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.

Although most local programs have been eliminated from contending for their conference titles, one is still fighting for an automatic March Madness berth. North Texas is set to face UAB in the American Athletic Conference tournament semis, hoping to clinch a spot in Sunday’s championship game.

The SEC's top four seeds lived up to the hype in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday at Bridgestone Arena as each advanced to create a semifinal slugfest on Saturday between squads that can all be regarded as national championship contenders.