It’s all set, and it’s exactly what the NCAA Tournament and the TV partners wanted — Rick Barnes vs. Texas. The Volunteers crushed 15-seed Saint Peter’s on Thursday night in Charlotte, while Texas handled Colorado State to advance.
It was a 56-44 win for Rodney Terry and the Longhorns, which sets the stage for another matchup between Texas and their old head coach, Rick Barnes. Texas fired Barnes following the 2014-15 season, after multiple early exits in the NCAA Tournament. Those results have followed Barnes to Tennessee — a narrative he would like to begin to shed over the next couple of weeks.