The Texas Longhorns and the NC State Wolfpack are matching up for the second time this season in the First Four in Dayton on Tuesday with both teams as No. 11 seeds battling for the right to advance to face the No. 6 seed BYU Cougars in the West Region.

Texas and NC State play at UD Arena with Howard and UMBC facing off in the other First Four matchup. Tipoff for the first game is scheduled for 5:40 p.m. Central with the Longhorns scheduled for the second game set for approximately 8:10 p.m. Central on truTV.

It’s the second straight year that Texas has played in the First Four after losing to Xavier last year in the final game for Rodney Terry leading the Longhorns and the final game for Sean Miller leading the Musketeers before taking the job in Austin.

In Miller’s first season on the Forty Acres, it’s been an up-and-down campaign for the Horns that saw Texas win five straight conference games from late January to mid-February before stumbling to the finish line with five losses in the last six games, including an opening-round defeat by Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament on Wednesday to head into Selection Sunday with an 18-14 record overall and a 9-9 mark in conference play.

The finish left Miller at peace following the loss to the Rebels.

“I have zero anxiety entering the weekend, simply because of this — I came to Texas to build a championship program. There’s steps and foundations that have to be laid. Processes, failure, really learning what the SEC is really about. This has been very rewarding and enlightening and when you get to the finality of it, whatever happens, I’m at peace,” Miller said.

The string of poor results pushed the Longhorns from a comfortable position in the NCAA Tournament field back onto the bubble, where ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi slotted Texas as the last at-large team on Sunday afternoon.

But the six Quad 1 wins for Texas were still enough to make the tournament over other SEC teams like Auburn and Oklahoma, two of the last four teams out.

NC State is a familiar opponent for Texas — Terry’s Longhorns beat the Wolfpack 63-59 in non-conference play during the 2024-25 season before facing off in the Maui Invitational last November, a 102-97 win by Texas that bolstered the resume for Miller’s team.

Under first-year head coach Will Wade, NC State is 20-13 with a 10-8 record in the ACC that included a win in the conference tournament over Pitt before falling to Virginia.