Houston, Texas Only Lone Star State Teams Still Alive in March Madness

AUSTIN, TX — The opening weekend of March Madness is over, and only two teams from the Lone Star State remain in the running for a national championship. One is a popular national championship pick, the No. 2 seed Houston Cougars, and the other is the unlikely No. 11 seed Texas Longhorns.

Houston Cougars

Houston continues another dominant season with two impressive wins to start the tournament. The Cougars handed out a pair of beatdowns to No. 15 Idaho, 78-47, and No. 10 Texas A&M, 88-57, to advance to Houston's 7th straight Sweet 16, the longest active streak in the nation.

Against the Aggies, a smothering defense remains Houston's greatest strength this season. Offensively, Senior guard Emanuel Sharp scored 18 points, while freshman forward Chris Cenac Jr. added 17 points and nine rebounds in the win.

The Cougars return to action on Thursday, March 26, inside the Toyota Center in downtown Houston against No. 3 Illinois. Tip-off in that matchup is scheduled for 9:05 p.m.

Texas Longhorns

After a weekend full of upsets, the Longhorns put a string of unlikely victories together to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2023. This is the 15th time in program history that Texas survived opening weekend and the first under first-year head coach Sean Miller.

This also marks the first time that Texas advanced to the Sweet 16 as a No. 8 seed or lower since 1997.

The Longhorns have already won three games so far in the tournament. As part of the "First Four", Texas had to beat NC State, 68-66, to even earn the 11-seed in the first place. After the win, Texas defeated No. 6 BYU 79-71 in the round of 64 before achieving yet another upset against 3-seed Gonzaga 74-68.

Sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis and senior guard Jordan Pope led the way for the Longhorns in the win over Gonzaga.

Next up, Texas faces off with No. 2-seeded Purdue in a matchup that favors the Boilermakers. At this point, it's tough to tell these Longhorns those odds, as they have taken every matchup in stride so far in the tournament.

Texas faces off with Purdue on Thursday, March 26, at the SAP Center in San Jose, CA. Tip-off in that matchup is scheduled for 6:10 p.m.