The NCAA selection committee's attempt to screw Texas didn't work, as the Horns defeated Nebraska 3-1 to win the Omaha regional.  It's the third win of the season for Texas over the Huskers and is especially sweet coming on what is basically Nebraska's home court and in front of their fans.  Nebraska got out to a fast start and fought off a Texas rally to win the first set, but the Horns dominated the rest of the match, despite some uncharacteristic serving errors and poor passing.

Texas will play Minnesota in the semifinals Thursday night in Tampa.  If they win, they'll most likely face undefeated and two-time defending national champion Penn State in the national title match.

Thursday's semifinal will be televised on ESPNU.

In the midst of celebrating football's hard work and good fortune, let us not forget about another Texas team ranked #2.

The Long Beach State 49ers are in town tonight.  They are 4-3 with not much of an impressive resume.  Mostly, they've beaten up on weaklings, but they are coming off a 79-68 win over UCLA.  They have blowout losses to Notre Dame and West Virginia and played Clemson hard before falling by 8.  They depend a lot on outside shooting (nearly 40% from 3) and on 6'7 forward TJ Robinson in the paint.  They have little depth to speak of.  And they are actually worse at the free-throw line than we are (but not by much).

They don't have anyone who can match up with Dex in the middle, but DaMo vs. the Robinson kid could be entertaining.  If we aren't focused, this could turn out a lot like Iowa ... a team that is physically overmatched but can get hot outside and stay in the game.

Important to note, this is one of two remaining games before Jai Lucas is eligible.

If you can get to the Erwin Center, go support the guys.  Also, the football team will be honored at halftime.  If you can't make it, it will air on ESPNU at 8 PM, following Michigan State vs. The Citadel.

Barnes was on Craig Way's radio show today to talk about Damion James returning, and Craig asked, in a roundabout way, what kind of position that would put the team in with regard to scholarships.  Barnes replied that they had planned on Damion leaving, so they didn't expect to have a scholarship problem, but he said they do know what they're going to do and that it's something they've known could be a possibility for a while, so they weren't caught off guard by it.  He did not offer any details, but he did say that "when it happens, everyone will be reporting it."  Just speculation, but to me, sounds like a transfer.  I don't think someone switching to walk-on status would really be big news.  It should be noted that he never mentioned J'Covan Brown.

He also said Shawn Williams is already on campus working out and that he expects Avery Bradley and Jordan Hamilton to be here as soon as they get their final clearinghouse issues worked out.  He also expects Lamarcus Aldridge to be joining Durant, Ford, Gibson, and Ivey on campus this summer.

http://clemson.scout.com/2/844011.html

Free article that mentions Dabo Swinney and his entire staff visited campus earlier this week to learn how Mack and Co. do things.  The third and fourth paragraphs of Swinney's opening comments talk about the visit, and there is a question toward the end where he addresses it further.  Just thought it was interesting.  Swinney says the only difference between Texas and Clemson is that Texas believes it can be great.

This game was not originally scheduled for television, but I guess someone got intrigued.  TexasSports.com is showing that the first game of the Stanford series (in Palo Alto) will be aired at 7 PM on CBS College Sports (formerly CSTV).  As of now, only three other regular season games are scheduled for TV, so this may be the only chance to catch this team for a while, for those of you who live out of town/out of state.