At one point, very early in the season, the loaded Texas Longhorns were considered to be among the favorites to win the Big 12, which has again proved to be the best conference in college basketball.
In my pre-conference play predictions, I projected the Longhorns – featuring an extremely loaded frontcourt, an elite point guard and the No. 2 ranked incoming freshman – to finish atop the Big 12 over teams like Kansas, Iowa State and Oklahoma.
But as we know in the world of sports, things can shape up vastly different than what was expected and the Longhorns are a prime example of that thus far. Now after dropping four of their last six conference games, Texas is facing the reality of it being now or never for their hopes of a successful season.
Over the course of these four losses, Texas has shown signs of moderate improvement and reasons for optimism, just as with last night’s near-comeback on the road in Ames after being down by 21 points at one point.
But as you could expect, and just as senior small forward Jonathan Holmes points out, moral victories in comeback efforts don’t mean very much in the most competitive conference in college hoops.
Jon Holmes: "We’ve got to get past the moral victories. We shouldn’t have been down 21 in the first place."
— Brian Davis (@BDavisUT) January 27, 2015
One could argue that the losses Texas has suffered as of late aren’t necessarily bad losses, as they’ve dropped games to Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa State, whom are all very legitimate threats to be reckoned with into March.
But just along with those clubs, Texas does have the talent at their dispense to be right along-side some of the most dominant teams in college basketball, but for a multitude of reasons, the Longhorns simply haven’t lived up to their towering expectations this year.
Luckily for Rick Barnes’ club, Texas is entering a stretch of their schedule where a win streak is very possible and quite likely. The Longhorns next five games include No. 20 Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, TCU and Texas Tech. The Longhorns have already beaten the latter two clubs and will be the clear favorites in those matchups again.
Outside of an upset, Texas should walk away from their matchup with Kansas State in Manhattan victorious, just as they will be the favorites to avenge their early conference season loss to Oklahoma State. But then there’s Saturday’s battle in Waco with a physical Baylor squad.
The Bears should easily pose the biggest threat to Texas over this five-game stretch, which is one that Texas could use to catapult themselves into some momentum for success as the season nears its end.
Although this is a stretch where Texas could easily drop a game or two, it’s also a stretch where they could get into a rhythm and hit a five-game winning streak as they enter the most difficult portion of their schedule.
Following this five-game period, Texas will see ranked opponents in five of their final six games, which includes games against Oklahoma, Iowa State and Kansas, whom they have already failed to beat.
If Texas is going to turn their season around, the time is now. This is unquestionably the only ‘break’ Texas will get in their schedule where they won’t have to face one dominant team after another on a nightly basis before entering the stretch where that exact scenario becomes the issue.
For Texas, these next five games are the most crucial of their entire schedule. They can either respond to adversity and get on a hot streak before things get even more difficult on a night-to-night basis, or they can fold and just accept that things haven’t went at planned this season.
It’s time to either become a team that people will be able to remember, or remain a team that people continue to be disappointed in in one loss after another.