Rick Barnes Says 'No Doubt' Texas Longhorns Deserve NCAA Tournament Spot

The Texas Longhorns have the vote of confidence from Rick Barnes when it comes to being a March Madness team.

Texas Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry meets Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes ahead of the game at the Moody Center on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. | Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Former Texas Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes is vouching for his former team to make it to the NCAA Tournament.

The Tennessee Volunteers head coach said Friday after an 83-72 win over Texas in the SEC Tournament that there's "no doubt" the Longhorns have earned an at-large bid to March Madness. Texas entered the conference tournament on the wrong side of the bubble before pulling off wins over Vanderbilt and Texas A&M.

"There’s no doubt. Texas is an NCAA team," Barnes said, per ESPN's Pete Thamel. " ... There’s no doubt in my mind they did enough. I think they’ve done more than enough. I think we should have 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament is what I think."

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes calls to the team during the first half against Texas at a Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinal game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, March 14, 2025. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Texas potentially ends its season with a 19-15 record and a 6-12 mark in SEC play. During the regular season, the Longhorns secured impressive wins at No. 25 Mississippi State, vs. No. 15 Kentucky, vs. No. 13 Texas A&M, vs. No. 22 Missouri and at Oklahoma but dropped unranked matchups to Arkansas (twice) and at South Carolina along with two home losses to Georgia and Oklahoma to close out conference play.

Texas also had a very weak non-conference slate. The Longhorns were unable to secure non-con wins over UConn and Ohio State and instead had to settle for wins over vs. Syracuse (neutral), at N.C. State and vs. Saint Joseph's (neutral).

The Longhorns' resume features a 7-11 record in Quad 1 games, and a 3-4 record in Quad 2. Texas is also 38th in the NCAA Net rankings.

Texas will now be one of the most nervous teams in the country leading up to Selection Sunday this weekend, hoping that the mini-run in Nashville it was able to put together is enough.

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