After a poor showing heading into the regular season, the 10th-seeded Texas Longhorns need at least one win in the SEC Tournament to secure a berth in the NCAA Tournament. That journey begins Wednesday at approximately 6 p.m. against the 15th-seeded Ole Miss Rebels in an SEC Tournament first-round game in the SEC Network Central Region.
The Longhorns enter the game as a 5.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel, in a matchup of two of the coldest teams in the league. Texas lost four of its past five games, including a pair of embarrassing games against Arkansas and Oklahoma State at the end of the year. Mississippi State has lost 12 of its last 13 games and would have been winless in February if not for a win over Auburn on the final day of February.
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One of the losses for Chris Beard’s team in this epic slide was an 11-point loss in Austin, but Texas outscored them in the first half and used that momentum to win. The Corners doubled the Rebels in the paint and scored 32 points, while Old Mississippi scored 16 points and scored 20 second-chance points with just nine offensive rebounds.
If Texas can beat Mississippi State in the tournament opener, it could set up a rubber matchup with seventh-seeded Georgia. Texas beat the Bulldogs by double digits early in Austin, but Georgia got revenge a month later with an 11-point victory in Athens.
The SEC Tournament kicks off Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville with LSU taking on Kentucky in the first of four games Wednesday.
According to FanDuel, Texas’ odds to win are +10,000, while Florida’s odds are -180.
