Texas' improbable run to Sweet 16 comes with one clear message: not Cinderella
Miller's Longhorns won three NCAA Tournament games in five days to keep dancing in March Madness
From the First Four to the Sweet 16, Texas coach Sean Miller expected to be here after an arduous season in the SEC, courtesy of a brutal schedule. Miller walked off the floor following Saturday's 74-68 win over third-seeded Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, refusing to acknowledge a Cinderella slipper after his team became the only double-digit seed to make it to the second weekend of March Madness.
Texas (21-14), an 11-seed, now has 11 NCAA Tournament wins all-time as a double-digit seed, the most in college basketball since seeding began in 1979.
"I don't think we ever want to sign up to be the Cinderella story, because we are the University of Texas, and what we represent in the SEC," Miller said. "There's no easy game in the SEC. The league itself prepares you for the postseason. Sometimes the lessons you learned along the way strengthen you. We're a much better team right now than we would have been a month ago."
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The Longhorns are the sixth team to reach the Sweet 16 after initially opening March Madness in a First Four matchup since that round began in 2011. Texas lost five of its final six games coming into the tournament and was firmly on the bubble entering Selection Sunday before handling NC State in the First Four and disposing of BYU earlier this week.
Much like Miller, Gonzaga coach Mark Few pushed back on the Longhorns' Cinderella label after watching his team struggle to corral the Texas frontcourt. Few is the winningest coach in NCAA Tournament history without a national title with 45 career victories.
"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," Few said. "They make literally no sense. No, (Texas) is not a Cinderella team. That's a really talented basketball team with a really, really, really good coach that has incredible resources.
"(Miller) has a great history of doing great things in the tournament. It's just an 11-seed that had some tough losses during the year, but definitely more than talented enough to win another game after this."
Miller is the 10th coach to take three different programs to the Sweet 16. He previously led Arizona there five times and Xavier three times. Texas will face either No. 7 seed Miami or No. 2 seed Purdue on Thursday in San Jose. The Longhorns lost to the Hurricanes in the 2023 Elite Eight and to Purdue during the second round in 2022.
UCLA is the last First Four team to reach the Final Four, doing so in 2021.
"We just needed a chance," Longhorns guard Dailyn Swain said. "We didn't end the regular season in the way we wanted to, but we never gave up on each other and that drew us closer. We all took a different approach, we all kind of stepped up our play, and as you can see, had a more balanced attack in this postseason."
