Bracketology now has Longhorns safely In NCAA Tournament as 11 seed

When the Texas Longhorns had the Iowa State Cyclones in the palm of their hand for the majority of the game Thursday night, it seemed as if they had finally taken control of their season and were only minutes away from all-but-guaranteeing their place in The Big Dance after four straight wins, which would have included victories over No. 14 Baylor and No. 13 Iowa State.

But as we know, that didn’t turn out to be the case after a late-game collapse that led to a buzzer-beating heartbreaker for Texas in a 69-67 loss to the Cyclones. Again, the anticipation and thought that this disappointing season may be on track for a finish that perfectly fit the outcome of Texas’ 20-13 campaign, where the Horns’ were good, but just never good enough to get over the bubble.

But in a sign for some optimism, Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology, which was updated this morning, now has the Longhorns as an 11 seed in the East bracket after bumping Texas up from the "Last Four In" group to one of the "Last Four Byes." This makes for the highest seeding Texas has had in Bracketology since the February 12 edition, where they were then a 7 seed before losing four of their next five games.

Of course, absolutely nothing is set in stone for the Longhorns, but it is an encouraging sign to see that the best in the business has Texas slotted in a position that would appear to give us all a little easier time breathing until the Horns finally hear their name called on Selection Sunday.