BYU will face Texas Longhorns in first round of 2026 NCAA Tournament
Mar 17, 2026, 11:45 PM | Updated: Mar 18, 2026, 2:06 pm
PORTLAND, Ore. – BYU basketball finally knows who they will face in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
The 6-seed Cougars will face the Texas Longhorns on Thursday at the Moda Center.
Texas Longhorns defeat NC State in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament
Texas defeated NC State on Tuesday night in the First Four in Dayton, 68-66.
(11) TEXAS IS MOVING ON 🤘
The Longhorns down (11) NC State 68-66 and advance to the first round 🔥 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/K5OcNHLsG1
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2026
The Longhorns shot the ball from the field, 3-point line, and free throws at a lower percentage than NC State, and still came away with the victory.
Texas built an early lead of 10 points and held onto the lead for 35 of the 40 minutes in the game.
The Longhorns had four different players score in double figures, led by Tramon Mark with 17 points. Mark hit the game-winner for Texas to send them into the bracket and an opportunity to take on BYU.
Coming off the bench, Chendal Weaver had a strong performance of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
BYU basketball prepares for Texas
Weaver is the only holdover from the last meeting between BYU and Texas two years ago in Provo. That matchup occurred during the one season that BYU and Texas were in the Big 12 Conference together. BYU won that game 84-72.
BYU has one carryover as well from that game, that’s Richie Saunders, but the Second Team All-Big 12 performer will not be going through the Big Dance this season as he continues recovery on a season-ending ACL injury he suffered on February 14.
BYU leads the all-time series against Texas 5-2, holding a 2-0 record in games played on neutral floors. The last neutral floor between the programs was in 2013 in Kansas City.
Texas will now have to travel three time zones west to prepare for Thursday’s meeting against BYU.
In their second season as a member of the SEC, Texas is 19-14 overall in Sean Miller’s first season as head coach.
Xavier transfer Dailyn Swain, a Second Team All-SEC selection, is one of the top players for Texas this season. In the win over NC State, he had 13 points and did most of his damage from the free-throw line, going 8-of-9 from the charity stripe.
AJ Dybantsa takes on Kevin Durant’s alma mater
BYU is led by First Team AP All-American AJ Dybantsa, who is the nation’s leading scorer. Dybantsa is 45 points away from finishing with the highest-scoring freshman season since 2000.
AJ Dybantsa shared his thoughts on BYU receiving a 6-seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. pic.twitter.com/8z1smtQP9b
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 16, 2026
The 6-foot-9 Dybantsa will get the opportunity to go up against a Longhorn program that was the home to Dybantsa’s favorite player, Kevin Durant. Durant played for the Longhorns for one season in 2007, before going off to the NBA and becoming a superstar in the Association.
Tip-off for BYU versus Texas is set for 5:25 p.m. (MDT) and will be televised on TBS, with the radio call on KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM).
(6) BYU vs. (11) Texas
2026 NCAA Tournament – First Round
Date: Thursday, March 19, 2026
Location: Moda Center (Portland, Oregon)
Tip-off: 5:25 p.m. (MDT)/4:25 p.m. (PDT)
TV: TBS
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM only) — Pregame begins at 4:30 p.m. (MT)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSL and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYUathletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
