{"id":199153,"date":"2026-03-11T01:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T01:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/199153\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T01:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T01:19:09","slug":"texas-coach-says-team-ready-for-sec-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/199153\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas coach says team ready for SEC Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2014 On the eve of his first SEC Tournament<\/a> as head coach of Texas basketball<\/a>, Sean Miller took a moment after his team\u2019s shootaround Tuesday inside Bridgestone Arena to take stock of his new conference.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Texas (18-13, 9-9 SEC) finished three games better in league play than a year ago, when it had to traverse what many analysts considered the best conference in college basketball history. The Longhorns\u2019 spot in the 2025 NCAA Tournament testified to that strength; despite a 6-12 SEC record, Texas earned a spot in the First Four.<\/p>\n

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This season\u2019s SEC may not approach that lofty standard from a year ago \u2014 the SEC is tied for third with the ACC behind the Big 12 and the Big Ten, based on teamrankings.com \u2014 but it still surpasses anything Miller has endured in his two decades as a head coach.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller watches the game during the first half of Lone Star Showdown, Jan. 17, 2026 at the Moody Center in Austin. Texas A&M won the game 74-70.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my one year here in the SEC, this is as challenging as any I’ve ever been a part of,\u201d said Miller, who previously coached Arizona in the Pac-12 and Xavier in the Atlantic-10 and the Big East.<\/p>\n

TEXAS VS. MISSISSIPPI<\/p>\n

When\/where:\u00a06 p.m. Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.<\/p>\n

TV\/radio:\u00a0SEC Network; 1300 AM, 98.1 FM.<\/p>\n

Better than the Big East, which produced a UConn squad that won back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024?<\/p>\n

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\u201cJudging the SEC this year, just the depth of the conference,\u201d Miller said. \u201cJust the quality of all 16 (teams), just the level of play of those who finished near the bottom, the negligible difference between those that are in the middle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller then cited Florida, Alabama, Arkansas and Vanderbilt, the four teams that received a double bye in this week’s\u00a0SEC Tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think the power at the top, all of them have a chance to go really deep in the NCAA Tournament,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I can’t imagine a league this year that’s better. I know the Big 12 is terrific and the Big Ten is, too, but I think our league \u2014 top to bottom, night in and night out \u2014 it’s the best one that I’ve been a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

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MORE: How Texas basketball let another must-win SEC game slip through its hands | Golden<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas head men’s basketball coach Sean Miller argues with referee Anthony Jordan during the first half March 7, 2026 against the Oklahoma at Moody Center in Austin.<\/p>\n

Scott Wachter\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Dailyn Swain: Ole Miss seeking vengeance for earlier loss<\/p>\n

Miller and his 10th-seeded Longhorns will open the SEC Tournament at 6 p.m. Wednesday against a perfect test case in 15th-seeded Ole Miss (12-19, 4-14). The Rebels have endured a down season while winning just four of their 15 league games, but the manner of many of their losses makes Miller\u2019s case; over its last four games, Ole Miss beat an Auburn squad scrapping for an NCAA berth and dropped two overtimes games to No. 22 Vanderbilt and LSU as well as a 3-point loss to South Carolina.<\/p>\n

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And those last four games don\u2019t include Ole Miss\u2019 visit to Austin a month ago, when Texas pulled away for a 79-68 win<\/a> after scoring the final 14 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur game could have gone their way,\u201d Miller said. \u201cSo, there isn’t a big difference, which leads us to that we have to be at our best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns forward Camden Heide (5) shoots for three over defense form Texas A&M Aggies guard Rylan Griffen (3) in the second half as the Texas Longhorns play the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena in College Station, Feb. 28, 2026. Texas won the game 76-70.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Texas had one of its better defensive games of the season in that win, holding Ole Miss to 41.4% shooting from the field. But\u00a0Dailyn Swain<\/a>, a second-team All-SEC selection by the league coaches and the only Longhorn who earned postseason recognition, said that won\u2019t matter when the ball tips Wednesday in the first-round game.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI mean, we don’t look at it as an advantage or disadvantage,\u201d Swain said. \u201cWe know they’ll be a little bit more motivated, obviously, because we beat them the first game. But we have things to play for, so we should be just as motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cam Heide: SEC on par with Big Ten<\/p>\n

Oh, and what does Swain think about his first season competing in the SEC after playing his first two years in the Big East under Miller at Xavier?<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn’t say there was a huge difference,\u201d he said. \u201cYou played everyone twice in the Big East, and that’s not the case in the SEC, so I would say that’s the main difference. But other than that, I mean, they’re two great leagues. You\u2019ve got to compete every single night.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cam Heide<\/a>, another first-year Longhorn who spent his previous three seasons at Big Ten powerhouse Purdue, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would just say the Big Ten is super physical, but the SEC is super physical as well, but there’s a lot of athletes in the SEC,\u201d Heide said. \u201cThey’re very similar. You never really get a day off. Doesn’t matter who you play, doesn’t matter where you play, doesn’t matter how many people are in the stands, home or away. You get someone’s best shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Heide, a proud Minnesotan with the Big Ten in his family blood, has to make a choice about which league is better, right?<\/p>\n

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\u201cWell, I\u2019m in the SEC now, so I\u2019ll say the SEC,\u201d he cracked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2014 On the eve of his first SEC Tournament as head coach of Texas basketball, Sean…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,2692,41452,19752,69852,68232,797,19753,78680,21171,76992,537,19751],"class_list":{"0":"post-199153","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news","11":"tag-college-basketball","12":"tag-dailyn-swain","13":"tag-men-s-college-basketball","14":"tag-ncaa-march-madness","15":"tag-ole-miss-basketball","16":"tag-ole-miss-rebels","17":"tag-sean-miller","18":"tag-sec-basketball-tournament","19":"tag-sec-men-s-basketball","20":"tag-sec-tournament","21":"tag-texas-longhorns","22":"tag-texas-longhorns-men-s-basketball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}