Texas basketball’s nonconference schedule, finalized and released Monday, includes an intriguing pair of neutral-site games in the state and a visit to Louisville as well as a trip to San Diego for a pair of tournament games.
But the schedule at Moody Center won’t make fans rush to their phones, open up the SeatGeek app and start scrolling for available seats. The home slate includes eight games against an array of teams from the smallest of conferences. Even Memphis, the lone major-conference program that will visit Austin in nonconference play next season, went just 13-19 a year ago and won’t likely sniff any preseason rankings.
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The Longhorns open the regular season Nov. 2 with a home contest against Chicago State. Texas hosts Gardner-Webb on Nov. 5 and concludes its three-game, season-opening homestand Nov. 9 against Grambling State. The Longhorns also host Southern Utah Nov. 19, Southern Indiana Nov. 22 and Jackson State Dec. 8. They conclude the nonconference portion of their schedule with three consecutive home games Dec. 16 against Memphis, Dec. 21 against Prairie View A&M and Dec. 29 against East Texas A&M.
Head coach Sean Miller said he understands the frustrations from the fans when looking at the Moody Center lineup.
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“What we try to do is put the best nonconference schedule together to help us get the highest seed in the NCAA Tournament, to make the NCAA Tournament, to put our team in the best position to advance,” Miller said last week before the official release of the schedule. “That’s it. With that, we also respect our fans, and we want to create home-court games where they feel like they’re watching the best in the country. These marquee games, I would just say I ask for a little patience to get that right.”
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The Longhorns traditionally don’t play a murderer’s row in nonconference, especially at home. They hosted North Carolina State as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge last season, and Connecticut visited Moody Center in 2024 as part of a home-and-home series. No other power conference programs played a nonconference game in Austin over the previous two seasons.
The 2023 nonconference home schedule was highlighted by Rice.
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Texas head coach Sean Miller reacts during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against BYU, Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore.
Amanda Loman/Associated Press
But Miller, who will start his second season as the Longhorns’ head coach, said fans eager to see March-level madness in nonconference may get what they want sooner than later.
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“It takes a couple turns of it to get your nonconference scheduling model where it needs to be and where you want it to be,” Miller said. “No. 1, you inherit games that were already scheduled, some of which you agree with, maybe some of which you don’t agree with. No. 2, you’ve never coached in the SEC before. I have a lot more familiarity with that conference, our conference, 18 games, the SEC tournament than I would have a year ago.”
Miller did succeed in reestablishing his program’s footprint across the state, and he’s particularly happy to play in two of the state’s three NBA arenas with games scheduled against Baylor in San Antonio and against Miami in Houston.
“People that love Texas but can’t quite get here as easily to Moody, we’re coming to you,” he said. “San Antonio fans to watch the Baylor game. We’re playing there in Houston against Miami, Fla. Two great programs that historically have been really good. Miami was great a year ago. Baylor, we know them. So, I think that although we’re not in Moody, we’re still trying to appease our fan base. We’re still trying to do what I said is the No. 1 priority, and that is, does this game make sense for us to get the highest seed to make the tournament and put us in a position to advance? So, these marquee neutral site games. I think you notice there are more of them, and I think we want to embrace that.
“We’re still working hard to get these home-and-away series that will be in Moody. And we have some great conversations moving forward, where I have no doubt there’ll be more of those, not less of those, moving forward.”
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Texas will also play Georgetown and either UCLA or St. Mary’s at the Rady Children’s Invitational Nov. 26-27 in San Diego, Calif. The Longhorns will visit Louisville Dec. 1 as part of the SEC/ ACC Challenge.
Texas found out its complete SEC schedule in late July.