March Madness begins with UT as No. 3 seed in NCAA Tournament

With the team's first-ever Big 12 Conference title under its belt, UT men's basketball has secured a spot as the No. 3 seed in the first round of the upcoming 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

Texas will face the East Region's No. 14 seed Abilene Christian, who are also conference champs, at 8:50 p.m. on Saturday.

This is the first time that UT has entered the tournament as a No. 3 seed or higher in over a decade and will be the team's 35th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Longhorns have now made the sixth-most NCAA Tournament appearances in the country.

While Texas' conference-winning season has been historic, they'll face the Abilene Christian Wildcats, who defeated Southland Conference foe Nicholls State in a blowout for their first-ever conference title this season. ACU has made only one other appearance in the national championship since they moved up to Division I in 2017.

Texas is coming off of a 91-86 win over Oklahoma State that saw the team ramp up its momentum to a five-game win streak. With leadership from senior guard Matt Coleman II, who scored a career-high 30 points in his final Big 12 performance, the team was able to keep the lead for the entire second half and secure their first championship win.

While Abilene Christian will need to watch out for Coleman and formidable senior forward Jericho Sims, Texas can't keep its guard down against the ultimate underdogs that have made themselves known as a threatening mid-major team.

Clocking in at seven feet tall, ACU's Kolton Kohl will keep a 6'10 Sims plenty busy in the paint, while a Wildcat defense that holds the most turnovers per game in the nation (20.26) is sure to keep the entire Longhorn offense on their toes.