Texas basketball: Sean Miller says First Four game in NCAA Tournament 'a brand new season'
· Yahoo Sports
Texas basketball Sean Miller knows plenty about competing in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. And he knows that a win over North Carolina State on Tuesday can do more than send his team into a round-of-64 meeting with sixth-seeded BYU in Portland, Ore.
It could also propel the 11th-seeded Longhorns (18-14) on a darkhorse run in the NCAA Tournament.
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TEXAS VS. NORTH CAROLINA STATE
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“I think there's some real power in getting a game under your belt and a win,” Miller said Sunday after finding out his program qualified for a sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. “You've already won, you've already advanced.”
In fact, Miller did just that last season, when his Xavier team beat Texas 86-80 before falling to Illinois in the first round. But Miller has also seen how a team can use its First Four momentum to pull off an upset; in 2016, Wichita State won a First Four game and then upset Miller’s sixth-seeded Arizona Wildcats in the next round.
“They came into Providence (R.I.) where we were waiting on them, and man, I'm going to tell you right now, they put it on us,” he said. “So, that's how we have to look at it. Obviously, that doesn't come unless you play well. We have to get back to playing our best.”
Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller questions the referee’s call early in the first half as the Texas Longhorns play the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena in College Station, Feb. 28, 2026. (Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman)Texas hasn’t played anywhere near its best in about a month, and Miller hopes the NCAA Tournament provides a breath of fresh air for a squad that's gone stale. The Longhorns have dropped five of their past six games and didn't show much fight in Wednesday's 76-66 loss to Ole Miss in a first-round game at the SEC Tournament. That late-season slump cost the Longhorns a first-round SEC bye in Nashville and also dropped them onto the NCAA Tournament bubble.
But the selection committee looked favorably on a Texas squad with six quad-one wins, which ties Texas for 22nd in the nation. The Longhorns were selected over teams such as SEC rivals Oklahoma, Auburn and San Diego State.
But the loss to Ole Miss feels “so long ago,” Miller said.
“We had two full days of being able to take a deep breath, get away from each other, get our legs and mind right,” he said. “And then we also had an opportunity to have two really good days of practice and get back in the gym, where you learn where we're at. I think we're in a good place. I think that everybody truly understands, regardless of what happens in Dayton, this is a brand new season, a new beginning, and it has nothing to do with what we just did last Wednesday, which is a long time ago.”
That mindset makes the Longhorns’ last game against North Carolina State (20-13) seem like ancient history, even if the 102-97 Texas win did come in the Maui Classic in November.
“We're playing an opponent that we respect a great deal, but we've played each other this year, so I think there's familiarity on both sides,” Miller said. “They are really, really explosive on offense. That's what really sticks out for me. When they play well, they have great firepower, great scoring punch. They're familiar with us, and we're familiar with them. I don't think that's any advantage to us or them. It’s going to be a heck of a game.”