Wow!
Memphis is damn good. Enough about the Tigers. They have as good a shot as any at winning it all. If they play like they did in Houston, I don't think they lose another game.
For Longhorn fans, while today's loss is difficult to swallow, consider this--the team went above and beyond anyone's wildest expectations winning a team record 31 games, plus they were Big 12 regular season co-champs and finished 2nd in the Big 12 tourney.
I think Longhorn fans, myself included, figured this season could be special when they took down UCLA and Tennessee early in the season. They followed that with a big win over Kansas toward the end of the Big 12 play. Everything appeared to be rolling in the right direction. Even in the Big 12 finals against Kansas, anyone that watched that game had to figure those were two of the top five teams in the country. When the brackets came out, it looked like Kansas and Texas could meet once again for the national championship in San Antonio.
Kansas will be on the Riverwalk this coming weekend. Texas won't.
Memphis will be there instead. Make no mistake about it -- the Longhorns got beat by the better team today, plain and simple. The only way the Longhorns win today over an athletic and much bigger Memphis squad is if they have another offensive performance like they had against Tennessee earlier this year. It just didn't happen and the Memphis Tigers defense had everything to do with it. Forget their athletic prowess and high-flying offensive routine, these Cats can play some serious defense. Kevin Love and his UCLA teammates will find out soon enough.
So now for the Longhorns it's time to look to the future. Whether Damion James and D.J. Augustin stick around is yet to be seen. If they both leave, Rick Barnes will have to reload. He's grown quite adept at doing so. Remember that guy named Durant? Things didn't turn out so bad for the Horns after losing Mr. All-World last year.
If both the DJ's come back next season, I don't think any college basketball analyst in his right mind doesn't put the Longhorns at or near the top of pre-season polls. Barring something crazy happening during the season, I think the Horns would stay top two or three throughout the season like the team they lost to today did all this year.
We'll see what the future holds. Until then, it's time to imagine what could have been. Like, what happens if Texas beats Kansas in the Big 12 Tourney finals? Is Texas playing Davidson today? Oh, what could have been!
