The wait until Sunday surely will feel like forever for the Texas Longhorns, who left their home court just last week to Oklahoma fans chanting “NIT! NIT!” Now here they sit, a legitimate NCAA Tournament hopeful because of what they did in the SEC Tournament.

With their NCAA Tournament hopes still hanging in the balance, the Texas Longhorns came up short to the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC Tournament.

Did the Texas Longhorns men's basketball team ensure a spot in the NCAA Tournament with Thursday's upset win over rival Texas A&M? It's complicated.

Texas basketball coach Vic Schaefer says that "I think our body of work and our NET, it speaks for itself." The Longhorns will find out on Sunday.

Michael Shapiro is a sports reporter for Chron, covering the Astros, Rockets, Texans and every team in town. Michael is a Denver native and graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and a noted fan of pull-up threes, wide-receiver passes and a good hot fudge sundae.

The question came up Thursday inside a victorious Texas locker room following the No. 13 seed Longhorns' wild 94-89 double-overtime victory over No. 5 seed Texas A&M in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

The Tennessee Volunteers are one of the best teams in the country, a status that has become expected under 10th-year head coach Rick Barnes. Tennessee is battling conference foes Alabama and Florida for the final No.