On an early episode of King of The Hill titled “The Order of the Straight Arrow,” Hank and the fellas shepherd Bobby’s scout troop on a “rite of passage” excursion into the great outdoors. But the trip is not a good-natured one: as the men collude to exploit the children’s naivety and make fools of them via a gauntlet of phony Native American rituals. Read More | Comment »

Let’s put some more mileage on that overwrought sports hypothetical: If the season ended today … Read More | Comment »

Where were you the last time Texas failed to make the Big Dance? Bill Clinton was in the Oval Office – with Monica: last century. Read More | Comment »

The final, fatal 14.5 seconds of Texas’ controversial 69-70 loss to Arizona on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament prompted the Wildcats’ hometown paper – the Tucson Citizen – to issue a painfully evocative headline: “Arizona in the NCAAs: It’s a charmed life.” Read More | Comment »

Bookended by Fun Fun Fun and South by Southwest, Texas’ redeemed 2010-11 regular season ended with an emphatic 60-54 sigh of relief against the bubbly Baylor Bears on Saturday night in Waco. Read More | Comment »

The package of upsets that rearranged the NCAA’s Top 5 last week summoned that timeless, annual question: “Is losing a game before the NCAA tourney a good thing?” Previously top-ranked and undefeated Ohio State was the first to field it after their 67-70 loss at Wisconsin on Feb. 12. “We don’t like to lose,” Ohio State freshman Jared Sullinger said. Read More | Comment »

The No. 3 ranked Longhorns are all the rage on the national scene since going unblemished and looking untouchable against the Big 12’s beefiest. The terrain entering the 12-day gauntlet of No. 22 Texas A&M, No. 2 Kansas, and No. 19 Missouri looked shaky, with a Kansas-sized reality-check readied on Jan. 22 to sour the outlook of Texas players and fans alike. Read More | Comment »

The Longhorns’ men's basketball team steadfast march to their current No. 7 AP ranking began in virtual obscurity when they were (just barely) ranked No. 25 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and were snubbed outright by the AP Top 25 at season's beginning. Read More | Comment »

Though UT’s Jan. 8 home loss to Kemba Walker and No. 10 UConn was hard to digest, the (14-3) Horns have since inflicted their residual anger on the Big 12’s little sisters of the poor. Their back-to-back stampedes of Texas Tech and Oklahoma have further demonstrated that this year’s team is too good and too resilient to feel sorry for themselves. Read More | Comment »

The recent tales of UT and UConn entering Saturday afternoon’s heavyweight bout at the Erwin Center are about as polarized as it gets. The Longhorns haven’t incurred a loss for more than a month – a 73-56 loss at USC on Dec. 5 – and have impressively cleared high hurdles in North Carolina and East Lansing, Mich., in the process. Read More | Comment »

Tom Izzo is one of the most venerated figures in college basketball, and when a man of his stature praises another team in the aftermath of a dispiriting home loss, you know it’s a painful, but genuine, declaration. “We got beat by a better team,” Izzo said, following No. 12 Michigan State’s demoralizing 67-55 home loss to No. 18 UT on Wednesday night. Read More | Comment »

If anything positive can be extracted from the Longhorns men's basketball deflated showing against USC in Los Angeles last week, it was the golden opportunity to redeem themselves six days later at home versus neighboring Texas State. UT remained in the Top 25 by the skin of their teeth following their upset by the unranked Trojans. Read More | Comment »

As an unranked – and overlooked – team in the preseason Top 25 featuring four new starters, the Longhorns are a Manhattan eyelash away from being undefeated as they prepare to embark on a five-week stretch dispersed with iconic programs (North Carolina, Michigan State, Connecticut) and apparent doormats alike. Read More | Comment »

ESPN will broadcast the University of Texas men's basketball game vs. North Carolina Sat., Dec. 19, at 1pm. This will be the first basketball game to be played in the new Cowboys Stadium. Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale, and Doris Burke will comment on the action. Since the Tar Heels are coached by a man named Roy Williams, my money is on the Horns. Read More | Comment »

Today (Tue., Oct. 20) has officially been proclaimed by Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Sen. Royce West as "Kevin Durant Day." This proclamation celebrating UT's superstar forward coincides with his Oklahoma City Thunder playing the San Antonio Spurs at the Erwin Center tonight at 7:30pm in an exhibition match. Read More | Comment »

Not to be outdone by D.J. Augustin, junior guard A.J. Abrams officially declared for June's NBA Draft an hour and a half after his younger counterpart. Unlike Augustin, Abrams left the door more than cracked for a senior season with the Longhorns. “Playing in the NBA has always been a dream of mine since I was a little kid,” Abrams said through the Texas media relations office. “Right now, I have the opportunity to test the waters to see where I stand. If I’m comfortable with where I feel I’ll be drafted, I’ll stay in the draft. If not, I’ll be back for my senior year.” No comment from coach Rick Barnes was released. Read More | Comment »

Texas' consensus All-American D.J. Augustin declared today for the June 26 NBA Draft, though he hasn't hired an agent which leaves open the possibility he will stay. But "listening" to the sophomore's words, issued today through the Texas media relations department, it doesn't seem likely he will be in burnt orange next season. "I have had a great experience here at the University of Texas," Augustin said in the statement. "All I can say is ‘thank you’ to my teammates, coaching staff and fans that have supported us during my two years at Texas. I have matured a lot as a person, both on and off the court. I have dreamed of playing in the NBA since I was a little boy, and I am ready to start living this dream.” Rick Barnes has also seemingly given up on the thought of having his star player and court general back. Read More | Comment »

It's pretty amazing how far out of it Texas was for its Elite Eight game with Memphis in Houston. Though there are plenty of reasons for the blowout the Longhorns suffered at the hands of the top-seeded Tigers, one of the biggest was D.J. Augustin's lack of presence in this game. Though he was the second-leading scorer on the team behind A.J. Abrams, Augustin's points came during a two-for-18 night. The reason for this seems simple enough to me – Augustin was uncomfortable all game because he wasn't running the team. Augustin is Texas' All-American point guard, but against Memphis (and for most of Texas' Sweet 16 win over Stanford) coach Rick Barnes had Justin Mason running the point and had Augustin running around the baseline looking to get open for shots. Augustin also had a lot of turnovers, which helped Memphis jump out to its insurmountable lead. This, too, can easily be explained by Augustin's different role in the Houston Regional games. Read More | 1 Comment »

Though the Longhorns let their second-round game with Miami get way, way too close, Texas has once again made it back to the Sweet 16 and has a date with Stanford. Fueled by an excellent offensive performance from A.J. Abrams and the usual leadership of point guard D.J. Augustin, the Longhorns looked nearly unstoppable until the waning minutes of their 75-72 win over the Hurricanes. That's why fans need to look past the final score and the last few minutes of Sunday's game. Every team faces a scare before the Sweet 16 and Texas passed the test. So, when taking the game as a whole into view, there should be no reason why Texas won't make it through Stanford - who had to go to overtime with Marquette to punch their ticket - in Houston and end up playing Memphis for the South Region final. This may turn out to be the most exciting postseason run for the Longhorns since T.J. Ford was in burnt orange. Read More | Comment »

A lot has happened since Texas lost to Kansas 84-74 in the Big 12 Tournament title game in Kansas City, Mo. First, we learned Texas' NCAA fate, as they drew the No. 2 seed in the South Region. This is beneficial to Texas because if the Longhorns get out of the first and second rounds in Little Rock, Ark., alive, they play in the region final in Houston, giving them at least somewhat of a home-court advantage. Then we learned that Texas' sophomore point guard D.J. Augustin was named a United States Basketball Writers Association All-American. Read More | Comment »