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    Texas a Cinderella? No way, just a hot March Madness team at right time

    Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY
    ·
    5 min read

    PORTLAND, OR — Do you know that feeling when trying on clothes and physically, it fits, but really it doesn’t?

    There’s just something off. Maybe it doesn’t look good. Maybe it’s not the right style. Maybe there really isn’t a reason, other than it just isn’t right.

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    That’s exactly what’s going on in the NCAA Tournament .

    A spectacle that is built on chaos hasn’t had much of it, with the 2026 edition producing just four double-digit first round winners. Only one of them is moving onto the Sweet 16 , meaning we’ll get a single Cinderella.

    And who will be the lucky one riding the carriage? Texas ?

    Oh, that’s no Cinderella.

    In March Madness, one size does not in fact fit all.

    “I don't think we ever really want to sign up to be the Cinderella story,” said Texas coach Sean Miller. “Because we are the University of Texas.”

    Camden Heide #5 of the Texas Longhorns celebrates after making a shot against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Moda Center on March 21, 2026 in Portland, Oregon.
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    Texas stuns Gonzaga to clinch Sweet 16 berth in NCAA Tournament

    Camden Heide #5 of the Texas Longhorns celebrates after making a shot against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Moda Center on March 21, 2026 in Portland, Oregon.

    It’s a puzzling juxtaposition: the tournament always calls for an underdog to root for, but you can’t be much of one when you – checks notes – recorded $331.9 million in operating revenues and $325 million in operating expenses in the 2024 fiscal year.

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    Even though this was its 11th NCAA Tournament win as a double-digit seed, Texas is so far from a Cinderella, one could argue it’s the evil stepsister.

    To their credit, the Longhorns tried to not be one. They just weren’t really successful at it. Sure it had some notable wins but it also: lost to Duke in the season opener, finished sixth in a not-so-loaded Maui Invitational, had a 8-9 Quad 1 record to go along with 1-4 Quad 2 mark and a Quad 3 loss.

    “In some ways, the first couple of months of our season were very much a work in progress,” Miller said.

    Texas limped into the tournament with a three-game losing streak that pushed them into having to play in the First Four. Not ideal, but it did something that you never want to give teams with potential: an opportunity.

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    “We had a players-only meeting, and we just talked about that we just needed a chance,” said Texas guard Dailyn Swain.

    A chance Texas has taken full advantage of. The Longhorns edged NC State in the First Four, completely outperformed AJ Dybantsa and BYU in the first round and on Saturday night in Portland, were one step ahead of a veteran Gonzaga squad playing in its own backyard.

    It’s not so much a Cinderella, but a team playing up to the capabilities and expectations set on them. It just so happens there’s a little No. 11 right next to their name.

    “We're all adults here in this room,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few. “Some of these monikers we put on everybody from Cinderella to blue bloods and all that, I have a hell of a time understanding it. I mean, they make literally no sense.

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    “That is not a Cinderella team. That's a really talented basketball team with a really, really, really good coach, that has incredible resources and has a great history of doing great things in the tournament. That's just a 11-seed that had some tough losses during the year,” he added.

    Iowa State Cyclones fans cheer against the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Enterprise Center on March 22, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri.

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    See best of March Madness 2026, from mascots and fans to celebrities

    Iowa State Cyclones fans cheer against the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Enterprise Center on March 22, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri.

    The result might say something larger about the state of Cinderellas. This will now be back-to-back years without them.

    Yes, Texas ensures that there will be a double-digit seed in the Sweet 16, which has happened in every tournament except 2007 since expanding in 1985. But last year’s representative was Arkansas, a program that threw $7 million at John Calipari to get him to leave Kentucky. The one before that barely counts because at the end of the day, NC State is an ACC team with a rich history.

    While we frantically wonder if the mid-majors are truly toast from making deep runs in the Big Dance, you do have to give Texas credit. The expectation isn’t for Texas to lose 14 games in a season, but it is expected to do exactly what it’s doing right now. This is not the same team that lost five of its last six games heading into Selection Sunday.

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    Jordan Pope is playing like the elite guard expected when he transferred from Oregon State in 2024. Matas Vokietaitis is completely commanding the interior, dominating any big man that dares get in his way. Sean Miller is showing why this will be ninth Sweet 16 trip, deciding to put in Camden Heide to hit the 3-point dagger against the Bulldogs. This looks like a real SEC contender.

    The road to it wasn’t pretty, and that’s what makes Texas a great story. It figured it out at the right time when a lot of people counted them out. It makes them easy to root for. The Longhorns should celebrate this and have the mindset of a giant slayer when it arrives at the Sweet 16.

    They have all the makings of it, but still, don’t try to fit the glass slipper on Bevo.

    “Sometimes the lessons you've learned along the way strengthen you. We're a much better team right now than we would have been a month ago. I think we're playing our best, everybody wants to play their best in March, and we just so happen to do it,” Miller said. “Hopefully we can keep going.”

    This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas a March Madness Cinderella? Nope, just hot Sweet 16 team at right time

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