Texas Basketball: Longhorns up to No. 13 in this week’s AP Poll
The highest AP Poll ranking for the Texas basketball program since the end of the Rick Barnes tenure was achieved this week, up to No. 13.
Despite the loss to head coach Jay Wright and the previously No. 12 ranked Villanova Wildcats in the Big 12/Big East Battle at home at the Frank Erwin Center on Dec. 6, head coach Shaka Smart and the Texas basketball program is up four spots in this week’s AP Poll. Texas has actually moved up in each of the three weeks of the release of the AP Top 25 since the preseason.
Smart and the Longhorns started out at No. 19 in the preseason AP Poll, and at No. 22 in the preseason Coaches Poll. They moved up in each poll last week, even up to No. 17 in the AP Poll. But this week’s release of the AP Poll had them at their highest point ever under Smart’s direction. The previous highest ranking in the AP Poll in more than five years under Smart was No. 17.
Texas is up to No. 13 in the AP Poll this week, and as of the late morning of Dec. 7, the Coaches Poll has yet to be released. They are actually tied with the 3-1 Wisconsin Badgers at No. 13 in the AP Poll, with each team getting 750 votes.
The No. 15 Virginia Tech Hokies are right below Texas and Wisconsin, and the No. 12 Tennessee Volunteers and former Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes are one spot above. You can view the entirety of this week’s AP Poll, thanks to ESPN here.
The 13th slot is the highest that the Longhorns sat in the AP Poll, ironically since Barnes was the head coach, back during the 2014-15 season. During the 2014-15 campaign, the AP Poll high for Texas was No. 6.
Once again, the Baylor Bears are the highest ranked team out of the Big 12 in the AP Poll, at No. 2. The other teams from the Big 12 in this week’s AP Poll are the No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks, No. 11 West Virginia Mountaineers, and No. 17 Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Villanova slid up to No. 9, and the North Carolina Tar Heels are down to No. 16. Texas fell short to Villanova at home on Dec. 6 by the final score of 68-64. But the Longhorns did down the Tar Heels in the Championship Round of the Maui Invitational back on Dec. 2, by the final score of 69-67.
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Smart and the Longhorns carry a record of 4-1 (0-0 Big 12) into their Dec. 9 home showdown with the Texas State Bobcats, with tip off set for 7 p.m. CT. Texas then opens up Big 12 play in the game following the Texas State matchup, on Dec. 13 on the road against Baylor.