March 11, 2026, 9:08 p.m. CT

It is up to the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee now. The Texas Longhorns have been on and off the bubble all season. But a 76-66 first round loss to Ole Miss in the SEC postseason tournament might cost Texas a trip to the Big Dance.

The latest Bracketology from USA TODAY Sports puts Texas as a No. 10 seed. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi thinks UT is in March Madness no matter what happened against Ole Miss. That’s good news for Texas, because the Longhorns looked flat in Nashville.

The No. 15 seeded Rebels led by 11 at halftime over No. 10 seed Texas and only gave one point back in the final frame. Malik Dia scored 23 points for Ole Miss and AJ Storr added 18 off the bench. Texas cut the lead to 53-48 after Jordan Pope, who was benched and publicly chastised by Texas head coach Sean Miller last weekend, got hot early in the second half.

The Rebels answered with a 7-0 run and took a double digit lead. The Horns cut it to 66-63 with four minutes remaining, but like their season, Texas faded at the end.

Texas’ Dailyn Swain, who has been named a finalist for the Julius Erving Award, had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Pope added 16 and Matas Vokietaitis had 10 points.

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The game was also revenge of sorts for former Texas coach Chris Beard. Now the head coach at Mississippi, Beard was the Longhorns coach from 2021-2023 before being fired amid a domestic violence scandal.

The Horns have been on the right side of the bubble for over a month after UT got hot in late January and early February. In fact, the Longhorns were considered an 88.3% favorite to make March Madness. But the selection committee won’t like that Texas is fading and fading fast at the end of the season. That’s not type of resume that gets you an at-large bid into the Big Dance.

Texas’ fate will be influenced by what other bubble teams do in their respective conference tournaments. Coach Sean Miller better hope more bubble teams crash out with a lackluster performance or his first year will end with an NIT bid.