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Texas and Indiana still alive

Schools living on NCAA tourney bubble

RALEIGH, N.C. — Texas and Indiana own records that don’t look much like those of NCAA Tournament teams at first glance.

Yet the Longhorns and Hoosiers are still chasing at-large bids thanks to a peculiar mix of multiple resume-boosting wins amid all those losses that have left both hovering near .500 overall.

It’s a year in which the bubble is filled with teams holding fragile resumes, helping keep Texas (16-14, 8-9 Big 12) and Indiana (16-14, 7-12 Big Ten) alive even amid some ugly stretches of the schedule.

Shaka Smart’s Longhorns sit at No. 34 as of Friday in the new NET rankings, which is the more analytical formula replacing the RPI in the selection committee’s work to build this year’s field of 68 teams. Texas is 5-9 in Quadrant 1 games with four wins against current AP Top 25 teams: No. 3 North Carolina on a neutral court, No. 11 Purdue at home, No. 13 Kansas at home and No. 18 Kansas State on the road.

Then there is the Hoosiers’ wild ride since the start of 2019.

Indiana lost seven straight games in January, only to end that streak by beating current No. 9 Michigan State. Then came five straight losses.

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