Texas Hoops: Longhorns in Big 12 race, NCAA Tourney resume

The No. 10 Texas Longhorns stayed in the thick of the Big 12 race Tuesday night with an 89-75 win over Oklahoma State in Austin.

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Texas (17-3, 6-2) is tied atop the Big 12 race in terms of record with Iowa State and Kansas State, but have lost to both teams.

The team now gets to take a one game break from the conference grind. But the grind of a last half of the season schedule continues with a trip to Knoxville Saturday to face Rick Barnes’ No. 4 ranked Tennessee as part of the Big 12-SEC Challenge. The Volunteers (16-3, 6-1 in SEC) play host to Georgia (13-6, 3-3) tonight at home.

Knoxville, we're coming to your cityyyyy 🏀@TexasMBB | @Vol_Hoops pic.twitter.com/9w5Je5HN7S

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) January 21, 2023

The Longhorns are 10-2 under interim head coach Rodney Terry.

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Big 12 conference race

No. 12 Iowa State Cyclones (15-4, 6-2)
Cyclones games this week: Beat Kansas State 80-76, at Missouri

No. 5 Kansas State Wildcats (17-3, 6-2)
Wildcats games this week: Lost at Iowa State 80-76, Florida 

No. 10 Texas Longhorns (17-3, 6-2)
Longhorns games this week: Beat Oklahoma State 89-75, at Tennessee

No. 14 TCU Horned Frogs (16-4, 5-3)
Horned Frogs games this week: Beat Oklahoma 79-52, at Mississippi State

No. 17 Baylor Bears (15-5, 5-3)
Bears games this week: Beat Kansas 75-69, Arkansas

No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks (16-4, 5-3)
Jayhawks games this week: Lost at Baylor 75-69, at Kentucky

Oklahoma State Cowboys (11-8, 3-4)
Cowboys games this week: at Texas, Ole Miss

Oklahoma Sooners (11-8, 2-5)
Sooners games this week: at TCU, Alabama

West Virginia Mountaineers (11-8, 1-6)
Mountaineers games this week: at Texas Tech, Auburn

Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-9, 0-7)
Red Raiders games this week: West Virginia, at LSU

Texas Longhorns Big 12 schedule

December
Dec 31 at Oklahoma (70-69 win)

January
Jan 3 Kansas State (116-106 loss)
Jan 7 at Oklahoma State (56-46 win)
Jan 11 TCU (79-75 win)
Jan 14 Texas Tech (72-70 win)
Jan 17 at Iowa State (78-67 loss)
Jan 21 at West Virginia (69-61 win)
Jan 24 vs. Oklahoma State (89-75 win)
*Jan 28 at Tennessee (SEC/Big 12 Challenge)
Jan 30 vs Baylor

February
Feb 4 at Kansas State
Feb 6 at Kansas
Feb 11 vs. West Virginia
Feb 13 at Texas Tech
Feb 18 vs. Oklahoma
Feb 21 vs. Iowa State
Feb 25 at Baylor

March
March 1 at TCU
March 4 vs. Kansas

Big 12 2023 Pomeroy Ratings + Tennessee

2. Tennessee
9. Texas
10. Kansas (plays twice)
12. Iowa State (plays twice)
13. TCU (plays at TCU)
14. Baylor (plays twice)
25. Kansas State (plays at K-State)
28. West Virginia (plays twice)
37. Oklahoma State (plays in Austin)
50. Oklahoma (plays in Austin)
64. Texas Tech (plays at TT)

Texas non-conference in the 2023 Pomeroy Ratings

15. Creighton (Home win)
18. Gonzaga (Home win)
26. Illinois (Neutral loss)
100. Stanford (Neutral win)
111 Louisiana (Home win)
145. Rice (Home win)
182. UTEP (Home win)
287. Northern Arizona (Neutral win)
294. UT Rio Grande Valley (Home win)
306. Texas A&M-Commerce (Home win)
324. Arkansas Pine-Bluff (Home win)
352. Houston Christian (Home win)

NET

• Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
• Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
• Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
• Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353

Quadrant 1 games

Record: 6-3

Wins: Gonzaga, Creighton, at Oklahoma, at Oklahoma State, TCU, at West Virginia

Losses: Kansas St., vs. Illinois, at Iowa State

The Gonzaga and TCU home wins and the road victories at Oklahoma State and West Virginia are in good shape to remain Q1 games throughout the year. Same with the losses to Kansas State, Illinois, at Iowa State. Creighton is currently No. 21 in NET, while the Sooners have fallen to No. 66. Both those games are more borderline than the others.

Quadrant 2 games

Record: 2-0

Wins: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State

Losses: N/A

Texas Tech is the lone Quadrant 2 game for the Longhorns. Should the Red Raiders fall any farther from their current No. 74 ranking, this game could turn into a Quadrant 3 game. Oklahoma State is likely to remain a Quadrant 2 win.

Quadrant 3 games

Record: 3-0

Wins: vs. Stanford, Louisiana, Rice

Losses: N/A

Texas managing to hang on versus the Owls on the day Chris Beard was fired looks better with each passing game. Stanford just snapped a five-game losing streak with back-to-back home wins versus Oregon State and Oregon.

Quadrant 4 games

Record: 6-0

Wins: UTEP, Houston Christian, vs. Northern Arizona, UT-RGV, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Texas A&M-Commerce

Losses: N/A

UTEP is currently No. 173 in the rankings, placing the Miners on the precipice of becoming a Quadrant 3 opponent. Going undefeated in Quadrant 4 games is a must. Only two teams in the top 25 of NET, TCU and Boise State, have a Quadrant 4 loss.

Where the remaining schedule ranks as of January 25
Jan 28 – at Tennessee – No. 2 – Quadrant 1 game
Jan 30 – Baylor – No. 14 – Quadrant 1 game
Feb 4 – at Kansas State – No. 17 – Quadrant 1 game
Feb 6 – at Kansas – No. 10 – Quadrant 1 game
Feb 11 – West Virginia – No. 29 – Quadrant 1 game
Feb 13 – at Texas Tech – No. 73 – Quadrant 1 game
Feb 18 – Oklahoma – No. 66 – Quadrant 2 game
Feb 21 – Iowa State – No. 9 – Quadrant 1 game
Feb 25 – at Baylor – No. 14 – Quadrant 1 game
Mar 1 – at TCU – No. 13 – Quadrant 1 game
Mar 4 – Kansas – No. 10 – Quadrant 1 game