The No. 5 LSU Tigers (25-1; 10-1 SEC) will play the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (25-2; 11-1 SEC) this Sunday, Feb. 16 in a matchup between two of the top teams in the SEC. The game will be broadcast nationally on ABC, with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
It’s the Longhorns’ first season in the SEC after nationwide conference realignment changed the landscape of the NCAA, and it’s hard to imagine things going much better. With just one conference loss on the season and a No. 3 ranking in the AP Top 25 poll, the Texas program has not only sustained the success it enjoyed in its final years in the Big 12—it’s continued to improve, and much of that improvement has come against the fiercest competition.
The Longhorns are currently in the midst of a grueling stretch of games in which they play four-straight top-25 opponents, and they’ve come out on top in each matchup so far. Sandwiched between wins against No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 8 Kentucky was a season-defining victory over No. 2 South Carolina, one that ESPN analyst Carolyn Peck said “put Texas on the map” as a championship contender. South Carolina has been the unquestionable gold standard in the SEC for several years and had previously beaten Texas earlier in the season, so for the Longhorns to bounce back and…
