5 NCAA basketball teams that will be better than you think next season

3. Texas Longhorns: FanSided way-too-early ranking – No. 21

One of the inadvertent side effects of the coronavirus pandemic on college sports was a very quiet coaching carousel. A lot of teams that would have ordinarily made changes opted to keep things stable, with one of the biggest reprieves coming at Texas.

Head coach Shaka Smart was firmly on the hot seat and likely needed a trip to the NCAA Tournament to keep his job before the event was canceled. The Longhorns were firmly on the bubble entering the Big 12 Tournament, but by all accounts Texas was heading in the right direction.

After being left for dead in mid-February, the Longhorns ripped off five straight wins to get themselves into prime position for an at-large bid before a loss at Oklahoma State set up a potentially do-or-die Big 12 Tournament game against Texas Tech. That contest was never played, potentially saving Smart’s job in the process.

The Longhorns retain most of their team and add five-star recruit Greg Brown to the mix, giving a talented team another significant boost. Smart’s return also means this group won’t need to learn a new system so the continuity that will be maintained is huge.

The Big 12 is always a beast, but Smart’s squad should be well-positioned to make a big run towards the top of the conference standings. Given the amount of talent on the roster, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Texas crack the top-10 at some point next season.