Texas wins 12 games in conference play
After spending nearly three decades (since 1996-97) in the Big 12, the Longhorns will play their first-ever conference game in the SEC on Saturday against the Aggies. Texas hasn't played Texas A&M since the 2019-20 season in Fort Worth, and the two haven't met on the hardwood as conference foes in the Big 12 in over a dozen years (since 2011-12).
Kenpom's net conference ratings peg the SEC above the Big Ten as the best conference in college basketball this season.
The Longhorns come into the SEC at a time when the conference has never had this much top-to-bottom depth and national contenders. Three out of the five highest-ranked and undefeated major conference teams in the major polls this season are SEC, including the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers, No. 2 Auburn Tigers, and No. 6 Florida Gators.
Terry spoke about the importance of his team getting back to full health before the start of SEC play in a pregame press conference before the Texas A&M conference opener this week.
"We haven't had our full team since our first scrimmage that we had with TCU, we didn't even have that in the second scrimmage with Colorado. So, getting those guys back and having them healthy when we did have them, I thought we were developing a really good chemistry of guys in the right kind of mix that you want to be to have. "Rodney Terry
Texas only faced one ranked major conference opponent in non-conference play. In SEC conference play, the Longhorns have 13 games against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25, including six on the road.
The SEC has a chance to be the first conference in the past half-decade to get a dozen teams into the NCAA Tournament this postseason. If Terry and the Longhorns win 20 games entering the SEC Tournament, they would probably lock up a mid-to-high single-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament in March and April.