{"id":178579,"date":"2026-02-24T21:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/178579\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T21:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:27:08","slug":"win-vs-florida-will-secure-ncaa-spot-for-texas-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/178579\/","title":{"rendered":"Win vs Florida will secure NCAA spot for Texas basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Texas basketball<\/a> knocks off defending national champion Florida Wednesday at Moody Center, should that guarantee the Longhorns a spot in the\u00a0NCAA Tournament?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yes, says Longhorns coach Sean Miller<\/a>, especially based on how the No. 7 Gators are surging toward the postseason.<\/p>\n

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TEXAS VS. NO. 7 FLORIDA<\/p>\n

When\/where:\u00a06 p.m. Wednesday at Moody Center.<\/p>\n

TV\/radio:\u00a0ESPN2; 1300 AM, 98.1 FM.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they’re playing their very best basketball of this season right now,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey\u2019re on a win streak in dominant fashion the last several road games in our league \u2014 not easy to do. They’ve gone on the road, and they’ve won by big, big margins. We know we have our hands full.\u201d<\/p>\n

By any measurement, Florida remains the class of the SEC. The Gators hold a two-game lead over Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee atop the conference standings, they\u2019re the top-ranked SEC team in the latest Associated Press poll, and they\u2019re also an SEC-best seventh in the latest NET rankings.<\/p>\n

MORE: Texas vs Georgia: Replay, highlights as the Bulldogs snap a 5-game winning streak for UT<\/a><\/p>\n

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Oh, and Florida is peaking at the right time. After a 5-4 start to the season that included losses to top-six teams in No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Arizona and No. 6 Connecticut, the Gators have lost just twice. They enter Wednesday\u2019s trip to Moody Center on a seven-game winning streak and they don\u2019t seem bothered by the travails of life on the road considering the Gators have scored at least 85 points in six consecutive road games.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more. The Gators rank sixth in the league in scoring at 86.4 points and second in points allowed with 71.2 despite that grueling nonconference schedule. They hold foes to 40.4% shooting from the floor, the best mark in the SEC. They also outrebound opponents by 14.7 boards a game, also tops in the league.<\/p>\n

Daunting for Texas, right?<\/p>\n

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\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns center Matas Vokietaitis (8) reaches for a rebound during the first half of the Longhorns\u2019 game against the Ole Miss Rebels at the Moody Center in Austin, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

MORE: Texas basketball: Forward Nic Codie eyes more minutes <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognize the great program that Florida is and what they are this year,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey’re playing their best. And there’s a number of teams that have tried to take them down recently, and they haven’t been able to come close. I mean, they are blowing teams out, so we don’t want to be one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller said a fast start and a rowdy home crowd will help, a concern for the coach because the early tip time of 6 p.m. coincides with Austin\u2019s rush hour. But rebounding may be the biggest worry for the Longhorns considering that may play a fifth straight game without reserve power forward Lassina Traore, who remains day to day with soreness in his surgically repaired right knee.<\/p>\n

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\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller encourages the team during a timeout in the second half as the Longhorns take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at the Moody Center in Austin, Jan. 14, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Florida likes to pound teams in the paint behind a massive frontcourt that includes 6-foot-9 forward Thomas Haugh (17.3 points, 6.2 rebounds per game), 6-11 forward Alex Condon (14,0, 8.0), 6-10 post Rueben Chinyelu (11.5, 11.8) and 7-1 reserve Micah Handlogten (4.3, 6).<\/p>\n

\u201cKeeping them off the glass is an immense challenge for every team that plays them, and (Wednesday) will be no different,\u201d Miller said. \u201cHow many second shots they get against us will be a big determining factor in the final score. We know that. I think the team that beats Florida, or the team that’s right there to beat them, they’re going to feel good about their rebounding in that game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be at our very, very best, and we’re really going to lean into our home crowd and our students. Just the atmosphere at Moody, I hope it could be the best that it’s been all season long. Certainly, we’re going to need that against an opponent like Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Texas (17-10, 8-6 SEC) vs. Florida (21-6, 12-2): How to watch<\/p>\n

Where:\u00a0Moody Center in Austin\u00a0<\/p>\n

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TV\/radio:\u00a0ESPN2; 1300 AM, 98.1 FM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Texas basketball knocks off defending national champion Florida Wednesday at Moody Center, should that guarantee the Longhorns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2692,64014,2745,63614,48876,19752,19499,3112,19753,5277,27,29,537,19751,28],"class_list":["post-178579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-college-basketball","tag-florida-basketball","tag-florida-gators","tag-florida-gators-basketball","tag-march-madness","tag-men-s-college-basketball","tag-moody-center","tag-ncaa-tournament","tag-sean-miller","tag-sec-basketball","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-longhorns-men-s-basketball","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}