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Television analysts Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley aren't giving BYU much of a chance to beat Texas in Thursday's NCAA Tournament first-round game
Texas guard Tramon Mark (12), left, scores a go-ahead basket with 1 second remaining during the second half in a First Four college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament against North Carolina State, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Dayton, Ohio. | Kareem Elgazzar If the sixth-seeded BYU Cougars listened to Tuesday night’s television broadcast of the NCAA Tournament First Four game pitting No. 11 seeds Texas and North Carolina State, they will have plenty of motivation in their first-round game on Thursday.
Before Tramon Mark hit the game-winner with a second left to give Texas a 68-66 victory and a date with BYU on Thursday at Moda Center in Portland, Ore. , television analysts Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley both predicted that the winner would handle the Cougars at 5:25 p. m.
MDT in the Big Dance. Texas led 64-56 with 1:42 remaining before NC State rallied to tie it. The commentators posited that BYU is not a threat to either team without second-leading scorer Richie Saunders, who suffered an ACL injury on Feb.
14 against Colorado and has not played since. They did mention that BYU has one of the best players in the country, freshman sensation AJ Dybantsa. Vitale said the 6-foot-9 small forward should be the No.