How Will The Texas Longhorns Match Up Against Their Next Opponent?

The Texas Longhorns have advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after beating the BYU Cougars.

The Longhorns have reached the second round in four of their last five seasons, but have only made it further in one of those seasons.

If Texas wants to break that trend, it will need to beat either the 14-seed Kennesaw State Owls or the 3-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs. So how do they match up with those squads?

No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike hoists the most outstanding player trophy after defeating the Santa Clara Broncos | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Longhorns head coach Sean Miller is likely praying that the Owls take care of the Bulldogs, because if Gonzaga advances, they would present an especially difficult challenge for Texas.

Bulldogs All-American senior forward Graham Ike has been dominating the paint for the better part of the last five years and shows no signs of slowing down. He leads a Gonzaga offense that scores the most points in the paint of anyone in the country.

The Longhorns are 95th in defensive rating according to KenPom and they have been particularly porous in the paint.

Additionally, the Bulldogs are one of the few teams in college basketball that have been better at rebounding than the Longhorns this season, which removes one of Texas' usual advantages.

Still, Texas showed a different defensive energy against the Cougars, which helped them limit the team's efficiency. If they can bring out a similar fire against the Bulldogs, they could surprise head coach Mark Few's squad.

Texas could also surprise Gonzaga with its physicality. While the Bulldogs have been great at defending the paint all season, they have not faced a team with the power or physicality of the Longhorns all season.

The Bulldogs also have yet to face a player like Dailyn Swain, whose driving prowess and do-it-all ability are hard to prepare for.

No. 14 Kennesaw State Owls

Kennesaw State Owls guard Terrell Burden dribbles the ball while Indiana Hoosiers guard Gabe Cupps defends in the second half at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Texas' interior personnel would certainly have an edge on the Owls', and their ability to rebound the ball could very well overwhelm Kennesaw State early.

While the Longhorns would be favored in a matchup against the Owls, they cannot count them out.

Kennesaw State brings in 19.1 points per game at the charity stripe and Texas has been foul-happy all season. Additionally, do-it-all guard RJ Johnson has been heating up since the Owls' leading scorer, Simeon Cottle, went down halfway through the season.

The Owls also shoot 27 threes a game, which could provide difficulty for a Longhorn team that allows those shots to go in at a 36% clip. While Kennesaw State has only made 33.7% of its long balls, the tournament is called March Madness for a reason.

So while Texas holds the hypothetical advantage over Kennesaw State, the last thing any team can afford to do in March is count out their opponent.

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