Top 5 must-watch games for Texas fans this season

Dec. 8 vs. UConn

Location: Austin, TX

Texas's biggest and most difficult non-conference game will be at home on Dec. 8 against the defending back-to-back National Champion UConn Huskies. Head coach Dan Hurley and the No. 3 ranked Huskies are expected to contend for a title again during this 2024-25 season.

This will be the front end of a home-and-home series agreed to by Texas and UConn that finishes up in Storrs, CT, in the 2025-26 regular season.

Texas fell short of UConn in the Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York, 81-71, last season. The Longhorns kept the game close with the Huskies down the stretch until UConn was able to put it away late in the second half.

This is a different UConn team that the Longhorns face roughly one month from now than Hurley had on those back-to-back title winning squads. UConn returns under 30 percent of its minutes from last season's title-winning squad.

But there is still plenty of talent left on that team, so the Longhorns will have to come with their best game if they want a shot at defeating UConn on their home court on Dec. 8.

Jan. 4 @ Texas A&M

Location: College Station, TX

The return of the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry on the hardwood officially marks the beginning of the SEC conference play era for the Longhorns this season. Texas and Texas A&M will meet on the hardwood for the first time since the 2019-20 regular season in College Station on Jan. 4, 2025.

Texas and Texas A&M were both picked to finish in the top half of the SEC in the media preseason poll this fall. The Longhorns and Aggies both rank in the top 20 in the preseason AP Poll.

The Longhorns have dominated the more recent portion of this in-state men's basketball rivalry in the past 15 years. Since 2011, Texas is 6-1 against the Aggies. Texas won the last matchup against Texas A&M by a score of 60-50 in Dec. 2019 at a neutral site in Fort Worth, TX.