Tons of great pub following the Texas win in Bramlage last night. ESPN’s Around the Rim takes a look at Connor Atchley’s success against Kansas teams, while Jason Whitlock rubs it in the face of Wildcat fans…not that it’s anything new from the Star‘s salaried Jayhawk fanboy. Over at CBS Sportsline, Dennis Dodd praises the Horns and takes digs at Kansas. What’s not to love? A little closer to home, Mark Rosner at the Statesman gives us the Longhorn angle from press row.

I missed Stewart Mandel’s new bracket projections in yesterday’s Fast Break, but with $2 “Madcow Monday” pints waiting at Manhattan’s Little Apple Brewing Company, you can see why I may have been distracted. Mandel is also slotting Texas a 1-seed, putting them out west in Phoenix. He’s also got our friends at Belmont playing their way up to a 14-seed, which makes this traveler feel much better. Elsewhere in the muddled Big 12, Stewart likes Kansas (2-seed), Kansas State (7), Oklahoma (8), Baylor (9), and Texas A&M (9).

Joe Lunardi breaks down the odds for 1-seeds in today’s column (ESPN Insider required). He’s got Texas with a 40% chance to grab a spot on the top line, citing the head-to-head win in Pauley as his reasoning. But when he projects things out to the actual bracket we’ll see in three weeks, he thinks the Horns could be headed to Phoenix as a 2-seed, where they could eventually rematch with a top-seeded UCLA team. Oh, the humanity.

The Longhorns come into Manhattan, Kansas tonight riding their first-ever seven-game conference winning streak and looking for their first undefeated February since the 1960’s. Standing in their way are the Kansas State Wildcats, a very scary team with a potential National Player of the Year. They have not lost a home game in conference play, and only dropped an overtime game against Oregon in their non-conference home slate.

By the numbers

The Wildcats have a fairly efficient offense that can really push the tempo. According to Ken Pomeroy’s metrics, K-State is the 18th-fastest team in the country and the 17th-most efficient. Their best statistical measure, though, comes on the offensive glass, where they are the top rated team in the nation. Texas has occasionally struggled with keeping big teams from getting second chances in the half-court, so they’ll have to keep K-State off the glass in this one.

The 1-2 punch

By now, everyone has heard of Michael Beasley, the man who could be the second-consecutive freshman to win National Player of the Year. Against Baylor on Saturday, he scored a league-record 44 points against the Bears in a losing effort. He’s an incredibly tough player to defend because he can score in the post, knock down mid-range jumpers, and sink the three-pointer with ease. Even when the D is tight on B-Easy, he often can launch lightning-quick pull-back Js with little space. The Longhorns are going to have their hands full with Beasley, but perhaps could learn from the box-and-one look that the Huskers threw at him on Wednesday night, in a game where they held him to a mere mortal line of 17 points and 10 boards.

Bill Walker is the next-best player on Kansas State, but he’s more than used to being second fiddle despite his great talent. In high school, he was the second-in-command to O.J. Mayo and is more than happy chipping in double-digit points with the defenses keyed on his high-powered teammates. The world-famous Towel Pisser is averaging 17 points and 7 boards per game, and his play has reached a new level in Big 12 games. Although he claims he can’t jump quite as high as he did prior to last year’s ACL injury, he still has a sweet three-point stroke and can quickly drive and dunk on defenders who over-pursue on the perimeter.

What to look for

1) Can Texas hang with the ‘Cats on the glass? They’ve looked really good in the rebounding department the last few weeks, but K-State is as solid as they get. Texas cannot afford to give up extra possessions to Martin’s bunch, and they also cannot afford to settle for perimeter shots of their own without crashing the boards.

2) How will Texas respond to the crowd? The Longhorns need to come out firing on all cylinders and cannot afford to get behind early. Reports from our KSU friends say that the student line is a bit soft this week, which is to be expected following the disappointing road losses to Nebraska and Baylor. But the fact of the matter is that Bramlage Coliseum is one of the most underrated home court advantages in the country, and it will still be rocking tonight. Texas cannot afford to let the crowd fuel the team like the Missouri fans did back in January.

3) What will the role players do? Beast-ley and Walker will both get their points, but it’s a question of how the rest of the ‘Cats do tonight. The Longhorns are a high-scoring team that can handle a 30+ game from Beasley, but if Clent Stewart, Jacob Pullen, and Blake Young play over their heads offensively, Texas could have problems. Rick Barnes’ team obviously must work hard to defend Beasley, but they can’t devote so much attention to him that the rest of the ‘Cats win the game.

This game is going to be the biggest test left for Texas, and was a game that I had penciled in as a loss earlier in the season. The recent play of the Longhorns has made it look much more winnable, but it is still going to be 40 minutes of hell. Vegas has the Wildcats as 3.5 point favorites, while Ken Pomeroy is predicting a 4-point K-State win. If by chance Texas can pull this one out, it is only more fodder for those pushing the Longhorns as a 1-seed in the Big Dance.

Action tips at 8 P.M., so if the Big East decides to finish their game on time, you can catch the action on ESPN.

For much of the season, the Texas Longhorns have been one of the most efficient teams in the country on offense, with their guards knocking down long-range shots at an alarming rate. But against Oklahoma on Saturday, Texas was a paltry 2-of-19 from behind the arc and still managed to blow out rival Oklahoma, 62-45. It was truly a culmination of improvements that have been building over the last few weeks, as areas of the Texas game which had been incredibly weak in December and January were suddenly spectacular.

The change in M.O. for the Longhorns meant that there were a lot of new things for Texas fans to get excited about. From the improved defense to freshmen stepping up, there seemed to be a different flash of brilliance in each minute of the ballgame. As we march towards the best post-season in sports, here are just a few of the things that Longhorn fans can take away from the solid victory…

Gary Johnson is a beast – The hard-working freshman fought on the glass all day and showcased his great moves on the block before re-injuring his nose in the second half. But after Fred Burnett and Rob Lazare stopped the blood from dripping onto the sidelines, Johnson was back in the game with a plugged nostril and a fiery demeanor. On one particular bucket, he attacked the rim, was fouled on the head, lost his mask, and still finished the play. Texas is finally a team with both an inside and outside threat, and G.J. has been the catalyst for that evolution.

D.J. Augustin got some rest – Texas controlled the game for the entire second half, and Rick Barnes finally gave Augustin some much needed bench time. D.J. sat for five minutes in this one, which may not seem like much until you realize that the nine total minutes of rest he earned against A&M and OU were more than he had in the ten previous games combined, which even included an overtime contest. If Rick can steal some more minutes for D.J. to catch a breath against Tech, Nebraska, or Oklahoma State, the odds improve for a lengthy Longhorn run in the post-season.

Alexis Wangmene can D up – Wangmene did an excellent job against Longar Longar in the paint, standing his ground, forcing bad shots, and even swatting two away. Lex also hit the glass hard, grabbing seven boards in only sixteen minutes of play. The emergence of Wangmene and Johnson in the post provide Barnes with so much more flexibility, and it makes the prospect of playing a tournament team with a solid front line much less intimidating.

Texas can rebound – Although Oklahoma seemed to grab 100 offensive boards on their first possession, they were only ahead in the rebounding war by a 6-1 count after a minute and a half of play. For the other 38-plus minutes, the Longhorns controlled the glass. Texas outboarded the visiting Sooners 43-34 the rest of the way, limiting OU to only eight second-chance points for the game.

This is finally a Rick Barnes team – Barnes is an incredible teacher on the defensive end, and this Texas team finally looks like one of the old Barnes squads that could lock down opponents. The Longhorns held A&M and OU to 30% and 26% shooting respectively, and opponents are averaging only 61 points per game during the seven-game win streak. And considering that this Texas team averages over 75 points per contest, that’s not giving Longhorn opponents much of a chance.

Tip-off for the K-State showdown is just five and a half hours away, so check back later this afternoon for a game preview. For now, we’re heading out to see a bit of Manhattan and grab some grub.

After a long drive through the night, we have arrived in Manhattan and are ready for a huge match-up this evening with a dangerous Kansas State team. A game preview will be on the way late this afternoon — the Little Apple Brewery is calling our name in the meantime — but first let’s take a look at the newest polls and bracket projections before looking at some of the biggest things we saw against OU.

Texas climbed to #5 in both polls this week, leapfrogging Kansas and Duke, who both suffered embarrassing losses on the road. The Jayhawks are checking in at 6th with the media and 7th with the coaches this week, leaving the Big 12 with only two teams in the Top 25, albeit both in the top ten slots. Kansas State dropped from the rankings after losing back-to-back road games to Nebraska and Baylor, but are still sitting in the “receiving votes” category along with Texas A&M, who has dropped three straight.

Joe Lunardi is also moving the Horns up, sliding Texas on to the 1-seed line out in Phoenix. Although we mentioned last week that the home-court advantage in Houston would be bigger than a 1-seed elsewhere, this is probably the best-case scenario for a non-Houston regional. Phoenix is the closest of the other sites, and as long as UCLA isn’t the 2-seed — which unfortunately is what Lunardi is projecting — there shouldn’t be the danger of a rabid crowd for a lower seeded team.

Texas faces its second rival in a week when Oklahoma comes to town today, hoping to snap a four-game losing streak to the Longhorns. This has recently been a rivalry with runs of domination, as Rick Barnes and Co. have won nine out of the last thirteen against the Sooners, who had previously taken eight in a row under Kelvin Sampson. But for Jeff Capel and Oklahoma, today is not about reversing history, but rather trying to solidify a bubble résumé with a victory over a Top 10 team.

The last time these two teams met, Texas had just been embarrassed at A&M before securing a comeback win at home over Baylor. Many fans were worried about the road game in Norman, and the early play from the Longhorns seemed to reinforce those fears. Texas shot only 25% in the first half, but trailed by only four at the break. A methodical second half and solid outside shooting from the guards propelled the Longhorns to a 10-point win in front of a booing crowd.

The biggest difference between the last match-up and this one is the return of Longar Longar, who missed the first game with what was described as a stress fracture. As we discussed in the preview of the February 6th game, depth in the post is a problem for Oklahoma. Longar’s return to the lineup will certainly improve that problem, as he provided 24 minutes off the bench against Baylor on Tuesday and might even work his way back into the starting lineup today.

For a look at the rest of the Sooner starters, you’ll want to re-read the first OU game preview. Tony Neysmith is the only player not mentioned that could have a significant impact today, as the freshman guard has started the last three games in place of Longar. He’s only averaging about six minutes and three points per game over that stretch, so he’s not a huge threat. But adding him to the mix gives the Sooners a chance to play with a smaller lineup, further protecting their lack of depth down low.

Ken Pomeroy is predicting a 10-point Texas win and giving the Horns an 83% chance of victory, while Vegas has UT as a 9-point favorite. Today’s game is sold out, so folks in middle America can check it out on ABC, while those on the coasts are stuck with Oregon/UCLA. Post-game will be coming later tonight, but in the meantime enjoy a day filled with great mid-major tussles, a 1-2 showdown, and the Longhorns wrecking the Sooners yet again.

Preview from Burnt Orange Nation