-Acuil (Sudan), Yves Missi (Belgium), Jeremy Sochan (England), Flo Thamba (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (Cameroon) are among the international players who’ve made their way to Waco in Drew’s tenure. International recruiting has been a critical part of talent acquisition for a program four years removed from winning a national championship; it should be good enough for one striving to get back to the Final Four for the first time since 2003.

Deandre Ayton (Bahamas), Josh Green (Australia), Christian Koloko (Cameroon) and Lauri Markkanen (Finland) are among the international NBA draft picks Miller recruited during his 12 seasons at Arizona. Texas needs all the firepower it can muster to compete in the SEC and Miller shouldn’t leave any stones unturned in his quest to build a competitive roster, especially in areas where he’s found success.

2. When it comes to competing in the SEC, offense is the name of the game.

Led by Alabama, which leads Division I with 91.1 points per game, the SEC boasts five of the top 11 scoring teams in the country. The word I’ve received in recent years from folks tied into the NBA scouting community is that the league holds the SEC in high regard as the conference best preparing players for the next level because the SEC has dynamic offensive coaches and big-time scorers; Tre Johnson will join Dalton Knecht (2024), Brandon Miller (2023) and Cameron Thomas (2021) as recent SEC scoring leaders to be selected in the first round of the draft.

Miller is regarded as a top offensive coach, and there are plenty of numbers to back up the claim.

Miller’s 2022-23 squad at Xavier, which lost to Texas in the Sweet 16, finished 10th nationally in points per game (80.9). The Musketeers also ranked eighth in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 33 in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom.com.

When Miller’s Arizona teams participated in March Madness, the offense was the catalyst. The Wildcats finished 12th, 13th, 20th, seventh, 20th, 15th, and 15th in adjusted offensive efficiency during their seven NCAA Tournament trips under Miller.

Miller coached two of the 28 teams in Arizona history to average 80 or more points per game (80.5 in 2017-18 and 80.4 in 2015-16). The Wildcats ranked in the top 60 nationally in points per game during seven of Miller’s 12 seasons in Tucson, three of which saw Arizona finish as a top-25 team in scoring.

3. Strong guard play has been a hallmark of Miller’s teams, which bodes well for Texas if he can put together top-notch backcourts.

Since T.J. Ford led the Longhorns to the Final Four 22 years ago, three Texas teams have advanced to the Elite Eight. Whether it was Daniel Gibson (2005-06), D.J. Augustin (2007-08) or the three-headed monster of Marcus Carr, Tyrese Hunter and Sir’Jabari Rice (2022-23), the best Longhorn squads since the high point of the Rick Barnes era have featured elite guards.

The 2010-11 team won 28 games with a future first-round pick and NBA champion (Cory Joseph) leading a deep backcourt. Isaiah Taylor (2013-14) led Texas to the program’s last NCAA Tournament win under Barnes before bowing out to Michigan in the round of 32.

With the transfer portal opening Monday, Miller’s first order of business is to figure out what he's got with Jordan Pope and Chendall Weaver while looking for reinforcements to account for the impending departures of Johnson and Tramon Mark.

Texas (31-3, 15-1 SEC) will begin March Madness on Saturday with a first-round game against the winner of a First Four game between High Point and William & Mary. The Longhorns will then face Illinois, the No. 8 seed in the region, or ninth-seeded Creighton, who round out the four teams heading to the Forty Acres for the opening weekend at Moody Center.

In the program’s sixth NCAA Tournament under coach Vic Schaefer, Texas is one of the favorites to be the last team standing inside Amalie Arena when a national champion is crowned on Sunday, April 6. The Longhorns are joined on the No. 1 line by No. 1 overall seed UCLA (30-2, 16-2 Big Ten), South Carolina (30-3, 15-1 SEC) and USC (28-3, 16-1 Big Ten).

Texas split its two regular-season meetings with the reigning national champion Gamecocks, ending their first season in the SEC with a share of the conference championship. The Longhorns lost a coin flip with South Carolina to be the top seed in the SEC Tournament, which coach Dawn Staley’s team won with a 64-45 victory over the Longhorns in the conference title game last Sunday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.

The 2024-25 SEC Coach of the Year, Schaefer has guided Texas to the Elite Eight in three of his first four seasons. After coaching Mississippi State to consecutive national runner-up finishes in the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and 2018 over his eight seasons running the show in Starkville, Schaefer is attempting to lead the Longhorns to their first Final Four since 2003 for an opportunity to win the school’s first national championship since 1986.

Texas is led on the floor by sophomore forward Madison Booker. The SEC Player of the Year, Booker leads the Longhorns in scoring (16.2 points per game) and ranks second on the team in rebounds (6.6 per game), assists (2.8 per game) and steals (1.6 per game).

A Naismith Trophy (national player of the year) semifinalist and a finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award (best small forward in Division I), Booker heads into March Madness shooting 45.6 percent from the field, a team-best 43.9 percent from 3-point range and 82.9 percent from the free-throw line.

Booker and senior guard Rori Harmon, an SEC All-Defensive Team selection and a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist, help make Texas one of the top defensive teams in the tournament. The Longhorns allow the fewest points per game in the SEC (55.9 per game) and rank among the nation’s leaders in turnover margin (ninth with plus-7.62 per game), rebounding margin (ninth with plus-9.1 per game) blocked shots per game (14th with 5.2 per game) and turnovers forced per game (18th with 21 per game).

Johnson did his best to help Texas get a win with the fate of the 2024-25 season hanging in the balance, grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out a season-high six assists and recording two steals in a de facto NCAA Tournament elimination game. Nevertheless, the 6-foot-6-inch projected lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft’s probable home finale saw him endure an 0-for-14 night from the field, including an 0-for-4 effort beyond the arc.

The loss dealt a likely fatal blow to the Longhorns’ hopes of being a part of March Madness. While Johnson did a lot to put Texas (17-14, 6-12 SEC) in a position to end the regular season with what would’ve been a significant victory as far as the postseason outlook is concerned, the Longhorns needed more than seven points (7-for-7 from the free-throw line) from their standout rookie to get over the hump.

“He's not going to shoot it well every night. We like to think he's going to have a cape on every night and do it every night. He's done it in this league every night against older players consistently,” coach Rodney Terry said. “This is the first game where he hasn't put the ball in the basket, but give him credit. He had six assists, he made great reads and some of the offense went through him to get offense for other guys.”

Johnson showed up for the postgame press conference alongside Terry and guard Jordan Pope, who scored a game-high 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting with a 4-for-6 showing from beyond the arc and a 3-for-3 night from the foul line. Johnson said he went to the Moody Center media room “because I was told to,” a laugh-inducing one-liner that eased the tension in the room.

Regardless, the Link (Mo.) Academy product by way of Lake Highlands owned his largely forgettable night.

“Everybody knows I didn’t make a shot,” Johnson said. “Owning up to it and being able to talk about it prepares me for the next level."

Johnson’s ability on the offensive end of the floor is why he's expected to contribute early in his NBA career. While he credited the Sooners with trapping and doubling him throughout the night, Johnson’s missed layup on a relatively clean path to the basket with 30 seconds to play summed up a frustrating end to the home schedule.

“I missed a lot of open shots,” Johnson said. “I missed a layup at the end and I was at the rim by myself. That's mostly on me.”

His most recent performance notwithstanding, Johnson heads into the postseason with one of the program's best freshman regular seasons under his belt.

A five-time SEC Freshman of the Week, Johnson ended the regular season as the leading scorer in the conference. His average of 20.2 points per game is the best output by a Longhorn freshman since Kevin Durant’s 2006-07 season (25.8 points per game); it has him on pace to be the first Texas player to average at least 20 points per game since J’Covan Brown during the 2011-12 season (20.1 points per game).

The 2024 McDonald’s All-American delivered a tremendous effort in Tuesday’s 87-82 overtime win over No. 25 Mississippi State in Starkville. Johnson finished the game with 23 points (8-for-16 from the field and 6-for-9 from beyond the arc), four assists, three rebounds and one steal in a career-high 43 minutes, setting the table for Saturday's showdown.

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser encouraged his club to take a one-possession-at-a-time approach to defending Johnson, who scored 16 points in a 77-73 win over the Sooners at the Lloyd Noble Center on Jan. 15.

“You can't take plays off with him because he can get you in transition, so it was a possession-by-possession thing,” Moser said. “We tried to run multiple guys at him.

“It was a group effort.”

The shooting struggles weren’t limited to Johnson. Texas shot 39 percent (23-for-59), failing to reach 40 percent from the field for the fifth time in 31 games (1-4 record).

What Johnson is taking away from the second game of his brief career in which he failed to score in double figures should make him more of an offensive threat when he scores to his capability.

“When I am scoring, some of those same reads are still there, so keeping my head up when I am having one of my better nights,” Johnson said. “Still finding my teammates, getting everybody going.

“Everybody else played up to their role and did what they were supposed to do,” he added. “I was the only missing factor there, so if I'm playing good and I'm able to get them going, we're going to be a hard team to stop.”

Making a lengthy run in the SEC Tournament, a journey beginning at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena against Vanderbilt (20-11, 8-10) on Wednesday (2:30 p.m., SEC Network), is the only path Texas has to making the field of 68. To avoid snapping the program's streak of four consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, Johnson knows the Longhorns need him to put Saturday's outing behind him.

The proof will be in the pudding, but Johnson sounded ready to take the court with a vengeance against the Commodores.

“I've got to look at myself in the mirror, take it on the chin and just get ready for Wednesday,” Johnson said.

Texas (17-13, 6-11 SEC) picked up a much-needed victory over the Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum, overcoming a second-half surge by Mississippi State (20-10, 8-9) to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Longhorns ran their lead up to 12 points in the second half, but the Bulldogs chipped away at the deficit and tied the game at 71 with 9.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Forward RJ Melendez stole Jordan Pope’s inbound pass and found guard Riley Kugel for a bucket, knotting the game up for the first time since the final 1:49 of the first half.

Thanks to a 14-0 run, Texas wiped out an eight-point deficit en route to a 37-32 halftime lead, 37-32. The Longhorns went up by eight when Tramon Mark knocked down a 3-pointer for the game’s first basket of the second half and led for the entire second half until Kugel’s game-tying layup.

Pope’s jumper from the elbow for the first points of overtime gave Texas a lead it never relinquished. Mark and Tre Johnson combined to score nine of the team’s 16 points in overtime on a night when they led the way on offense. Mark led all scorers on Tuesday with 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting (4-for-6 on 3-pointers) with four rebounds and one blocked shot in his return after missing last Saturday's 83-67 home loss to Georgia with a back injury. Johnson recorded 23 points (8-for-16 shooting, 6-for-9 from 3-point range), four assists, three rebounds and one steal.

It was over when…: Mark rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Josh Hubbard and was fouled with 20.8 seconds left in overtime. Mark’s two free throws extended the lead to three points, 85-82. The Longhorns put the game away on Mississippi State’s ensuing possession when Arthur Kaluma rebounded another missed three by Hubbard and was fouled with 7.8 seconds left. Kaluma followed up his 11th rebound of the game by knocking down two foul shots, the final points of the night for either side.

Top Offensive Performer: How good were Johnson and Mark on Tuesday? The Longhorn gunners shot a combined 17-for-29 from the field, 10-for-18 from beyond the arc and 3-for-4 from the foul line. The rest of the team went 14-for-35 overall, 1-for-5 on 3-pointers and 11-for-19 on free throws.

Top Defensive Performer: Kaluma’s 11 rebounds led everyone on the court, with eight coming on the defensive end. Texas held Mississippi State to a 39.7 percent shooting night (27-for-68), including a 6-for-25 mark from 3-point range.

Reason for Optimism: If Mark and Kaluma (a double-double with 10 points) are reasonably healthy, Johnson has help to make the Longhorns competitive in the postseason. Beyond personnel on the floor, credit the Longhorns for regrouping after a disastrous end to regulation, taking control of the game in overtime.

Reason for Pessimism: The Bulldogs scored 13 points off 16 Texas turnovers, including the tying points near the end of regulation. Watching a team fail to take care of the basketball is frustrating. Watching the Longhorns commit multiple backcourt violations and struggle to handle Mississippi State’s full-court press late in the second half was excruciating.

Modest Proposal: Since Texas has one game left on the schedule with the SEC Tournament contested on a neutral floor, the Longhorns shouldn't worry about a lack of calls going their way. That matters because it must force the issue trying to get to the foul line to even out the free-throw differential. The Bulldogs were 16-for-18 from the foul line in the second half while Texas was just 2-for-6, which played a big role in Mississippi State’s comeback.

Biggest Question Before the Next Game: How will the Longhorns handle a do-or-die situation?

Texas is squarely on the bubble and most likely on the outside looking in heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale against Oklahoma at Moody Center (7 p.m., SEC Network). The same is true for the Sooners and coach Porter Moser, who's 0-8 against the Longhorns during his time in Norman.

The sense of urgency should be high, to say the least.

Oklahoma (17-12, 4-12) has a home game against No. 15 Missouri on Wednesday before heading to the Forty Acres. It doesn't matter if the Sooners’ bubble pops before Saturday. Texas can't let Oklahoma win and put it in a situation where the Longhorns must win the SEC Tournament to be a part of March Madness. The Longhorns must maintain what little control of their destiny they have left.

Sophomore forward Madison Booker was named SEC Player of the Year while Vic Schaefer was named SEC Coach of the Year. Booker was a first-team All-SEC selection, senior guard Rori Harmon earned a spot on the SEC All-Defensive Team and guard Jordan Lee rounded out the Longhorn honorees with her selection to the SEC All-Freshman Team.

Named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press as a freshman, Booker’s SEC honor comes after being named the Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Freshman of the Year last season. Booker paced her team’s scoring, averaging 16 points per game (tied for 13th in the SEC) on 46.4 percent shooting while grabbing 6.5 rebounds and dishing out 2.9 assists per game.

Booker also recorded 1.6 steals per game. Along with Harmon, who averaged 2.3 steals per game, Booker helped Texas (29-2, 15-1 SEC) finish the regular season with the top-ranked scoring defense in the conference, allowing only 55.6 points per game.

The Longhorns head into the SEC Tournament ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring margin with a positive point differential of 25.4 points per game. Schaefer’s club is fifth in the country in turnover margin (plus-8.42 per game), seventh in rebounding margin (plus-9.9 per game) and No. 11 in scoring offense (81.1 points per game).

Texas is No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 for the second consecutive week and was the projected No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament according to the selection committee’s top-16 reveal last Thursday. Nevertheless, the Longhorns lost a Sunday afternoon coin flip with SEC co-champion South Carolina for the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

Schaefer ribbed SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who conducted the flip from SEC headquarters after Texas secured its piece of the league crown with a 72-46 rout of Florida in the regular-season finale on Sunday.

“He said he'd been practicing for two hours, so what was he practicing? Was he practicing for South Carolina to be heads up or Texas to be heads up? I mean, why do you have to practice for two hours? What are you trying to get accomplished?” Schaefer said.

South Carolina’s (27-3, 15-1) only loss in SEC play came on Feb. 9 when it dropped 66-62  to the Longhorns at Moody Center. Even though Schaefer credited coach Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks for proving itself to be one of the top teams in the country, he wasn’t overjoyed that the Longhorns have to take the court for their conference quarterfinal at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. on Friday (5 p.m., SEC Network) as the No. 2 seed.

“I'm not [Georgia football coach] Kirby Smart, I'm not going to hang [Sankey] out, but I don't understand,” said Schaefer, who was named SEC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his career. “Why does it take two hours to practice flipping a coin unless you've got some motivation for that?

“I'm just saying.”

Regardless, Texas is prepared for the postseason after accruing only two losses while playing one of the nation’s toughest schedules. The Longhorns won nine games against opponents ranked inside the top 10 of the AP Top 25 and became the first program since the 2004-05 season to record three consecutive victories over top-10 opponents (the Gamecocks, No. 8 Kentucky on Feb. 13 and No. 5 LSU on Feb. 16).

“These kids have earned an SEC championship, y'all,” Schaefer said. “I can't tell y'all how hard that is to do in basketball. It is extremely difficult and, by the way, we did it the hardest of anybody that could have possibly done it because of who we had to play, where we had to play them and, at this point, I don't think we really care who we're gonna see next week.

“We're just gonna show up and play like we have all year.”

Texas hasn’t produced three first-round picks in a single NFL Draft since 1980, when Johnny “Lam” Jones (No. 2 overall to the New York Jets), Johnnie Johnson (No. 17 overall to the Los Angeles Rams) and Derrick Hatchett (No. 24 overall to the Baltimore Colts) had their names called. With the NFL Scouting Combine in the books, the conditions are ripe for the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft to feature three Longhorns after what Jahdae Barron and Matthew Golden ran in Indianapolis (4.39 and 4.29 in the 40-yard dash, respectively).

If I’m putting money down on the first Texas player picked in another noteworthy draft for coach Steve Sarkisian’s program, I’m more convinced to bet on Kelvin Banks Jr.

Banks measured over 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 315 pounds with verified 33.5-inch arms, a wingspan of over 84 inches and 10-plus-inch hands. Those vitals should silence the crowd eager to kick him inside to guard at the next level.

The Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award winner has a tailor-made skillset for playing tackle in the NFL in 2025, namely his elite track record in pass protection. Few lingering concerns should exist regarding Banks’ body, which lends itself to playing a premium position, either on the right or left side, where he started 42 games in a decorated career on the Forty Acres.

— LSU’s Will Campbell topped Banks’ height (just shy of 6 feet 7 inches) and weight (319 pounds). Still, the top contender vying with Banks to be the first tackle selected in the draft, it’s verified that Campbell has shorter arms, a shorter wingspan and smaller hands than the Longhorns’ 2024 unanimous All-American.

Banks is positioned to be the first Texas offensive lineman to go in the first round since Mike Williams in 2002 (No. 4 overall to the Buffalo Bills). That’s also the last time the Longhorns produced the first offensive lineman selected in the draft (it happened in consecutive drafts; the Arizona Cardinals used the No. 2 overall pick on Leonard Davis in 2001).

Banks, Campbell, Missouri tackle Armand Membou and Alabama guard Tyler Booker are among the notable candidates to be the first lineman picked. I can’t see Banks being available after the San Francisco 49ers go on the clock for the No. 11 pick; lifetime Longhorn Kyle Shanahan could draft an immediate starter at right tackle who can move to the left side whenever Trent Williams decides to wrap up his Hall of Fame career.

— I don’t want Andrew Mukuba’s 4.45 40-yard dash, which tied for the fifth-fastest time among safeties at the combine, to get lost in the shuffle of a newsworthy weekend for the Longhorns who were in Indianapolis.

Mukuba only ran the 40 at the combine, opting to perform his other tests during his pro day on March 26. The 5-foot-11-inch, 186-pound Austin LBJ product showed he’s an impact player when healthy; recording better-than-expected verified speed should boost his stock.

I’ll be surprised if Mukuba is on the board beyond the fourth round. His one season in a Texas uniform proved that safety is his best position, but he also played cornerback and in the slot at Clemson. His striking ability, nose for the football, and speed make him a candidate to be a core special teamer.

— Mukuba, Golden and Isaiah Bond (his 4.39 clocking in the 40 would be getting more buzz if he hadn’t called his shot while making a run at Xavier Worthy’s record; he did, however, record the highest mph among the wideouts at the combine) headlined the program’s transfer portal haul for 2024. Those three — along with defensive linemen Jermayne Lole, Bill Norton and Tia Savea, running back Velton Gardner, tight end Amari Niblack, cornerback Jay’Vion Cole, linebacker Kendrick Blackshire (transferred to UTSA after spring practice), wide receiver/return specialist Silas Bolden and EDGE Trey Moore — helped Texas tie the school record for single-season wins (13) and reach the College Football Playoff semifinals for the second consecutive season.

Is it the best portal class of the Sarkisian era? It’s the clubhouse leader among the four due to the group’s unmatched combination of quality and quantity compared to Sarkisian's other portal classes.

— With that said, everybody in the 2023 group (wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, defensive lineman Trill Carter, cornerback Gavin Holmes, safety Jalen Catalon and punter Ryan Sanborn) contributed to the Longhorns winning the Big 12 and advancing to the CFP for the first time. The haul was light on numbers, but it was chock-full of productive players and void of notable blemishes (other than Catalon’s play and playing time declining severely after a leg injury in a loss to Oklahoma).

It was feast (quarterback Quinn Ewers, linebacker Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey and cornerback Ryan Watts) or famine (wide receivers Agiye Hall and Isaiah Neyor and tight end Jahleel Billingsley) for the 2022 crop Texas recruited out of the portal.

Keilan Robinson emerged as the crown jewel of the 2021 portal class. It was one in which the Longhorns took fliers on largely unproven commodities from then-Power Five programs (Robinson at running back and outside linebackers Ovie Oghoufo and Ray Thornton), players with known injury issues (linebacker Ben Davis) and small-school products (cornerback Darrion Dunn and linebacker Devin Richardson) to fill out the roster ahead of Sarkisian’s first season (Dunn signed under the previous regime, making his way to Texas from FCS McNeese State).

— I don’t know exactly what Neal Brown’s role will be on Sarkisian’s staff. What I hope the former West Virginia head coach brings to the Longhorns are fresh ideas to help a running game that needs to be more diverse and dynamic in 2025 than it was in 2024.

Raw numbers can get skewed when the sample size is 16 games. Still, Texas averaged 4.3 yards per rushing attempt last season, which isn't good, no matter what lens it's viewed through.

It's the first time the Longhorns failed to average at least five yards per carry under Sarkisian. It also marked he program’s lowest output since 2018 (3.8 yards per attempt).

Brown was a wide receiver for Hal Mumme at Kentucky, making his offense a direct descendent of the Air Raid. What separates Brown’s version of the Air Raid from others is his desire to run the football utilizing heavier personnel, whether it’s using a fullback, an extra running back, a sniffer or an extra tight end.

The Longhorns will start replacing four departed starters along the offensive line in earnest when spring practice gets underway. Not to mention Texas needing to account for the losses of Jaydon Blue, Juan Davis and Gunnar Helm.

Quintrevion Wisner and D.J. Campbell are the only key members of last season’s rushing attack returning in their same roles. Brown’s addition to the staff is coming at the perfect time if Sarkisian wants to revamp the ground game.