Longhorns' basketball 2012-2013 non-conference schedule released

Yesterday the Longhorns released their basketball non-conference schedule, much to the joy of the fans. No, we don't have a Big 12 schedule yet, but the games against Michigan State, UCLA, Georgetown and North Caroline definitely make up for it. Also, the promise of the Longhorns playing in the EA Sports Maui Invitational is tempting, I know I'd love to go see those games in Hawaii. Those will be played against Butler, Chaminade, Illinois, Marquette, Mississippi State, North Carolina and Southern California, which promises to be interesting.

They haven't decided on a broadcast schedule yet, and the dates aren't even set in stone yet, but you can see the current schedule here

Texas Longhorns Basketball NCAA Tournament

For months now, Texas has declined opportunities to turn itself into an NCAA tournament team. Despite their best efforts to watch the tournament from their couches, the Longhorns might still have a couple chances anyway.

Monday's loss to Baylor, in which they wasted a 12-point second-half lead and once again victimized themselves with poor late-game decision-making and lapses of judgment, left the Longhorns 17-11 overall and 7-8 in the Big 12. A few years ago, a record like that would have had Texas laughed out of the committee room for the tournament selection.

This year, though, it seems the Longhorns have a shot. What they don't have is a quality win over a highly rated opponent. If they beat both Texas Tech and Oklahoma to clinch a .500 record in the Big 12, the Longhorns have two more chance to make an impression on the committee. The Longhorns cap off their regular season at Kansas, and their Big 12 tournament opener could be a rematch with Baylor. A Longhorns victory over either of those two nationally ranked foes wouldn't guarantee an invitation, but it sure would help.

Longhorns In Position to Dance

After spending most of this Big 12 season playing catch-up, the Longhorns are finally in position to make the NCAA tournament. Now the Longhorns are being charged with protecting that position.

With the tournament's expansion to 68 teams, the Longhorns' current credentials are deceivingly sold. Their record clearly isn't spectacular as they sit at 16-9, 6-6 in the Big 12, but their come-from-behind victory over Kansas State set the Longhorns in at No. 45 in the Ratings Percentage Index.

Assuming that a 9-9 Big 12 record will allow the Longhorns into the tournament, the Longhorns simply need to win three of their final six games. Four of those six games come against the teams in the bottom four of the conference. The Longhorns' final stretch begins this week with games at Oklahoma on Tuesday and Oklahoma State on Saturday.

Longhorns Need Win Over Tigers

After a 1-4 stretch against the top teams of the Big 12, the Longhorns are scrambling for a home win and looking for that win against the Tigers. The win could possibly put them back onto the NCAA Tournament bubble.

In the past two weeks, Texas has lost by 4 at No. 24 Kansas State, by 3 at No. 7 Kansas and by 5 at No. 5 Baylor. Now the Longhorns are sitting at 13-8 and have only one more chance to get the type of signature conference victory that would put them back into the national spotlight and onto the NCAA tournament bubble.

The Longhorns play No. 4 Missouri tonight in Austin, two weeks after they lost 84-73 to the Tigers in Columbia.

Longhorn Network Close to Deal With ESPN

A deal with the University of Texas and ESPN over a new network seems very near.  There have been no announcements yet about the broadcasting of Longhorn sporting events to central Texas and beyond as of last Thursday.  ESPN's Burke Magnus doesn't seem to be worried that the two sides haven't come to an agreement yet:

"We'll have a lot more to share in the next eight days," said Burke Magnus, ESPN's senior vice president for college sports programming. "It's not a great concern right now. It's just simply the way it works."

Hopefully they get a deal done this week!  I want to start watching all Longhorn games on the Longhorn network!

Barnes receives 200,000 raise

Longhorns men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes received a $200,000 raise on Wednesday, bringing his overall yearly salary to $2.4 million, which keeps him among the nation’s 10 highest-paid men’s coaches.

I would say Barnes definitely deserves the raise considering all the success he has had. And after what we saw happen to Texas A&M with Mark Turgeon who darted to Maryland, I think it is smart what the Athletic Directors have done with making sure Barnes stays with his Texas family for quite some time.

Texas Longhorns Climbing Up Rankings

The University of Texas's Men's Basketball team is climbing up the rankings.  The 18-3 Texas Longhorns are now #3 in the country, in both the Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25.  They only trail #1 Ohio State and #2 Kansas, although they beat Kansas last week.  They are on quite a roll and they can play with anyone in the country.  It was a weird week in college basketball, as 17 of the 25 teams in the Poll last week suffered a loss.  Keep it Goin Texas!

Texas Longhorns News

As of January 28th, the Texas Longhorns Men's Basketball Team is #8 in the Coaches Poll.  They have a 17-3 record and 5-0 record in the Big 12.  Last week, they beat the #3 Kansas Jayhawks on the road to end the Jayhawks 69 home game winning streak.  They have shown they can play with anyone in the country and I'm excited for the rest of the season. 

On the football side, Texas Longhorn football continues to bring in recruits.  Multiple outlets have the Texas Longhorns with one of the strongest recruiting classes for the 2011 season.

The Texas Longhorns Women's Basketball team is 13-7 on the season and 2-4 thus far in the Big 12.