Texas men’s basketball’s 2024-25 SEC opener schedule was released on Tuesday. The Longhorns will play 18 conference games, including nine at the Moody Center, highlighted by former Texas head coach Rick Barnes’ return to Austin for a second time as Tennessee’s head coach and Texas A&M University playing at the Forty Acres for the first time since January 2012.
The most high-profile of the team’s nine road games will be a trip to Ole Miss in late January (Tuesday, Jan. 28 or Wednesday, Jan. 29) to take on another former Texas head coach, Chris Beard. The Longhorns will then travel in late February (Tuesday, Feb. 25 or Wednesday, Feb. 26) to take on new Arkansas head coach John Calipari and the Razorbacks.
The Longhorns open their 2024-25 SEC Conference schedule on Jan. 4 against Texas A&M University in College Station.
The Aggies and Longhorns have met 121 times as conference rivals, last meeting as members of the same league on Feb. 6, 2012. Former Longhorn player Jacoban Brown hit a game-winning layup with under a minute left and then made two free throws to lead Texas to a 70-68 victory over Texas A&M at Reed Arena.
The last time these two teams met was on Dec. 8, 2019 in a neutral-site game at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, where Texas defeated Texas A&M, 60-50.
Following the game against the Aggies, head coach Rodney Terry and the Longhorns will take on Bruce Pearl and Auburn for their first SEC home game, with the Tigers scheduled to come to town on Jan. 7 or 8.
Barnes, who led Texas to 402 wins over 17 seasons from 1998-2015, will make his first appearance at the Moody Center when Tennessee comes to Austin on Saturday, Jan. 11. The game will mark Tennessee’s return to the NCAA Tournament after a 62-58 second-round victory in Charlotte ended the Longhorns’ 2023-24 season.
The Longhorns will begin back-to-back games on the road at rival Oklahoma and Florida, followed by home games against Missouri and Texas A&M before closing out January in Oxford.
It means so much more. #HookEm | @SEC pic.twitter.com/UlaZsfnyAW
— Texas Men’s Basketball (@TexasMBB) August 20, 2024
Texas then travels to LSU on Feb. 1.
Calipari and the Razorbacks come to Texas on Feb. 4 or 5 before playing a road game against Vanderbilt in Nashville on Feb. 8. The Longhorns then welcome coach Nate Oats and Alabama, one of last season’s Final Four appearances, to town on Feb. 11 or 12, followed by a pair of high-profile home games as Kentucky travels to the Moody Center on Feb. 15.
In its final five games, Texas travels to South Carolina on Feb. 22, followed by a trip to Fayetteville to take on the Razorbacks, before returning to Austin for its penultimate home game of the regular season against Georgia on March 1. Mississippi State will host the Longhorns in Starkville on March 4 or 5, followed by a trip to Oklahoma on March 8 in the conference regular-season finale.
Last season, Texas reached its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the longest streak since the school made 14 straight March Madness appearances from 1999-2012.
Terry’s team has had to make significant changes to its roster since the end of his first full season under his tenure. The team’s leading two scorers, guard Max Abmas and forward Dylan Disu, have exhausted their eligibility and two starters, guard Tyrese Hunter and forward Dillon Mitchell, have entered the NCAA transfer portal.
The Longhorns added several new players through the transfer portal, including former Indiana State stars point guard Julian Lally and wing Jason Kent, Arkansas State wing Tramon Mark and former Kansas State forward Arthur Kalouma.
The new recruits join rising junior guard Chandal Weaver and three forwards (seniors Zerrick Onyema and Kaydin Shedrick and sophomore Devon Pryor) on the Texas roster, along with 6-foot-6 five-star freshman guard Tre Johnson (the No. 6 overall prospect in the 2024 class, according to 247Sports) and 6-foot-9 four-star forward Nick Cody (68th overall).
