For college basketball fans, Christmas comes on a Sunday afternoon in March, when the NCAA reveals the teams that will compete in its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
Bret Bloomquist, a sports reporter for the El Paso Times, helped us break down the brackets from a Texas perspective and weighed in on what to watch as March Madness gets underway.
Texas teams in the men’s NCAA Tournament
(1) University of Houston vs. (16) SIU Edwardsville, March 20
“I really do think they have a high ceiling. They can really play good defense. … I think probably Duke would be my pick to win the national championship, but Houston could certainly make noise there as well.”
(3) Texas Tech vs. (14) UNC Wilmington, March 20
“One you’d expect Tech to win, but there’s typically a 14-3 upset, so Tech got to watch out for that. But I expect that they’ll come through.”
(4) Texas A&M vs. (13) Yale, March 20
“You never want to draw the Ivy League champ. It’s always trouble. So yeah, I mean, it’s probably not the draw A&M wanted, but they’ll still be a solid favorite. But a challenging game for them, and A&M didn’t finish the season overly strong. But they’ll certainly be favored.”
(9) Baylor vs. (8) Mississippi State, March 21
“This is going to be a tough one, an 8-9 matchup. So it’s supposed to be one of the most even ones on there. And then, obviously, if they win it, probably playing a No. 1 in the second round. But yeah, that’s probably one of the more intriguing games in the first round, as 8-9 games often are. But a couple of power conference teams there squaring off, and should be an interesting one.”
(11) University of Texas vs. (11) Xavier, March 19
“I think Texas getting in was a surprise. It surprised me. They had a lot of quality wins, but also a lot of bad losses. I think most projections were showing them going to the NIT, but they got one of the final four bids.
“You know, it ended up the five Texas teams are all former Southwest Conference teams. So kind of bringing the old game back together.”
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Texas teams in the women’s NCAA tournament
(1) Texas vs. (16) High Point/William & Mary, March 22
“They’re very good. They split with South Carolina in the regular season and lost to them pretty decisively in the SEC tournament, which cost them a No. 1 overall seed, but they ended up getting, I thought, a pretty good draw in terms of TCU is the No. 2 in their region. I guess the big fear would have been drawing UConn as the top two seed, but they got TCU. So pretty good draw for Texas, it looks like.”
(2) TCU vs. (15) FDU, March 21
“TCU’s obviously had a historic year for them. That’s not a school that’s had a ton of success, but they’ve had a great year and certainly have earned their spot in there as the No. 2 seed. So yeah, I mean, it had been a great year for them. Of course, Baylor, it’s a little more expected. But, you know, great year for Texas, and then historic year for TCU, and Baylor pretty much like they always are.”
(4) Baylor vs. (13) Grand Canyon, March 21
(14) Stephen F. Austin vs. (3) Notre Dame, March 21
“When I was in college, [SFA] was the University of Texas’ big in-state rival. You know, that was before the rest of the Southwest Conference was any good at basketball. And Stephen F. Austin was the other team in the state of Texas, challenging Texas – that was back in the mid-80s. So yeah, it brings back good memories to see Stephen F. Austin there in the tournament.”
