Texas Longhorns vs Minnesota Gophers Preview

First Round, East Regional
Texas Longhorns versus Minnesota Gophers
Greensboro, NC
Thursday, March 19, 2009, 6:10pm

With the tip-off of Texas’s first round match up against Minnesota about a day away, here is a bevy of links to previews of the game. (See my own prediction below the links.)

Barking Carnival

• NCAA Tournament Regional Ramblings: The East
• Texas Basketball vs. Minnesota Opening Round Preview
• It’s Gopher Season
• A Look at the Texas Bracket

Burnt Orange Nation

• Bracket Breakdown: East Regional
• Morning Coffee Is Ready To Play Whack-A-Gopher
• Texas Draws #7 Seed In East, Will Face Minnesota Thursday
• Probing The Enemy: The Daily Gopher

The Austin American Statesman

• Stopping Pittman will be key for Minnesota
• For Horns, Minnesota (and its mall, 10,000 lakes) awaits

MySanAntonio.com

• Barnes keeping Longhorns loose before opener against Minnesota

The Houston Chronicle

• Longhorns face Minnesota in first round
• Horns aren’t new to this: Experience helps Barnes take a calm approach

The Dallas Morning News

• Texas, Texas A&M have tough road to NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16
• Pittman’s role is now what’s huge at Texas

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

• Dexter Pittman proves he’s a force for Texas Longhorns

Temple Daily Telegram

• Experienced Longhorns, Smith’s resurgent Golden Gophers meet in first round

SportingNews

• East matchup: No. 7 Texas vs. No. 10 Minnesota

Burnt Orange Beat

• Texas Hooks a 7 Seed

InsideTexas.com

• Video: Preview with Rick Barnes and Tubby Smith

Star-Telegram.com

• Rick Barnes will coach against old friend Tubby Smith

KSTP TV

• Gophers start their journey to NC

Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages

• Don’t fear the Steer: Gophers vs. Texas preview

TwinCities.com

• Minnesota Gophers are underdogs against Texas in NCAA tournament first round
• It’s now or never for Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team
• Tom Powers: In order for Gophers to win, they must play physical Big Ten basketball

StarTribune.com

• When Gophers big boys become big men

From the Barn

• Gophers trying to continue success while the Longhorns hope to salvage their season

The Fourth Strike

• Texas Game Preview

The Daily Gopher

• Texas vs. Minnesota, 7 vs. 10, Barnes vs. Tubby

GopherHole.com

• March Madness Breakdown—Minnesota vs. Texas

Point-Spreads.com

• Minnesota vs Texas March Madness Bracket Predictions

BetUS

• The Texas Longhorns – Always Good Come Tournament Time

InGameNow

• #7 Texas Longhorns vs. #10 Minnesota Golden Gophers

I’ll update this list as additional previews come in tonight and Thursday.

---

So, what am I expecting from the game?

I agree with Trips Right of Barking Carnival that Texas matches up very well against Minnesota. On the other hand, Texas has already lost this season to worse teams.

Texas has been a confusing and frustrating team this season, playing great one night, and horribly the next. And more than once, we’ve done both in the same night.

If Texas can press the tempo to chew into the relatively short Minnesota bench and keep Pittman out of foul trouble inside, we should be fine.

But don’t expect Texas to put away Minnesota early. The Gophers will likely hang around longer than any of us would like, and if Texas doesn’t finish well (something that has been a problem this season), we could be one and done.