NCAA Basketball: Baylor rises, Kentucky falls in latest 2023-24 WTE power rankings
By Joey Loose
18. Texas
The Longhorns survived the tumult of last season, with head coach Chris Beard fired in the middle of the season. Rodney Terry was virtually masterful in his takeover of the program, leading the Longhorns to a Big 12 Tournament title and a trip to the Elite Eight, their first in well over a decade. Texas shed some important pieces from last year’s team, but have certainly been winners in college basketball in recent weeks.
Yes, the Longhorns will move forward without Timmy Allen, Marcus Carr, and Sir’Jabari Rice, all of whom were double-digit scorers last season. Fortunately, they’l be getting Tyrese Hunter and Dylan Disu back for another season and were big winners in the Transfer Portal. Texas landed superstar scorer Max Abmas from Oral Roberts and also landed former Virginia big man Kadin Shedrick.
If Dillon Mitchell takes a big step forward as a sophomore, then this frontcourt could do some major damage this season. At the same time, Abmas and Hunter form quite the powerful backcourt and will be a force in the Big 12. We’ll see what kinds of numbers Abmas puts up in a power conference and how these players gel together. Frankly, you could argue that Texas should be a few spots higher.