Penn received a 15 seed and will face Texas (27-5) on Friday, March 17 in Dallas. The Longhorns won the regular season Big 12 title, but lost to Kansas in the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament that was also played at American Airlines Center in Dallas — site of the First Round game. The winner of the Penn-Texas game will take on the winner of the California-North Carolina State 7-10 first-round matchup. Texas ranks fourth nationally in offensive efficiency at 1.13 points per possession and sixth defensively at 0.89 points per possession. Penn is 135th offensively (1.03 points per possession) and ninth defensively (0.90 points per possession). The time of the game will be announced in the coming days.

Slant: This was probably the worst-case scenario for Penn, as Texas is undoubtedly the most talented 2 seed and one of the favorites to win the entire tournament. The Longhorns boast possibly the best starting five in college basketball and excel at both ends of the court. The Quakers rank in the top 25 nationally in two categories — opponent turnover percentage and team two-point field goal percentage — but Texas is 98th nationally at avoiding turnovers and allows the seventh-lowest two-point field goal percentage in the nation. The only real factor working in Penn’s favor is the fact that Texas coach Rick Barnes’s game preparation has been a weakness. Barnes’s team did not appear particularly well-prepared for its game against Princeton in the 2004 NCAA Tournament, so we’ll have to see if he goes with a zone defense like what had given the Quakers problems down the stretch.