Can Texas Go Through the Big 12 Undefeated?

By Big12-Fans Writer Jeff Borzello


In the late afternoon of December 10th, experts and pundits across the country were writing a future national title contender off. “Championship teams don’t lose games by 31 points”, they said. The next weekend, even more people came out of their analyst bunker and proceeded to rip one of the most talented teams in the country. That is because they had just lost by 17 at home to what most perceived as an average team, at best. Six weeks later, everyone is back on the bandwagon.

That has been the story of the Texas Longhorns’ season so far. After starting the campaign 8-0 with wins over West Virginia and Iowa, they got blown out by Duke on a neutral court and then came home and got destroyed by Tennessee (who, by the way, might be the best team in SEC now). Forget the fact that Brad Buckman was injured for the majority of both those games and Daniel Gibson only played nine minutes against Tennessee—Texas’ national title run was supposedly over. However, that same Texas team has won 9 in a row since then and is now back in the discussion for the long list of national championship threats. The recent streak includes wins over fellow title contenders Villanova and Memphis, the latter on the road. It also includes 5 Big 12 wins by an average of 26.4 points per game. The question now is not if Texas is going to fall completely off the map—as it was six weeks ago—but if the Longhorns can go through the Big 12 undefeated.

Texas has 11 conference games remaining. To put it plain and simple, they will NOT lose at home. With that in mind, the Longhorns only have six road games left. The toughest test could be this Saturday against Oklahoma. Norman is never an easy place to play, and the Sooners will be hyped to knock off the Longhorns. The other away games left are against Missouri, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and Texas A&M. Each of those teams are decent groups that could potentially knock off Texas, but that’s what people said about Iowa State when Texas went to Ames. The Longhorns dominated the Cyclones and won by 20.

Let’s look at those remaining away games and see if anybody left can beat Texas. Texas Tech is a decent team, but there is no way they are going to beat in-state rival Texas. Oklahoma State...I don’t think that Cowboys are going to be 35 points better at home than they were on the road. That leaves Missouri, who just lost by 24 at home to Iowa State; Texas A&M, who has lost their last 2 home games; and Kansas State, they of a 3-game winning streak and maybe the best bet to defeat the Longhorns. However, if Texas can get past Oklahoma on Saturday, they have an excellent chance of running the table.

The reason that many are so optimistic of Texas going undefeated is the fact that no one besides Oklahoma really looks overly threatening to the Longhorns—and the Sooners don’t even impress me that much. It is completely different than when one analyzed Duke’s chances of going undefeated. There were several obvious roadblocks—at Maryland, at North Carolina, at Georgetown apparently, etc.—but when one looks at Texas’ remaining schedule, the prospects are extremely dim for anyone to actually step up and beat the Longhorns. Texas is just too talented and good for anyone in the conference. They are head and shoulders above the next-best team—who would that be? I have no idea—thanks to their ridiculous talent level. Daniel Gibson is one of the two or three best guards in the conference; P.J. Tucker and LaMarcus Aldridge are the two best players in the league; and Brad Buckman is a vastly underrated inside-outside threat. Throw in Kenton Paulino, and the Longhorns’ starting five is far too ahead of their competition in the conference.

So, back to the original question: Can Texas go through the Big 12 undefeated? After looking at the remaining schedule and realizing that there is no way Texas is going to lose to a Big 12 team at home or on a neutral court, one would have to say yes. The only remaining game that I could see them losing is tomorrow at Oklahoma, and I have serious doubts about that Sooners team. Buckman and Aldridge are on the same level, if not better, than Oklahoma’s post duo of Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout. Tucker is unguardable by anyone on Oklahoma, while Gibson and Terrell Everett will hold each other in check on the perimeter. Tucker will be the difference in tomorrow’s game and most of the games for Texas. Bottom line: Texas will run the table in the Big 12, win the conference tournament, and get a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Talk to me in March when you are seriously considering them to win the National Championship. It’s a long cry from “no team that loses by 31 points will win a title.” Expect to hear the same thing you heard all football season: Hook 'Em Horns.

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