In 2002, ESPN’s Bill Simmons penned an epic column titled “The Levels of Losing.” In it, he outlined thirteen different types of losses suffered by teams and — more importantly — their fans. A 2007 update expanded the list out to 16 different levels of losing, ranking them from the pedestrian “Princeton Principle” to the most gut-wrenching level, saved only for Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

Not far behind Bill Buckner’s gaffe is The Sports Guy’s third most-excruciating level of losing — “The Stomach Punch.” Simmons describes it as “any roller-coaster game that ends with (A) an opponent making a pivotal (sometimes improbable) play or (B) one of your guys failing in the clutch…Usually ends with fans filing out after the game in stunned disbelief, if they can even move at all.”

Sound familiar, Texas fans?

Sunday’s loss to Arizona in the third round of the NCAA Tournament fit every letter of that description. From Derrick Williams’ improbable no-look and-1 bucket that gave Arizona the final lead, to numerous failures by Longhorn stars in the clutch, Longhorn Nation experienced a massive, unrelenting series of gut punches. We even have the stunned disbelief covered, as your intrepid travelers spent a good portion of the eight-hour drive back to Austin in that very state.

There have been a million words written and spoken about the five-second call that gave Arizona the ball for the winning possession. If you watched the game on television, you likely saw the studio discussions and 8,923 video replays. If you didn’t, feel free to use Google or YouTube — I won’t rehash the debate here. Right or wrong, that call isn’t the only reason Texas lost. As had happened multiple times this season, there was a glaring lack of basketball IQ when the game hung in the balance.

First, the entire five-count sequence was set up by Jordan Hamilton’s inexplicable timeout with 14 seconds left. The Longhorns had a two-point lead when Tristan Thompson blocked a potential game-tying shot from Williams. Hamilton grabbed the loose ball, and the game seemed to be in the bag. All Hamilton had to do was wait for the Arizona foul.

Jordan was a 77.9% free throw shooter this season. Against the Wildcats on Sunday, he was 1-for-2 from the line. If Jordan waits for the foul in that situation, more time ticks off the clock and he then has two opportunities to make it a three-point Longhorn lead. Make both of those, and it’s a two-possession ballgame. Instead, Texas had to inbound the ball against full-court pressure and an unthinkable chain of events was set in motion.

Even after the five-second violation, the Longhorns were still leading by two with 14 seconds to go. The fear in every Texas fan’s mind was that the Wildcats — who had hit 8-of-14 from behind the arc — would drill another three and win the game. But once Williams started driving to the basket, there seemed to be no way Texas could lose in regulation. Until, of course, Hamilton tried to take a charge.

If Hamilton defends the shot straight up and it goes in, the game is tied, but Texas still has the ball and some time to win it. If you want to contest the shot in that situation, you have to make sure you don’t foul, or make sure your foul counts.

Williams was 8-for-14 from the line at that point, so a hard foul not only would have prevented the game-tying basket, but also probably meant that Williams would not have tied it at the line, either. In trying to draw a charge, Hamilton not only let Williams get off a shot, but left the worst-case scenario on the table. That, of course, is exactly what occurred.

After the three-point play, the Longhorns were still left with about nine seconds to try to save a win despite their series of errors. But instead of pushing the ball up the floor, J’Covan Brown calmly walked it up the court, wasting close to five seconds just getting across the timeline. He drove to the right side of the lane, threw up a floater in traffic, and time expired as Gary Johnson fought for a putback.

If Brown races up the floor, the Arizona defense has less time to get set, plus the Longhorns have time to try for a rebound and game-winning putback. Instead, they were left wandering the floor after the final buzzer, arms raised in question as the officials huddled and decided whether or not a foul occurred.

It was a heartbreaking way to end the season, especially after the gritty way the Longhorns had fought back in the second half to finally reclaim the lead. But putting the loss solely at the feet of the officials is a shortsighted conclusion. As was the case in many tense situations this season, the Longhorns failed to make the right decisions. Unfortunately, it finally caught up with them.

The Texas Longhorns survived a scare on Friday to advance past Oakland in the second round of the NCAA tournament, but things won’t be any easier today. Their third-round match-up is a tough Arizona Wildcat team that won the Pac 10 regular-season title and lost in overtime in the championship of the post-season tournament.

A win would put the Longhorns through to the Sweet 16, a place they have been only once since 2005. In the first half of the decade, Texas was in elite company with Duke, West Virginia, and Pitt as the most frequent guests of the NCAA’s second weekend, but that now seems like a distant memory. The Longhorns will have to beat a formidable opponent this evening if they want to once again join that prestigious club.

By the numbers

Arizona has a highly efficient offense and a sound defense. The Wildcats are aggressive with the basketball, always looking to get to the rim. Their offense has constant movement, both off the ball and with the ball. As a result, Arizona is scoring 1.154 adjusted points per possession, making them 15th-best nationally in that metric.

Every starter can drive from the perimeter, so Arizona typically sets up with four players on the perimeter and one playing the high or low post. This great floor spacing gives extra room for their slashing guards and wings to attack the paint and get layups. If the post defender helps, the Wildcats have a wide open big man waiting for the dump-off. If perimeter defense collapses down to help, the Wildcats have a bevy of three-point shooters waiting to knock down the open look.

The one drawback to Arizona’s floor spacing is that they have a hard time grabbing offensive rebounds. With most of their players far from the rim, the Wildcats are only grabbing 32.9% of their misses, a number that is just slightly above the national average. If Texas can use their size to limit Arizona to even fewer offensive boards this evening, it could seriously cripple Arizona’s offense.

The Wildcats were the best three-point shooting team in Pac 10 play, and are the 11th most-deadly team behind the arc in Division I basketball. Arizona has made 39.6% of its long-range looks, and they take nearly 37% of their shots from behind the arc. As a team, the Wildcats average nearly 20 long-range attempts per game.

Defensively, Arizona doesn’t let teams have nearly as much success from beyond the arc. The Wildcats allow opponents to shoot just 29.1% from long range, good enough for 4th place in the national rankings. Texas is actually just percentage points better, allowing a 28.7% success rate.

The weakness for Arizona is interior defense. They allow teams to make more than 50% of their shots from inside the arc, and hardly ever block shots or steal the ball. They also rarely force opponent miscues, as their defensive turnover rate is only 18.9%, ranking them 254th out of 345 D-I schools.

Meet the Wildcats

Arizona is led by sophomore Derrick Williams, an all-around athlete that was named Pac 10 Player of the Year and is one of the 30 players on the Naismith Award midseason list. (Jordan Hamilton is also part of that revered group.) Last year, he was the Pac 10’s top freshman and led the team in both scoring and rebounding.

At 6’8″, Williams is a handful to contain. He’s averaging 19.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and his points come in a variety of ways. Although he only attempts about two three-pointers per game, Williams has an insane 61% success rate behind the arc.

That long-range threat helps Williams when he’s matched up with big, lumbering defensive players. He can draw them out to the perimeter and easily take them off the dribble for buckets. In an early-season game against Kansas and the Morris twins, Williams scored 27 by slashing from the perimeter and getting points in the paint.

Against smaller defenders, the Wildcats love to isolate him in the post as a part of their four-out, one-in look, and Williams will take full advantage of the situation. When stationed at the high post, he can knock down the jumper or use his great handles to shake defenders and get an easy two.

In the backcourt, another sophomore keeps the Wildcat offense churning. Lamont “MoMo” Jones is the team’s point guard, but he’s much more scorer than simple assist man. Jones is a supremely confident, shifty guard who is second on the team with 9.8 points per game.

MoMo has a really quick release, so he doesn’t need any space to get off a shot. He’ll take a couple of rapid-fire threes in front of surprised defenders, and on the year he’s made 32.1% of his attempts. When Jones drives the lane, he’s incredibly elusive and manages to constantly finish ridiculous shots that often should be blocked.

Joining Jones in the backcourt is junior Kyle Fogg, who has been playing with a pulled quad the last two weeks. The injury limited him to just 13 minutes per game in the Pac 10 tournament, but he saw the floor for 23 minutes in the NCAA win over Memphis. The injury was just another setback for Fogg, who has had a serious run of bad luck in Tucson. Last year, he suffered a knee injury and even contracted H1N1 early in the season.

Fogg is not a guy who is going to score many points in most games, but when he does get hot — look out. Against Arizona State he made seven of 13 from beyond the arc, scoring 26 points to lead the ‘Cats to victory over their in-state rivals. He knocked down four three-pointers in four other conference games, and sunk three of them in four others. On the year, Fogg has knocked down 34.8% of his three-point attempts.

Sophomore Solomon Hill is a prototypical small forward who has started all 35 games this season, and he is averaging 7.8 points in 24.9 minutes per contest. Like most of the Wildcats, Hill is a strong 6’6″ guy who also has the ballhandling skills to slash from the wings and cause havoc inside. He’s also the team’s second-leading rebounder with 4.5 boards per game.

Junior Jesse Perry is another slashing wing for Coach Sean Miller, and he arrived in Tucson after transferring from a junior college in Saint Louis. At 6’7″, Perry gives the ‘Cats another long, athletic body that can play both inside and out, but his favorite shot is the mid-range jumper on the baseline. Like Hill, Perry provides some extra rebounding punch to help out Williams.

The sole senior on the roster is Jamelle Horne, who started 13 games for the Wildcats this season, but has settled into a role as the team’s sixth man. He is another big-time threat from long range, where he’s knocked down 40.6% of his attempts on the year. Despite playing just 18.5 minutes per game, Horne is second on the team in three-point attempts behind Fogg.

Also coming off the bench is Kevin Parrom, a 6’6″ sophomore who mirrors the rest of the Arizona roster with his ability to shoot from outside or create with the dribble-drive. He is 41.4% from behind the arc this season, but only averages 2.5 attempts per game.

Jordin Mayes is another long-range shooter on the Arizona bench, and he’s coming into this one with a hot hand. In his last three games, Mayes is 5-for-6 from behind the arc. If the Longhorns pay too much attention to Williams or overhelp on the drives from the wings, Mayes will definitely make them pay on kickouts.

While Sean Miller’s bench runs 10 deep, he has been cutting back on the minutes for Brendon Lavender and Kyryl Natyazhko in post-season play. Lavender is a catch-and-shoot guy who is averaging just seven minutes per game in the post-season.

Natyazhko is a 6’11” Ukranian who gives the ‘Cats some extra size inside, and he’s always working hard to set screens when he’s on the floor. Unfortunately, he is only averaging six minutes in four post-season games for Arizona.

Keys to the game

Just as it was against Oakland, the primary concern for Texas will be keeping Tristan Thompson and Jordan Hamilton out of foul trouble. Williams is the most-fouled player in the Pac 10, and his 88.9% free-throw rate is ninth in all of D-I basketball. He also draws nearly eight fouls per contest, so Texas will have to spread out the whistles to keep their starters in the game.

Defending Williams will be a challenge for Texas. Thompson cannot defend him on the perimeter and would often be beaten on Williams’ slashing attacks. Jordan Hamilton, meanwhile, is a perfect match-up in size and athleticism, but has had his share of defensive lapses this season. Gary Johnson gives up a few inches, but is athletic enough to stick with Williams on the dribble-drive. Of course, if Johnson is tasked with Williams, you can be sure Arizona will isolate him in the post.

While Arizona is a strong three-point shooting team, they have hit the skids recently. In the Pac 10 championship game, Arizona made just 33.3% of their shots from behind the arc, and ultimately lost to Washington in overtime. In their second round NCAA game against Memphis, the ‘Cats made just 26.3% from long range and struggled to knock off the Tigers. If Texas can contain Arizona’s three-point threat, the Wildcat offense becomes much less potent.

Although Texas isn’t a team that turns you over that often, the Longhorns will want to pressure the Arizona guards. This will help with the perimeter defense, and also can lead to some costly Wildcat turnovers. This young Arizona team has had seven different games with turnover rates north of 23%, so the Longhorns should be able to force mistakes. Late in games this season, the Wildcat guards have also had fits with full-court presses, particularly traps in the backcourt.

On offense, Texas needs to attack inside. We’ve already discussed the statistical gulf between Arizona’s perimeter and interior defense, but the Memphis game showed just how successful the Longhorns can be. The Tigers constantly drove baseline and found open layups or easy interior passes against the Arizona defense. For Hamilton and J’Covan Brown, that weakness on the baseline is excellent news.

Finally, Texas cannot dig a hole. The Wildcats are 26-2 this season when leading at halftime, and a big part of that is their success at the line. Arizona has made 75% of their free throws this year, while the Longhorns have stumbled to a 65% mark. If this is a close game in the final minutes, the edge would have to go to Arizona. The Longhorns need to be in control when the game comes down to the wire, or it could spell the end of their season.

After last year’s disappointing collapse and ignominious exit in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Texas fans were understandably skittish about embracing this year’s team. Even after a torrid 11-0 start to conference play, Longhorn Nation was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. It finally did, in the form of three losses in the team’s last five conference games and a slide to second in the conference standings.

Selection Sunday stung the spurned Longhorn fans even more. Texas dropped from a No. 2 or a No. 3 seed to a No. 4 seed, and drew a terribly tough match-up in an Oakland team that was probably under-seeded with its placement on the 13 line. Despite the tough draw, the Longhorns took a step towards erasing the demons of their past, hanging on to an 85-81 win against a feisty Oakland club on Friday afternoon.

While the win is just one small step in a much larger goal, it came as a relief to those Longhorn fans still skeptical after last year. Arizona will provide yet another tough test on Sunday in the NCAA Third Round, but at least for one day, Texas fans can finally breathe a little easier.

What looked good

The Longhorns did an excellent job forcing Oakland to settle for three-pointers. The Grizzlies averaged just 35% of their shots from behind the arc coming into the game, but took 39% of their attempts from long range on Friday. Texas was able to contest most of those looks, locking down sharpshooter Travis Bader and limiting him to a 2-for-11 performance from long range. Coming into the game, the freshman was drilling nearly 46% of his three-point attempts.

Star senior guard Reggie Hamilton found it just as tough to score from outside. He was just 2-of-9 against the Texas defense, and both of those threes came on stepback shots with a Longhorn defender just inches away from him. Texas couldn’t do anything better to defend those shots, and you simply have to tip your cap to Hamilton for sticking those looks.

Inside, Texas freshman Tristan Thompson did a fantastic job against Oakland’s Keith Benson. Thompson broke the school record for blocks in an NCAA game by swatting seven Oakland attempts, and four of those blocks came against Benson.

Oakland’s big man is a guaranteed NBA player, and might even be a lottery pick in the next NBA draft. Despite that intimidating match-up, Thompson set the tone early by taking it at Benson and forced Oakland to change their defensive approach to protect their star from foul trouble. Tristan finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points to go with 10 boards.

Jordan Hamilton also posted a double-double for Texas by scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He drove the lane consistently against Oakland, eschewing his usual flurry of three-point attempts. Hamilton took only three shots from behind the arc, the fewest attempts he’s had in a game since the team’s win against Kansas in Lawrence on January 22nd.

Against Oakland, Jordan made eight of his 14 attempts from inside the arc, simply because he put the ball on the floor and attacked the seams in the defense. If Hamilton will continue to attack defenses as the Longhorns move forward in the tournament, it will make the offense look much more like the well-oiled machine we saw in January and not the painfully stagnant mess we watched in late February.

Gary Johnson also had a solid game for Texas, which was a relief after how the last few weeks had gone for the senior. Johnson was just 26.7% from the field in the team’s last five games, including a 21.7% mark at the Big 12 tournament which included three missed dunks. Against Oakland, he was 4-of-6 from the field — including a made dunk — and was able to consistently knock down his patented mid-range jumper.

Off the bench, J’Covan Brown provided another solid game. He led the team with 21 points, twelve of them coming at the free throw line, where he was perfect on the day. While he had a tough time scoring inside against the physical Oakland frontcourt, Brown was able to manufacture points for his team by getting to the line. J’Covan also added three assists and six boards, and had an incredible block on a closeout against Bader on a three-point attempt.

It’s also worth noting that the rest of the team did fairly well at the free throw line, too. Hamilton and Cory Joseph were both 3-of-4 at the line, with all of Joseph’s attempts coming in the final minute of the game. Thompson was just 3-of-6 at the stripe, but at this point, 50% from the big man is a minor victory. With his season average sitting at 48.6%, Longhorn fans are simply hoping Thompson can sink one out of every two.

What needed work

Texas had just 10 turnovers in 71 possessions, but when the Longhorns did make mistakes with the basketball, it led to runs for Oakland. With Texas up 12 late in the first half, three straight turnovers and a missed three allowed the Grizzlies to slice the lead to just five points.

At the end of the game, Texas again made some poor decisions with the ball. With just five minutes left, Texas led by 15, but had three turnovers down the stretch to aid a furious Oakland comeback bid. The most egregious mistake was when Gary Johnson tried to single-handedly break the Oakland press, dribbling it three-quarters of the court before having it stolen. Oakland drilled a three on the ensuing possession, and Texas’ lead had shrunk to five.

Games are going to be close for the rest of the season, so the Longhorns must make better decisions in the clutch. The ball simply has to be passed to the best shooters on the floor. Rick Barnes was furious with Hamilton for passing to a poor free-throw shooter in crunch time against Kansas in Lawrence, so you have to be concerned that this could be a deadly trend in March.

Finally, it should be noted that the Longhorns had some major issues shutting down the slashing attack of Oakland inside. While Texas did a great job contesting Oakland’s long-range shots, it was often far too easy for the Grizzlies to score inside. The Longhorns allowed 1.148 points per possession, which was just under Oakland’s season average coming into the game.

A big part of Oakland’s excellent offensive efficiency was the 38 points they scored in the paint. with Benson limited to 12 points from the field, most of those points in the paint came on layups from the slashing guards and wings. If the Longhorns are going to continue to advance in the tournament, they will have to make sure the defense shuts down driving lanes as well as it shuts down the perimeter.

Next up: vs. Arizona (28-7) in Tulsa, OK; 5:10 P.M. CT, Sunday

March has been a tough month for the Texas Longhorns in recent years. In the first half of the decade, Texas was one of the nation’s best performers in the NCAA tournament. From 2002 to 2006, the Longhorns made the Sweet 16 four different times, played in one Elite Eight, and even landed in the Final Four in 2003.

But since then, Texas has had difficulties advancing past the first weekend. Although the Longhorns advanced to the Elite Eight as a No. 2 seed in 2008, they lost in the second round in both 2007 and 2009, and were knocked out at the overtime buzzer in the first round by Wake Forest last season.

Throw in the epic collapse by last year’s Texas team, and there’s been a lot of national attention on Texas this March. Yahoo’s Jason King claimed that Rick Barnes is the coach with the most pressure in this NCAA tournament, and he may be right. But even more than historical trends and cute storylines, the true source of pressure comes in the form of a very tough opening match-up for the Longhorns.

Predicted by many to be a No. 2 seed in this year’s field, Texas inexplicably showed up on the 4-seed line when the brackets were revealed. As an added bonus, the Longhorns were paired with the Summit League champion Oakland, a very scary squad that could easily pull off the upset.

By the numbers

The Grizzlies are an up-tempo team that can score the ball in a hurry. Oakland averages 72.9 possessions per game, which is the 7th-fastest pace in D-I basketball and a full six possessions per game faster than the Longhorns.

Oakland has a team full of quick, athletic players that can score, and as a result, have a solid offensive efficiency mark of 1.159 points per possession. Their effective field goal percentage — a statistic that takes into account the greater value of a three-point shot — is third-best in the nation at 56.1%.

All of the Golden Grizzlies have excellent handles, and it allows them to run tons of curls from the perimeter following ball screens. They also move really well without the basketball, leading to tons of open looks at the rim when defenses lose their men on the backcuts. Add in one of the nation’s premier big men, and it’s easy to see why Oakland’s offensive numbers are so potent.

The Golden Grizzlies want to turn today’s game into a track meet because they simply cannot defend. They allow more than 1.03 adjusted points per possession, ranking them 200th in the country. Oakland doesn’t guard the perimeter, where opponents are shooting more than 36%, and the Grizzlies simply don’t force turnovers.

Meet the Golden Grizzlies

The player you’ve heard about all week is big man Keith Benson. At 6’11”, he’s much more athletic and sleek than other players his size. Benson leads Oakland with 18 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, and is guaranteed to be a first-round draft pick if the NBA doesn’t follow the same path as the NFL this summer.

Benson is tough to defend because he’s much more mobile than other big men. He can knock down the jump shot, even out to the three point line, where he is 9-for-22 on the season. Inside, his length makes it practically impossible to block his shot, and he has a solid left-handed hook.

Benson isn’t just the scoring machine inside for Oakland, though. He was the Summit League’s Defensive Player of the Year, and is leading his team with 3.6 blocked shots per game.

In the backcourt, Reggie Hamilton gets the Oakland offense going. A junior, Hamilton transferred from UMKC and has made an immediate impact for Coach Greg Kampe. He can drive the lane with either hand, and has such a quick first step that he can easily get to the rim or stick a quick pull-up jumper that leaves defenders stumbling backwards.

The speedy Hamilton is also the facilitator in the Oakland offense. When he’s dissecting defenses with his dribble-drive, the junior always has his head up, looking for passing lanes that open up as the defense reacts. As a result, Hamilton averages more than 5.3 assists per game.

Joining Hamilton in the backcourt is freshman sharpshooter Travis Bader. The 6’4″ Michigan product is averaging more than 10 points per game, in large part thanks to his ridiculous three-point shot. Bader has made 45.8% of his long-range attempts this season, and is second on the team with 201 attempts.

At the three, slasher Drew Valentine is averaging 7.9 points per game. He is a steady ball-handler who can finish through traffic thanks to his strength, and he is constantly active on the glass. Valentine averages 5.6 rebounds per game for Oakland.

Another excellent rebounder for the Grizzlies is senior forward Will Hudson. Even though Hudson is often at the free-throw line when Oakland runs their high-low game with Benson, he is still second on the team with 7.1 rebounds per game, and is 44th in the nation with an offensive rebounding mark of 14.1%.

Guard Larry Wright was the Summit League’s Sixth Man of the Year, averaging 9.8 points per game. He is yet another long-range weapon for Coach Kampe, drilling 35.8% of his attempts from behind the arc.

Another guard off the bench is tiny freshman Ryan Bass. He only averaged 9.5 minutes per game this season, but saw his average climb to 11.3 minutes in conference play. Like Hamilton, Bass is a speedster, but hasn’t been able to handle defensive pressure as well as the starter. When Hamilton needed a breather in the Summit League Championship, Oral Roberts broke out a full-court press against Bass and caused major issues.

The only other player to see significant minutes in Oakland’s eight-man core rotation is guard Ledrick Eackles. Like Bass, he averaged just over 11 minutes per game in Summit League play, and averaged nearly four points per game. The son of former NBA player Ladell Eackles, Ledrick has yet to make a huge impact on the Oakland program.

Keys to the game

As Texas fans saw all too clearly last Saturday, the number one thing the Longhorns must do is keep Tristan Thompson out of foul trouble. Benson is an exceptional post player that is going to give Thompson a real challenge in the paint. Texas needs Tristan’s scoring punch and offensive rebounding skills to keep the offense clicking, so he simply cannot afford to pick up cheap fouls guarding the 6’11” Benson.

On defense, Texas must stop Oakland’s transition game. The Golden Grizzlies score a ton of points on the fast break, but score even more on the secondary break. The Longhorns need to get down the court in a hurry and force Oakland into playing a half-court game.

The Grizzlies haven’t faced a defense as good as Texas’ since they played Ohio State back in December. In that one, the Buckeyes held Oakland to just 0.862 points per possession. If Texas can keep the Grizzlies from getting a lot of easy points on the fast break and secondary break, they can have the same kind of defensive success.

If Texas is able to do that, they then must also limit damage from the perimeter. While Benson is an outstanding player, he will not beat the Longhorns on his own. If Texas can shut down the transition game and prevent Oakland from knocking down threes, there is no way Oakland can win the game solely on Benson’s talent.

One of the biggest reasons that teams get upset in NCAA play is hot three-point shooting from low-seeded opponents. With five different Grizzlies posting three-point percentages of greater than 35%, Texas has to make sure it doesn’t fall prey to that this morning.

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.