NCAA (and WNIT) Tournament Preview: Does the state have a chance?

It's a quiet year for the state of Texas in the NCAA Tournament, with just two teams from the state making an appearance in the Big Dance this year. Texas enters as a four-seed, while Baylor is an seven-seed. It's a shame the NCAA Tournament won't have much Lone Star flavor this year in particular since the Final Four is happening in Dallas. But Texas in particular is a team that's built to win in March, with its emphasis on defense, so don't count out a Longhorns appearance in Dallas in a few weeks.

And while the NCAA is missing Texas teams, the WNIT has plenty of them. Rice, SMU, Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas State, Texas Tech and UTEP will all make appearances in the tournament, setting up an interesting month there. Rice is the only Texas team to win the WNIT, taking the 2021 title. Can a second Texas school etch its name in the WNIT record book?