{"id":193795,"date":"2026-03-06T20:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T20:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/193795\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T20:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T20:49:08","slug":"what-texas-basketball-vs-oklahoma-means-for-postseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/193795\/","title":{"rendered":"What Texas basketball vs Oklahoma means for postseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buzzer-beaters have begun, the March Madness buzz keeps getting louder, and debates already rage about topics ranging from the top seeds to the NCAA Tournament bubble. But Texas basketball<\/a> coach Sean Miller wants his squad to focus only on Saturday\u2019s regular-season finale against visiting Oklahoma<\/a> \u2014 and for good reason.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not easy, especially in the month of March, because the excitement of March Madness is everywhere around you, (but) so much of it is, for us, to just be at our best against Oklahoma,\u201d Miller said Friday before his team\u2019s practice. \u201cI feel like anytime you start to speculate and start to play out scenarios while you’re in the present, you just have a way of taking your eyes off what’s important, and that is to be the best that we can be tomorrow at 7:30\u00a0(against the Sooners).\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller questions the referee\u2019s call early in the first half as the Texas Longhorns play the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena in College Station, Feb. 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

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

But it\u2019s hard not to look ahead for the Longhorns (18-12, 9-8 SEC). The postseason begins at the SEC Tournament next week in Nashville, Tenn. followed by the March 17 start of the NCAA Tournament<\/a> with the First Four games in Dayton, Ohio. A lopsided loss Wednesday at Arkansas<\/a> knocked the Longhorns into ninth place in the SEC and back near the bubble, according to NCAA Tournament prognosticators like ESPN\u2019s Joe Lunardi<\/a>, who currently has Texas as the last team in the tournament that avoids the First Four.<\/p>\n

What would a loss to middling Oklahoma (16-14, 6-11 SEC) mean for Texas? Plenty, said Miller, especially since so much remains up in the air concerning the SEC Tournament aside from the fact that No. 5 Florida will enter the event as the top seed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a lot at stake this weekend across the board in our conference and beyond, and certainly our game against Oklahoma has great meaning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guard Chendall Weaver (2) searches for a way to the hoop as Texas A&M Aggies forward Zach Clemence (7) and forward Rashaun Agee (12) defends in the second half as the Texas Longhorns play the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena in College Station, Feb. 28, 2026. Texas won the game 76-70.<\/p>\n

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

In particular, Miller said the matchup with the Sooners is especially meaningful for seniors such as Tramon Mark<\/a>, Jordan Pope and Chendall Weaver<\/a>. Weaver has emerged as a fan favorite in his three seasons at Texas because of his all-out energy while Pope<\/a> and Mark have formed the starting backcourt since arriving in Austin two years ago.<\/p>\n

TEXAS VS. OKLAHOMA<\/p>\n

When\/where: 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Moody Center.<\/p>\n

TV\/radio:\u00a0SEC Network; 1300 AM, 98.1 FM.<\/p>\n

The program will recognize that trio as well as injured senior Lassina Traore and graduate students Brandon Taylor and Cole Bott in a pregame ceremony beginning 20 minutes before the 7:30 p.m. tip.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

MORE: NCAA Tournament, SEC stakes high in Longhorns, Aggies hoops rematch<\/a><\/p>\n

MORE: How the win over Texas A&M helped Texas in NCAA Tournament projections<\/a><\/p>\n

SEC Tournament: Texas seeking top-8 seed<\/p>\n

At next week\u2019s SEC Tournament, the top eight seeds get a first-round bye and won\u2019t play until Thursday while the bottom eight seeds battle it out Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena. Texas is currently tied for ninth in the SEC standings with Georgia, but the Longhorns are only one game back of Vanderbilt, Texas A&M<\/a>, Missouri and Kentucky.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Texas holds a head-to-head tiebreaking edge with Vanderbilt<\/a> and Missouri<\/a>, which is the first SEC tiebreaker. Kentucky<\/a> has the advantage in that same tiebreaker with Texas.<\/p>\n

The Longhorns split their two-game season series with Texas A&M<\/a> and Georgia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the likely scenario that multiple teams end the regular season with the same conference record and head-to head results can\u2019t decide the tiebreaker, the SEC reverts to a round-robin record between the tied teams followed by winning percentages against shared opponents.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guard Jordan Pope (0) defends as Georgia Bulldogs guard Jordan Ross (3) drives in the first half of the Longhorns\u2019 game against the Georgia Bulldogs at the Moody Center in Austin, Jan. 24, 2026. Texas won the game 87-67.<\/p>\n

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

Convoluted? Yes. But there is some possible clarity: If every favorite wins Saturday, including Texas, then the Longhorns would enter the SEC tournament as the No. 7 seed and would face either the 10th or 15th seed Thursday at 6 p.m. in Nashville.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Besides, said Miller, getting a first-round game Wednesday against a team beneath you in the standings could prove beneficial.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s advantages and disadvantages of playing on Wednesday versus Thursday, that I know,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes, you get into that neutral-court setting, and you play really well on Wednesday, and it just leads into the next day. Whereas that (Thursday) team, even though they had a bye, they haven’t played on the court yet. They haven’t made a shot, and it takes them a while to get going. Those first two days, I think you could flip a coin in terms of what’s better. I mean, what we want to do is win the most regular-season games we can before we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas (18-12, 9-8 SEC) vs. Oklahoma (16-14, 6-11): How to watch<\/p>\n

When:\u00a07:30 p.m. Saturday<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Where:\u00a0Moody Center, Austin<\/p>\n

TV\/radio:\u00a0SEC Network; 1300 AM, 98.1 FM<\/p>\n

SEC men’s basketball schedule Saturday<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

South Carolina at Ole Miss<\/p>\n

Georgia at Mississippi State<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

SEC men\u2019s basketball standings entering Saturday<\/p>\n

School<\/p>\n

Conference \u00a0 Overall<\/p>\n

W<\/p>\n

W<\/p>\n

L<\/p>\n

W<\/p>\n

L<\/p>\n

Florida<\/p>\n

15<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

24<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

Alabama<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

22<\/p>\n

8<\/p>\n

Arkansas<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

22<\/p>\n

8<\/p>\n

Tennessee<\/p>\n

11<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

21<\/p>\n

9<\/p>\n

Vanderbilt<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

23<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

Texas A&M<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

20<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

Missouri<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

20<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

Kentucky<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

19<\/p>\n

11<\/p>\n

Georgia<\/p>\n

9<\/p>\n

8<\/p>\n

21<\/p>\n

9<\/p>\n

Texas<\/p>\n

9<\/p>\n

8<\/p>\n

18<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

Auburn<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

16<\/p>\n

14<\/p>\n

Oklahoma<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

11<\/p>\n

16<\/p>\n

14<\/p>\n

Mississippi St.<\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

13<\/p>\n

17<\/p>\n

Ole Miss<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

13<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

18<\/p>\n

LSU<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

14<\/p>\n

15<\/p>\n

15<\/p>\n

South Carolina<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

14<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

18<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Buzzer-beaters have begun, the March Madness buzz keeps getting louder, and debates already rage about topics ranging from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2692,48876,19752,3112,51839,19753,5277,21171,27,29,537,19751,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-193795","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-college-basketball","9":"tag-march-madness","10":"tag-men-s-college-basketball","11":"tag-ncaa-tournament","12":"tag-oklahoma-sooners-basketball","13":"tag-sean-miller","14":"tag-sec-basketball","15":"tag-sec-men-s-basketball","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-texas-headlines","18":"tag-texas-longhorns","19":"tag-texas-longhorns-men-s-basketball","20":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193795","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=193795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}