Texas Basketball: Longhorns Arrange Home-And-Home Series With National Power Gonzaga
Texas continued the process of beefing up its non-conference schedule by announcing a home-and-home series with national basketball powerhouse Gonzaga.
The Longhorns host the Bulldogs on Nov. 13 of this year and pay a return trip to Spokane in the 2021-22 season.
The Bulldogs have made every NCAA Tournament dating back to 1999 under head coach Mark Few. They were the NCAA Runner Up in 2016-17 and an Elite Eight participant most recently 2018-19. They finished the 2019-20 season as the No. 2 team in both the AP and Coaches Polls and looked like a shoo-in for a No. 1 seed had there been an NCAA Tournament this year.
Texas is 0-3 all-time against Gonzaga.
Texas' floundering out-of-conference opponent strength was a big reason the Longhorns found themselves on the NCAA Tournament bubble in 2019-20. Texas' biggest two non-conference opponents were Purdue and a Big 12-SEC Challenge date with LSU.
Texas has been in the process of adding some heft to its non-league slate in 2020-21 though. The Longhorns will participate in the Maui Invitational and both cross-conference challenges with both the SEC and Big East.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte recently issued a vote of confidence for head basketball coach Shaka Smart, clearing up the fate of the Longhorns coach after a shaky season.
The Longhorns will enter 2020-21 with high hopes, likely returning all five starters and nearly every player on the two-deep roster from this past season. Texas is also in the hunt to land five-star Austin-area product Greg Brown III on the recruiting trail.