Texas Longhorns Officially Earn Spot in NCAA Tournament Bracket

The Longhorns beat NC State in the third and final game of the Maui Invitational in November, 102-97.

This will mark the third time the two teams have met since last season. Texas has won both matchups.

"Whatever happens happens, and I'm at peace," Texas head coach Sean Miller said after losing in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

"I think this is a huge moment for us as a program, (for) today to be different a year from today," Miller said on Wednesday. "I don't need (reminding), but I think it's a necessary step that we have to get through. It's not easy, but we have to be better, bigger, deeper. And we have to be a higher-level team as we keep moving forward here."

The first season under Miller has featured some ups and downs for the Longhorns.

In the season opener against the Duke Blue Devils, Texas led at halftime but ended up falling in a 75-60 loss.

The Longhorns then choked a late lead at the Maui Invitational against Arizona State but ended up picking up their best non-conference win of the season during the three-game slate in Hawaii in a 102-97 finish over NC State.

In December, Texas got blown out at home against Virginia before coming up just short on the road against UConn.

The Longhorns entered SEC play with a 9-4 record, but things quickly went downhill. Texas fumbled away another late lead in an overtime loss at home to Mississippi State before getting blown out in Knoxville against Tennessee.

But after that, Texas turned things around in a major way.

The Longhorns pulled off their biggest win of the season on Jan. 13 in Tuscaloosa against No. 13 Alabama, beating the Crismon Tide 92-88, before handing No. 10 Vanderbilt its first loss of the season a few days later in an 80-64 blowout win,

Texas dropped three of its next four games but managed to pick up another ranked win over No. 21 Georgia. The Longhorns then went on a five-game winning streak and appeared to be only a win or two away from locking up a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

However, Texas crumbled after the win streak, losing five of its final six games, including a loss to Ole Miss in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The Longhorns managed to pick up a big road win over Texas A&M during this stretch but the team was clearly trending down at the wrong time.