Texas HC Sean Miller rejects Cinderella label amid surprising Sweet 16 run

Many college basketball fans would view Miller's comment as typical SEC arrogance, but he can back that claim up. The conference may be the best in the country. 

The 2026 bracket features 10 squads from the 16-team league. Considering that, Texas (21-14, 9-9 SEC) is much better than its record indicates. 

"Some of these monikers we put on everybody from — Cinderella to blue bloods and all that — I have a hell of a time understanding it," Gonzaga HC Mark Few said, per Crawford. "They make literally no sense. No, [Texas] is not a Cinderella team. That's a really talented, talented basketball team with a really, really, really good coach that has incredible resources.

"[Miller] has a great history of doing things in the tournament. It's just an 11-seed that had some tough losses during the year, but definitely more than talented enough to win another game after this."

Texas will face the No. 7-seeded Miami Hurricanes or the No. 2-seeded Purdue Boilermakers in the next round in San Jose on Thursday. If the Longhorns win two more games, they'll become the first First Four team to reach the Final Four since the UCLA Bruins in 2021. 

Texas — which has the most wins as a double-digit seed in March Madness (11) since 1979 — clearly has a knack for pulling off upsets. Perhaps the Longhorns should be more willing to accept the Cinderella label, as they seem to deliver when the odds are stacked against them. 

Of course, a school that reportedly spent $375.9M on athletics in fiscal 2025 isn't much of a sleeper, even if it wasn't expected to make it this far. Most Cinderellas would love to be working with that kind of budget.