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    Jeff Howe
    The Texas women’s basketball team earned a No. 1 seed for the second consecutive NCAA Tournament. The field of 68 was unveiled on Sunday, with the Longhorns’ road to the Final Four in Tampa going through Birmingham as the top seed in Regional 3 (No. 2 TCU, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 4 Ohio State round out the top seeds in the region).
    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).
    Jeff Howe
    AUSTIN, Texas — If Saturday’s 76-72 loss to Oklahoma was Tre Johnson’s last game at Moody Center, it unfortunately mirrored what’s expected to be the freshman phenom’s lone season on the Forty Acres.
    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.
    Jeff Howe
    It might not be enough to put Texas in a better position to reach the NCAA Tournament or save men’s basketball coach Rodney Terry’s job. Nevertheless, Tuesday’s 87-82 overtime road win over No. 25 Mississippi State showed the Longhorns aren’t ready to put the 2024-25 season to bed.
    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.
    Jeff Howe
    After winning a share of the SEC regular-season championship in its first season as a conference member, Texas dominated the league’s women’s basketball postseason awards for the 2024-25 season, which were announced Tuesday.
    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.”
    Jeff Howe
    This week, I’m Scattershooting while wondering how much better Longhorn legend Eric Metcalf’s chances of making the Pro Football Hall of Fame would be if he hadn’t played in the NFL three decades before his time.
    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.
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