Tumbling to the finish line and nearly out of the bracket, Texas and North Carolina State are not yet in the NCAA Tournament field of 64.

But the chance for a revival is there for the Longhorns (18-14) and Wolfpack (20-13) when they meet for the second time this season in the First Four on Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio.

The winner hops a plane as the West Region No. 11 seed, heading to Portland with No. 6 BYU (23-11) awaiting in the first-round matchup on Thursday.

Miller won this game last year as head coach at Xavier when he knocked out Texas. Then he was hired to lead the Longhorns two weeks later.

Texas knocked off NC State 102-97 in the Maui Invitational in November. Neither coach expects to spend much time revisiting that game considering the recent issues on both sides that brought them to the verge of being held out of the field entirely.

“Now it’s our time to see if we can do something with this opportunity, more than we’ve done during the regular season,” NC State coach Will Wade said.

Wade has openly questioned the discipline and effort of his team. NC State lost seven of its last nine games, going from comfortably in the field to playing on the first night of the tournament.

Texas enters the tournament with losses in five of its last six games. The two most recent losses were to teams who didn’t make the field, Oklahoma and Ole Miss.

“We had two full days of being able to take a deep breath, get away from each other, get our legs and mind right,” Miller said. “And then we also had an opportunity to have two really good days of practice and get back in the gym, where you learn where we’re at.”

Texas won the Nov. 26 meeting in the fifth-place game of the Maui Invitational. There were only 13 total turnovers in that game, with Texas’ 28-for-33 shooting on free throws making a difference.

“It was an up-and-down game, and it was a third game in three days for both of us,” Wade said.

Jordan Pope’s 28 points led Texas in the first meeting, with the Longhorns shooting 55.8% from the field — including 16 for 32 on 3-pointers. NC State had three players — Quadir Copeland (28 points), Ven-Allen Lubin (23) and Paul McNeil Jr. (20) — reach the 20-point mark in that game.

“When they play well, they have great firepower, great scoring punch,” Miller said. “They’re familiar with us, and we’re familiar with them. I don’t think that’s any advantage to us or them.”

There should be no lack of motivation from the Wolfpack.

“It’s a team that we lost to earlier in the year, certainly our guys will have their full attention,” Wade said. “It’s an NCAA Tournament game. We should have everybody’s full attention for an NCAA Tournament game.”

Since NC State lost to Virginia in Thursday’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals, the Wolfpack had two days off without practice. Wade said he chose for a regular type of practice Sunday because he felt there was about a 30% chance the Wolfpack might end up in the First Four.

NC State topped Pitt in Wednesday’s ACC tournament second round.

“We’ve got to clean up the details and the discipline to go with that, and that’s going to be the challenge to do that quickly before Tuesday,” Wade said.

Texas met three ACC teams across the first month of the season, losing to Duke and Virginia and topping NC State. NC State went 0-4 against those opponents, with two of the losses in March.

Junior Dailyn Swain, the SEC Newcomer of the Year, leads Texas in scoring (17.8 points per game), rebounding (7.5 rpg), assists (108), steals (55) and minutes (32.2 per game).

–Field Level Media

DAYTON, Ohio — The field of 68 teams in the 2026 NCAA Tournament begins to get whittled down Tuesday night when a pair of No. 16 seeds from the Midwest Region square off.

UMBC (24-8) and Howard (23-10) will clash in the First Four opener in Dayton. The winner gets No. 1 seed Michigan on Thursday in a first-round game in Buffalo, N.Y.

UMBC, whose 12-game winning streak is a program record, is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the historic upset of No. 1 Virginia in 2018. The Retrievers became the first No. 16 seed to triumph since the expansion to 64 teams in 1985.

Under America East Coach of the Year Jim Ferry, UMBC earned an automatic bid this year by handling Vermont 74-59 in the conference final.

“I’ve been to the NCAA Tournament but because these guys are so special, I wanted it so badly for them,” Ferry said. “We’ve been playing some of the best basketball in the country. I’m sure (opponents are) not going to feel very comfortable.”

Howard is returning to the tournament for the third time in four years. After clinching the Mid-Eastern Athletic Championship, the Bison also enter on an impressive streak, having won the last eight.

“I am so proud of our guys, the way they work and the character they have,” coach Kenneth Blakeney said. “To represent Howard University on this stage is an honor we don’t take lightly. We’re coming to Dayton to compete and keep this journey going.”

MEAC Player of the Year Bryce Harris powers Howard’s attack with 17.1 points per game, tied for the team lead with two-way standout Cedric Taylor III. He says he’s ready for the national spotlight.

“We’ve put in the work all season for this exact moment,” Harris said. “We know UMBC is tough, but we believe in our system and each other. It’s survive-and-advance time.”

Both teams rely on highly efficient offenses. Howard averaged 84.2 points over the last 10 games, while UMBC averaged 79.8 in the span.

The game also features a battle of two of the better point guards in mid-major basketball.

Jah’Likai King leads UMBC with 13.9 points per game. The first-team all-America East selection is the primary engine for the Retrievers’ winning streak.

Cam Gillus paces Howard in assists (4.6 per game) and steals (1.8). He is coming off a 25-point, eight-rebound performance in the MEAC semifinals, a 78-61 win over South Carolina State.

–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media

The San Francisco 49ers have agreed to a one-year contract with veteran receiver Christian Kirk, multiple outlets reported Monday.

The deal is worth up to $6 million, according to ESPN.

Kirk is the second veteran receiver the 49ers have signed in consecutive weeks. San Francisco also added longtime Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Mike Evans last week when free agency began.

Kirk, 29, has 432 career receptions for 5,415 yards and 30 touchdowns in 106 games (80 starts) over eight NFL seasons.

He struggled last season in his lone campaign with the Houston Texans. He had just 28 catches for 239 yards and one touchdown in 13 games.

Kirk did have a big game in the postseason with eight catches for 144 yards and a touchdown as the Texans beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6 in the AFC wild-card round.

Kirk also has played four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals (2018-21) and three with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2022-24). His best season was 2022 when he established career highs of 84 receptions, 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns.

Kirk was a second-round pick by Arizona in the 2018 draft. He was a college football standout at Texas A&M.

–Field Level Media