A persistent problem for the Texas basketball program over the course of the last three seasons under the direction of head coach Shaka Smart was losing to teams they shouldn’t. Losing to those inferior opponents usually caused Texas to finish outside of where they intended to during the postseason.
In three of the last four seasons, the Texas Longhorns basketball program finished without an NCAA Tournament bid. Most Texas hoops fans would likely say that they would rather see their team finish with a first round loss in the NCAA Tournament than win an NIT Championship (like they did last season).