Chris Beard breaks down early schedule/special matchups, sets ambitions plan for scheduling

Chris Beard is looking ahead to his second schedule at the University of Texas. He led the Longhorns to a 22-12 record during his first slate in Austin. In the future, he has even higher ambitions for what Texas’ schedule could look like in the future.

Beard broke down scheduling in the present and future during a press conference on Wednesday. As far as this season, he says he’s happy about the schedule when he considers the opener and some of the other top programs who will make the trip to Texas this season.

“I like our schedule. We open it up (against) UTEP, a team that’s very, very well-coached by Joe Golding. A team that will be in the running for their conference championship this year,” said Beard. “Then you got some name teams coming in with Gonzaga and Creighton. I think I’m just excited for our fans.”

The Gonzaga game is the second year of a home and home with the Bulldogs while the home game versus the Bluejays is a part of the Big 12-Big East Battle.

In the future, Chris Beard hopes they take an even bigger focus on playing around the state. While their new arena opened earlier this year, Beard wants the Longhorns to take advantage of the cities and their fans from all over Texas in future schedules.

“We want to take the show on the road. We want to play in Houston really soon. That’s a priority in our ’23 schedule. This year we will get to Dallas to play a Pac-12 team. Will we play in Edinburg every year? Most likely no (but) never say never. We visualize going different places,” said Beard. “I know we’ve talked to the people in Killeen about playing on the military base. Certainly we want to have our presence in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas. The University of Texas needs to play all over our state so we start that vision of what the schedule should look like this year.”

Beard also named Madison Square Garden, a venue his team will appear in this season versus Illinois in the Jimmy V. Classic, as another place they want to continue to play in. That’s not to mention all the other travel plans he already has set for his team this season and beyond. It’s ambitious but, as one of the state’s premier schools and teams, he believes it’s their responsibility to do so.