With a little more than a month to go before the season starts, the Texas women’s basketball team finally has a complete schedule.
On Wednesday afternoon, Texas released the nonconference portion of its schedule for the 2024-25 season. The Southeastern Conference had previously shared the dates and locations for UT’s first conference contests in its new league.
The Longhorns will open the campaign Nov. 10 with a home game against Southeast Missouri State.
This nonconference schedule will pose some challenges for a Texas team that many will expect to contend for a national championship this season. Notre Dame, Richmond and Maryland were all NCAA tournament teams last season and James Madison won 23 games. The Longhorns could also run into West Virginia at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
All of those games, however, will be played outside of the Austin city limits. Of the seven home games on this nonconference schedule, only two feature UT playing a team that posted a winning record last season. South Dakota State went 27-6 and reached the NCAA tournament while Lamar won 24 of its 31 games.
Texas women’s basketball nonconference schedule
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Nov. 10: Southeast Missouri State
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Nov. 13: Lamar
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Nov. 17: at DePaul
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Nov. 20: Tarleton State
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Nov. 29-Dec. 1: Gulf Coast Showcase (in Estero, Fla.)
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Dec. 5: at Notre Dame
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Dec. 8: at James Madison
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Dec. 11: Southern University
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Dec. 15: at Richmond
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Dec. 17: La Salle
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Dec. 22: South Dakota State
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Dec. 29: UTRGV
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Jan. 20: vs. Maryland (in Newark, N.J.)
‘Can’t get anybody to come here’
In years past, Texas coach Vic Schaefer has complained about the troubles he has had with filling out a schedule. During a media availability Wednesday, he again talked at length about the problem.
“My nonconference schedule’s as bad as any I’ve ever had. It’s tough. It’s demanding. We’re traveling. We’re playing good people on the road,” Schaefer said. “It’s fine, it’s what we sign up for and it’s no big deal, but the nonconference piece is challenging and we may take a bump or two. It may happen.
“I scheduled it that way because I felt like we’ve got a veteran team, and I think these veterans would rather play good people. If I played at home against some three-name directional school, I’m not sure how much that’s going to do for (my players).”
Continued Schaefer: “I can’t get anybody to come here. … You would be amazed at how many university-ofs who needed games, and one of them might still, who I offered to go there and they said no. There’s only so much money I can pay you to come here. And it’s still a pretty nice check and you still can’t get anybody to do that.”
When asked if he tries to sell potential opponents on the RPI bump that playing Texas would give résumés, Schaefer replied that “I’ve sold everything but my soul. I used to think it was hard to get them to come to Starkville. I sure can’t get them to come to Austin.”
Schaefer, who coached at Mississippi State from 2012-20, has theories as to why teams don’t want to play Texas. He believes that some teams are scared off by the aggressive defense that UT plays and the fact that the team has a lot of veterans on its roster.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told, ‘Yeah, call us next year.’ All you do is write their name down. You call them next year, ‘Hey, call us next year.’ It’s terrible, y’all. It’s really, really challenging,” Schaefer said.
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas women’s basketball releases entire schedule for upcoming season
