Texas basketball: Longhorns ready for SEC, a league where 'it's all a bunch of bullies'

Texas basketball: Longhorns ready for SEC, a league where ‘it’s all a bunch of bullies’

Posted by Admin January 2, 2025 Basketball

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The Texas women’s basketball team recorded a 94-35 win over UT-Rio Grande Valley at Moody Center on Sunday afternoon.

And now the fun begins.

After posting a 13-1 record over 14 nonconference games, it’s time for Texas to turn its attention to its SEC opener. On Thursday, the Longhorns will travel to Oklahoma for a showdown between the league’s two new teams.

“I think we’re all superexcited,” Texas guard Shay Holle said. “We know that the SEC for women’s basketball is probably the most competitive one you could be in. Superphysical, superathletic, so I think we all have to prep for that.”

What challenges await Texas in the SEC?

When describing his program’s move from the Big 12 to the SEC, Texas coach Vic Schaefer has often said the Longhorns are jumping out of a frying pan and into the grease. But how hot is that grease?

On Monday, The Associated Press ranked three Big 12 teams in its weekly poll. Eight of the SEC’s 16 teams were considered top-25 teams. In addition to No. 5 Texas and No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 6 LSU, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 16 Kentucky, No. 19 Alabama and No. 25 Ole Miss are ranked. Vanderbilt received the 26th-most votes.

After losing an 83-41 game to Texas last month, Tarleton State coach Bill Brock predicted that “you could see two and possibly three teams from the SEC in the Final Four.” Brock won three national championships as an assistant coach for Kim Mulkey at Baylor, so he isn’t just somebody on an SEC message board.

“It’s a monster league,” Schaefer said. “You’ve got so many teams in the league that are in the top 25 or just outside, and it is a tough, tough row to hoe. I think it speaks volumes to the league and the coaches in the league.”

When noting the difference between playing in the Big 12 and the SEC, Schaefer said Texas won’t be able to rely on just its athleticism. Most of the SEC’s teams have speed and athleticism.

There also will be a difference in perception. For years, Texas relished its reputation as a Big 12 bully. The Longhorns were the ones with a target on their backs. The hatred directed toward those in burnt orange only intensified after it was announced that the Longhorns were leaving for the SEC.

But can Texas really act like the baddest on its block when that block now includes South Carolina and LSU, which have won the NCAA’s last three national championships? Should the Longhorns be considered hunters or the hunted?

“There’s a target on your back, especially this being our first year in the league, no one’s going to want us to come in and beat them,” Holle said. “The SEC, every single team is a good team. It’s all a bunch of bullies, really. Us and Oklahoma are new to the league, and people are going to want to put the force on us, give us a little welcome party.”

Vic Schaefer returns to SEC with Texas team trying to meet its potential

Schaefer has coached in the SEC before. He was an assistant at Arkansas for seven years, and he ran the program at Mississippi State from 2012 to 2020. His Mississippi State teams won regular-season conference titles in 2018 and 2019 and an SEC tournament title in 2019.

This season, he’s chasing an SEC championship with a Texas team that has outscored its opponents by a total of 518 points. The Longhorns didn’t face a murderer’s row in nonconference play, but Texas boasts the No. 1 NET rating due to its quality wins over West Virginia, Richmond and South Dakota State and an overtime loss at Notre Dame.

But even after Texas beat UTRGV by 59 points, Schaefer said his team is struggling with its consistency. For example, he pointed out that the Longhorns missed 14 layups against the Vaqueros and that their press defense was broken a few times, too.

“I think we’re nowhere near where we’re capable of going,” Schaefer said. “Potential is nothing more than that. It’s just potential. Got to figure out how to get it out of them, me as the coach, and they’ve got to figure out how to reach their full potential.”

To open SEC play, Texas will face Oklahoma in a battle of what were the Big 12’s best. Last season, Oklahoma won the Big 12 regular-season championship, and Texas was the last team standing at the Big 12 Tournament.

UT owns a 39-29 lead in its all-time series with Oklahoma. The Sooners swept Texas during the 2023-24 season.