Top 3 teams Rodney Terry has dominated with the Texas basketball program
Rodney Terry is entering his second full season as the head coach of the Texas basketball program for the 2024-25 campaign. The 2024-25 season will be the inaugural campaign in the SEC for Terry and Texas after his first two seasons as the head coach on the 40 were in the Big 12.
Rodney Terry and Texas basketball had the number of a handful of Big 12 schools since 2023
While the move to the SEC is obviously a big upgrade in the level of competition for the Longhorns on the gridiron this year, the move for men's hoops shouldn't be as steep comparatively. The Big 12 is arguably the best college hoops conference in the nation, boasting top contending programs like the Kansas Jayhawks, Houston Cougars, Baylor Bears, and now the Arizona Wildcats.
The SEC is a quality hoops conference. But the level of competition could be much more manageable week in and week out for both the Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners during this upcoming season.
Terry has proven in his year and a half or so since he tookover for Chris Bears as the interim head coach during the 2022-23 campaign that he can lead this team far in the postseason. The regular season results have left something to be desired at times in the last two seasons. But there is real potential for the Longhorns to put together another basketball season in 2024-25.
Entering the SEC for 2024-25, Texas will have a new set of opponents it will face annually. The teams that Terry familiarized himself with in the Big 12 at Texas for the last 18 months (beside Oklahoma) won't be on the schedule in all likelihood for most seasons in the future.
It's still worth taking a look back, though, to see which teams the Longhorns fared best against in Terry's two seasons as the head coach (one as the interim and one in the full-time job).
Here's a look at the three Big 12 teams that Terry has dominated in his two seasons as Texas's head coach.
3. West Virginia
Record: 3-1 (.750)
Average Margin of Victory: 18.75 points
The only Big 12 opponent on this list that Terry isn't undefeated against as Texas's head coach is the West Virginia Mountaineers. Texas's dominance against the Mountaineers in the last two seasons can be summed up in the average scoring margin in the four times these teams met on the hardwood since early 2023.
Despite going 3-1 against the Mountaineers since 2023, Texas has an average scoring margin of nearly +20 in these contests. Texas has some of the most resounding victories in Big 12 play in the last two seasons against West Virginia, including a 36-point thrashing of the Mountaineers at the Moody Center in Austin back in February.
That 36-point dismantling of West Virginia on Feb. 10 tied for the biggest margin of victory in any Big 12 game during the 2023-24 campaign (per Stathead).
Terry and the Longhorns also had West Virginia's number during his season as the interim head coach in 2022-23. Texas swept the Mountaineers with two double-digit victories in Big 12 play during the 2022-23 regular season.
West Virginia's only win over Texas in the last two seasons under Terry was back in January when the Mountaineers had a +20 edge in free-throw attempts over the Longhorns and a +5 edge in the turnover margin. Even with those sizable discrepancies between the Longhorns and Mountaineers in free-throw attempts and turnovers, Texas still only lost that game by three points.