A day after falling to Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament final, the Texas Longhorns were awarded a 4 seed in the NCAA’s West Regional by the Selection Committee. The Horns will open tournament play against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Friday at 11:15 A.M. in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If Texas wins its first game — now considered a part of the second round — the Longhorns will advance to face either Arizona or Memphis in a third round game on Sunday.

Texas will have its hands full preparing for Oakland this week. The Golden Grizzlies boast one of the most efficient offenses in the country, and utilize an up-tempo attack that gives them even more opportunities to pile up the points. Oakland is led by a bona fide star in big man Keith Benson, a 6’11” shot-blocking, rebounding machine that will undoubtedly be playing in the NBA next year. A full look at Texas’ second round match-up will be available in LRT’s game preview later this week.

The at-large selection was the 13th consecutive NCAA tournament bid for Texas, a streak that dates back to 1999. The 13-year run is tied for fourth-longest among active streaks with Gonzaga and Wisconsin, and puts the Horns behind only Kansas (22 consecutive appearances), Duke (16), and Michigan State (14).

While the bid was expected, the 4 seed came as a surprise to most national observers. Prior to the bracket being released, most projections had Texas firmly on the 3-seed line, with a few writers — such as CNNSI’s Andy Glockner — even slotting Texas as a 2 seed. Fellow SI scribe Luke Winn called Texas’ 4 seed “harsh” on Twitter, while sympathizing with the Longhorn bigs who would be tasked with containing Benson. ESPN’s Jay Bilas even took the time to disagree with Texas and Kentucky’s 4 seeds in between his numerous rants against the selection committee.

Elsewhere in the Big 12, Kansas secured a 1 seed in the Southwest Regional, and will also play their second and third round games at the BOK Center in Tulsa. Kansas State earned a 5 seed and will face the WAC Champion Utah State Aggies in Tucson on Thursday night. The Missouri Tigers, who were bounced in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, were tabbed an 11 seed and will face Mick Cronin’s Cincinnati Bearcats on Thursday night in Washington, D.C.

Texas A&M was slotted as a 7 seed and will face Florida State, a team that will get a boost if Chris Singleton finally returns after fracturing his foot on February 12th. There was speculation that Singleton would return for the ACC tournament, but he did not play against Virginia Tech and the Seminoles were promptly sent packing in one of the most tense conference tournament endings in recent memory. With an extra week off, perhaps the 6’9″ forward will be ready to give it a go on Friday afternoon in Chicago.

The Big 12 collected just five bids in this year’s tournament, as Colorado was left on the wrong side of the bubble. Despite three wins over Kansas State and home wins against both Missouri and Texas, the Buffaloes’ atrocious non-conference schedule was the likely cause of their omission. Colorado’s non-conference strength of schedule was ranked 324th out of 345 Division I teams by Ken Pomeroy, with the Buffs suffering losses against the few quality opponents. Coach Tad Boyle and his team will have to bounce back quickly from the disappointment, however, as they are a 1 seed in the NIT and will host Texas Southern on Wednesday.

Nebraska and Oklahoma State also earned NIT bids, while Baylor will be sitting out the 2011 post-season. The Cornhuskers travel to Wichita State on Wednesday night, while on Tuesday Oklahoma State will host Harvard. The Crimson slid into the NIT after Princeton stunned them with a buzzer-beater to win a one-game playoff for the Ivy League title and an automatic NCAA berth.