Texas men’s basketball finalized its contract Tuesday to bring two-time defending national champion Connecticut to the Moody Center on Dec. 8 for a marquee nonconference matchup.
As first reported by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports and confirmed to the American-Statesman in May, Texas will play the Huskies in a home-and-home series over the next two seasons. This upcoming season’s meeting will take place on one Sunday of each month in the 2024-25 campaign and will give the Longhorns high-level non-conference competition on their home court.
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Tip time and network television coverage for this year’s game in Austin will be announced at a later date.
The 2025 meeting will take place on December 12 in Connecticut.
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Last season’s non-conference schedule did not include home games against such an opponent, much to the consternation of some season ticket holders as well as analysts who use the strength of the schedule to help evaluate teams at the national level. Texas coach Rodney Terry promised after last season’s nonconference to update his team’s home schedule.
“In Texas, we’re always going to have a marquee game or two at home,” he said in January. “This year, we couldn’t have one of those. But from here on out, we’re always going to have a great home and home series.”
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In the 2023-24 season, Connecticut beat Texas 81-71 in the Empire Classic in New York City in November.
Texas still has some attractive neutral-site games scheduled for next season. The Longhorns will open the year Nov. 4 in Las Vegas against Ohio State pending a final agreement, a UT source confirmed to the American-Statesman last month.
The Longhorns already know they will play the 2024 Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, on November 21-22, along with Syracuse, Saint Joseph’s and Texas Tech. Semifinal pairings and television coverage of that event will be announced at a later date. They also know who they will compete against in an 18-game conference schedule in their first season in the SEC.
This article originally appeared in the Austin American-Statesman: Texas men’s basketball finalizes schedule, will host champion UConn