No. 6 Texas Battles No. 11 Virginia Tech to Open March Madness

The Longhorns' season was filled with rollercoaster results and now comes down to one game, as No. 6 Texas faces No. 11 Virginia Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Milwaukee on Friday.

Texas entered the season as the No. 5 team in the country, but have fallen below preseason expectations. In order to secure the program's first opening-round win since 2015, the Longhorns (21-11) will have to go through the ACC champion Hokies (23-12).

The Horns are facing arguably the toughest No. 11 seed in this year's bracket. Virginia Tech is the only power conference team seeded 11 or lower in this year's tournament to win its conference as undisputed champions.

Timmy Allen

Chris Beard

Marcus Carr

The Longhorns are creeping into dangerous upset territory, though the only thing that would make it an upset is the difference in seeding. Virginia Tech has the 22nd-best offensive efficiency in the country this season and the seventh-best over the last three games.

But Texas should be well rested, as the Horns last played a seven days ago on March 10. A 65-60 first-round loss to TCU in the Big 12 tournament was disappointing for the Horns, but stung even more considering Texas had a 18-point second-half lead.

Still, too much rest could be a bad thing. The Hokies are on shorter rest, but have arguably the most momentum in the tournament headed into Friday.

Much like he did against Duke on Saturday, Virginia Tech forward Keve Aluma could cause problems for Texas' short-handed front court. He averaged 19 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in the ACC tournament, including 19 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists against the Blue Devils.

Texas vs. TCU

Alongside him in the front court is Hokies forward Justyn Mutts, who does a little bit of everything for Tech. He's second on the team in scoring (10.1 points), but is first in rebounds (7.4), assists (3.4), steals (1.2), blocks (1.0), and field goal percentage (53.6 percent) out of teammates playing 10 or more minutes per game.

But Virginia Tech proved its depth in the ACC tournament, where Mutts averaged just 8.8 points per game.

Guards Storm Murphy and Hunter Cattoor were electric for the Hokies during the four-game stretch for the conference title. Murphy averaged 11.8 points and 4.5 assists while Cattoor exploded for a season-high 31 points and seven 3s against Duke.

The Longhorns and Hokies tipoff on Friday at 3:30 p.m. C.T. from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Longhorns? Click Here

Want to join in on the discussion? Click here to become a member of the Longhorns Country message board community today!

Follow Longhorns Country on Twitter and Facebook.