Longhorn Basketball Looks To Old Friends, Tough Opponents In Non-Conference Schedule

By randyramirez in Blog on June 29, 2010 at 2:20 pm | No Comments

Though we bid adieu to three Longhorn ballers as they joined the NBA last week, we’re excited for the upcoming basketball season.

It may be months away, but it’s never too early to start saving the dates — and that includes you out-of-towners.

The non-conference schedule has just been released and the Longhorns will be making stops in New York; L.A.; Greensboro, N.C.; and Lansing, Mich. Back in Austin, we’ll host schools that include Navy, Arkansas, and UConn. Check out the full schedule here. 

And with the recent Big 12 shakeup, this could be the last year for a 16-game conference schedule. 

A round-robin 18-game schedule is being considered for the 10-team Big 12. In the past, we’d played each of the Big 12 South teams at home and away and faced off against Big 12 North teams once per season, annually alternating home and away. 

Two more games will make the schedule a bit tougher. In a press teleconference on Monday, a few coaches expressed concern, saying they may reconsider some of their non-conference games.

But Texas coach Rick Barnes isn’t worried. “We won’t change much in non-conference scheduling,” he said. “We want to have visibility in all parts of the country. We’re not looking to back down. And I think it’s important for our league that we continue to schedule well. That’s why we were able to get so many teams into the tournament.”

The decision won’t be made for a few months, but Barnes was clear about his partiality to the round-robin schedule. For more on what he and other Big 12 basketball coaches had to say, see the Big 12’s coverage here.