March Madness 2026: Texas joins rare company of First Four teams in Sweet 16
The Longhorns staggered their way into the First Four of the NCAA Tournament. Now they’re one of the last 16 remaining after knocking out Gonzaga.
PORTLAND, OREGON - MARCH 21: Nic Codie #10 and Camden Heide #5 of the Texas Longhorns celebrate after beating the Gonzaga Bulldogs 74-68 in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Moda Center on March 21, 2026 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images) | Getty Images It’s not been a great NCAA Men’s Tournament for the double-digit seeds. That is, unless you’re Sean Miller’s Texas Longhorns.
The No. 11 seed avoided disaster with some late Travon Mark heroics against NC State in the First Four, then vanquished AJ Dybantsa and BYU in the first round, and now they’ve taken out No. 3 seed Gonzaga 74-68 in front of an unsurprisingly pro-Gonzaga crowd at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
It’s the first time Texas has advanced to the Sweet 16 as a 10-seed or lower since 1997, and it’s tied for the lowest seed Mark Few has ever lost to in his distinguished coaching career. With Texas up 69-68 in the closing seconds, Cam Heide, who’d only played 13 minutes and hadn’t scored all game, was left wide open in the corner for what was effectively a dagger three. The transfer from Purdue shot 46 percent from deep on the year, and he picked on hell of a time to get on the scoresheet.
"HOW SWEET IT IS TO BE A LONGHORN" 🤘 @TexasMBB DANCES ON TO THE SWEET 16 🕺 #MarchMadness pic. twitter. com/Arb6sfDgRe — NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2026 Texas turned it over just five times to 20 assists, with guard Dailyn Swain putting in a highly efficient 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.