Texas Longhorns Odds to Win 2008 NCAA Tournament

March 3, 2008

Many people thought that the Texas Longhorns were the best team of the country heading into its match up against in state rival Texas Tech, but the Longhorns got a big surprise when the Red Raiders pulled off an impressive 83-80 victory. With that loss the Longhorns drop to 24-5 and move back to a tie with Kansas atop the Big 12 Conference standings at 11-3, but hold the tiebreaker as they beat Kansas earlier in the year. Playing in one of the toughest conferences in the country they had a pretty impressive non-conference schedule beating the likes of UCLA and Tennessee. The Longhorns started off the season at 11-0 before losing back-to-back games against Big Ten powers Michigan St. and Wisconsin. While the set back against the Red Raiders will have many people second guessing if the Longhorns can win it all, we still think they are one of the best teams in the NCAA.Rick Barnes is the man on the bench that leads the Longhorns to battle. The Longhorns are led on the floor by what many people think is the best point guard in college basketball in sophomore D.J. Augustin, who is averaging 19.7 PPG and 5.8 APG. Augustin as you can tell not only does an excellent job leading the team in scoring he makes everyone else around him better. Junior A.J. Abrams is the second leading scorer on the team with 16.5 PPG. Abrams is also the team’s big 3-point threat as he has hit 37.7% of his 231 attempts. Damion James and Conner Atchley are also big threats from behind the arc as James has hit 43.9% and Atchley is hitting nearly half the time at 49.3%, but don’t take near as many attempts as Abrams. James brings in 12.8 PPG and 10.5 RPG, while Atchley brings in a solid 10 PPG and 5.3 RPG. Justin Mason is the guy that no one really knows about in the starting five, but he does a little bit of everything bringing in nearly 7 PPG, 4 RPG, 2.5 APG, and a steal a game.

The Longhorns still have two games remaining before the Big 12 Tournament. They get to play two home games against Nebraska and Oklahoma St. While they have yet to play Nebraska they should pose no problem, and they have already beat Oklahoma St. The Longhorns will need to keep from having another slip up in the final two games, if they want a chance at a #1 seed come tournament time. The Longhorns might get a highly anticipated rematch against Kansas, if both teams are able to make it to the Big 12 Tournament title game.

The Longhorns are currently #5, but could see a big drop in the polls as there are plenty of good teams around them in the rankings. It doesn’t really matter cause in our eyes Texas is still one of the best teams in the country, if not the best. They have showed the ability of beating the best teams when it handed Kansas, UCLA, and Tennessee losses this season. It took Texas Tech a near perfect game to take down the Longhorns, as they were almost able to come back for the victory. The Longhorns should be a #2 seed at worst, and still have a good shot at getting a #1 seed if they are able to win out. The Longhorns are one of a few teams that we feel have everything you need to make a big run come tournament time, and wouldn’t be surprised at all if they are your 2008 champions

2008 Texas Longhorns Odds to Win NCAA Tournament: 10/1

Sportsbook.com is a great place to do all your NCAA Tournament betting. Continue to check out Sportsbook.com for your entire tournament betting needs, as they will have the odds for every team and every game in the big dance. As always feel free to leave any comments in our comment box.

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Texas Longhorns Odds to Win 2008 NCAA Tournament

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