Texas Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Longhorns
By Adam Childs
Key Non-Conference Games
Nov. 9 – vs Arkansas (Fort Bliss)
Nov. 22 – vs North Carolina
Nov. 23 – vs Michigan State or UCLA
Dec. 5 – vs VCU
Dec. 9 – vs Purdue
Dec 21 – vs Providence
Texas definitely loaded up their non-conference schedule this year that includes four tournament teams from last year. Throw in a game against Shaka Smart’s old school VCU and an SEC opponent in Arkansas and the Longhorns will definitely be tested.
Arkansas should be a good warm-up for the Longhorns and if they can win that game they should be 4-0 heading into the Las Vegas Invitational where they find North Carolina waiting. This invitational will give a great read on how good Texas is this year. They will more than likely be an underdog against the Tar Heels and Michigan State if they play them. They may be better than UCLA but that could be a good game also. If Texas can escape that with at least one win I think it would be a win for Smart and the Longhorns.
After coming back from Las Vegas they have another tough stretch with VCU, Purdue and Providence with a tricky Grand Canyon team sandwiched in the middle. The good news for the Longhorns is they have all four at home. VCU is a wildcard but the other two should be very tough games. Purdue comes in with Big Ten preseason player of the year Carson Edwards. He will be a tough matchup for anyone on the Texas roster.
The Longhorns finish with Providence who made a run in the Big East tournament last year and played well in the NCAA tournament. If Texas can get through this tough gauntlet it will be a good show of how they will be able to deal with the Big 12 conference schedule.