Big 12 Basketball Schedule Analysis: Texas Longhorns
Leading up to Big 12 media days in Kansas City Heartland College Sports will analyze each of the Big 12 men’s basketball schedules. Today it’s the Texas Longhorns.
Season opener: Texas starts the season Nov. 6 at home against Eastern Illinois. The Longhorns don’t have a true road game in non-conference play until January.
Tournaments: Texas faces Arkansas in the Armed Forces Classic in El Paso, Texas. But the Longhorns will also be part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational, with two games on campus and two games in Las Vegas. Those games in Las Vegas will include matchups with a pair of potential Final Four teams in North Carolina and Michigan State.
The Big Non-Con: North Carolina in Las Vegas on Nov. 22. The Tar Heels went to the Final Four in 2016 and 2017, and won the national title in 2017. It should be a great litmus test game for the Longhorns.
Mid-Major Danger: Hosting Radford on Nov. 30 should hold the Longhorns’ attention. Radford won 22 games in 2017-18, won the Big South Conference, claimed a First Four game in the NCAA Tournament and then lost to Villanova, the eventual national champion.
Big 12 Opener: Texas travels to Manhattan, Kan., to face one of the Big 12’s Elite Eight teams from a year ago in Kansas State on Jan. 2.
The Big 12/SEC Game: Texas draws a road game in the annual crossover event and will face the Georgia Bulldogs on Jan. 26.
The ‘Big’ Big 12 stretch: We will find out a lot about the Texas Longhorns in their first seven Big 12 games. The stretch features a back-to-back start against Kansas State and West Virginia, a home game against Texas Tech and a road game at Kansas. Of the first seven games, six are against NCAA Tournament teams and the seventh, Oklahoma State, reached the quarterfinals of the NIT.
2018-19 Texas Schedule
(Home games in Bold; *-Big 12 game)
Nov. 6 vs. Eastern Illinois
Armed Forces Classic (El Paso, Texas)
Nov. 9 vs. Arkansas
Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational Regional Round (at Austin, Texas)
Nov. 12 vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Nov. 16 vs. The Citadel
Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational Championship Round (at Las Vegas, Nev.)
Nov. 22 vs. North Carolina
Nov. 23 vs. Michigan State or UCLA
Nov. 30 vs. Radford
Dec. 5 vs. VCU
Dec. 9 vs. Purdue
Dec. 15 vs. Grand Canyon
Dec. 21 vs. Providence
Dec. 28 vs. UT Arlington
Jan. 2 at Kansas State*
Jan. 5 vs. West Virginia*
Jan. 8 at Oklahoma State*
Jan. 12 vs. Texas Tech*
Jan. 14 at Kansas*
Jan. 19 vs. Oklahoma*
Jan. 23 at TCU*
SEC/Big 12 Challenge
Jan. 26 at Georgia
Jan. 29 vs. Kansas*
Feb. 2 at Iowa State*
Feb. 6 vs. Baylor*
Feb. 9 at West Virginia*
Feb. 12 vs. Kansas State*
Feb. 16 vs. Oklahoma State*
Feb. 23 at Oklahoma*
Feb. 27 at Baylor*
Mar. 2 vs. Iowa State*
Mar. 4 at Texas Tech*
Mar. 9 vs. TCU*
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