Experience Over Hype: How These Under-The-Radar Additions Shift the Texas Longhorns Ceiling

Stars get the headlines, but fit wins seasons. We zoom past Cam Coleman and Rasheem Biles to spotlight the Texas transfers who actually solve problems: Melvin Ciani and Lawrence Seymour giving the Longhorns five real shots across the offensive line, Bo Masco bringing Big Ten battle scars to steady a talented but green secondary, and a true inline tight end, Michael Masoonis, unlocking heavy 12 personnel so the run game can breathe again. We also dig into how Justin Cryer’s physical presence at Mike lets Texas unleash speed with Biles and Ty Anthony Smith, reshaping a linebacker room that needed both voice and versatility.

On the draft front, Anthony Hill shows up in Indy with grown-man measurables and legit range at 4.51, nudging his stock north while Trey Moore’s time among the faster edges hints at a broader NFL role. Malik Muhammad’s 4.42 confirms the field speed we saw every Saturday. We talk what those numbers really mean, why a bench rep count won’t define Hill, and how pro-day choices can make or break fringe projections.

Hoops fans, you’re fed too. Texas locks a home-and-home with Memphis—an at-large swing game with brand power—plus a Rady Children’s Invitational field that can boost the NET. Then comes the pressure-cooker: a bubble-shaping road trip to Texas A&M. We map the defensive fixes Texas must make (back cuts, four-man matchups), why this could turn into a shootout, and how a Quad 1 win now could keep the Longhorns out of Dayton.

If you’re into roster building, draft risers, and the chess moves that separate hype from hardware, this one’s built for you. Hit play, send it to a Longhorn who lives for the details, and drop your sleeper transfer pick or score prediction in the comments. And if you’re new here, follow, rate, and share so more Texas fans can ride with us.

Transcript

Framing The Portal Conversation

SPEAKER_01 0:02

We all know that Cam Coleman and Rasheem Biles are the headliners for the Texas Longhorns Transfer Portal Hall. But who are the most important additions not named Coleman and Biles? Welcome into another edition of the Texas Longhorns on SI podcast. I'm your host, Matt Galatson, and this is and I'm joined today, as always, by my co-host, Zach Demitt. And Zach, we all know that Cam Coleman and Rasheem Biles are pretty much the two headliners for the Longhorns Transfer Portal class. Coleman was arguably the most coveted player in the entire portal. Texas lands him, and you know, even if he's like one of your only transfer portal additions, you feel really, really good about it because he's an absolute game changer. Kind of the same for Rasheem Biles on the other side of the ball. You desperately needed a linebacker. You went out and got arguably the best one in the portal. So putting those two players aside, I thought it would be a fun discussion for us to, you know, kind of kind of decide who is the most important addition that the Longhorns made outside of their headliners, the ones that are going to make the biggest difference on the field next season. And I'll start off here, Zach, and I'm going to kind of cheat a little bit as I usually do uh in these kinds of situations.

Offensive Line Rebuild With Ciani And Seymour

SPEAKER_01 1:50

I'm going to go with uh Melvin Ciani and Lawrence Seymour because I think that adding one is great, but you still kind of had something to figure out along the offensive line. But but with the combination of both of them, now that really allows you to complete your offensive line starting unit. You can move Brandon Baker or Andre Kojo to left guard, and now you all of a sudden feel really good about the the position group that was easily your biggest weak point last season throughout the entire year. Uh now it it goes from an obvious weak point to one that, you know, assuming Lawrence Seymour gets cleared uh and his eligibility is taken care of and he is a part of this football team next year, it's it's it's a unit that you know perhaps rivals the the one that you had in 2024 and 2023 with Kelvin Banks, Jake Majors, Hayden Connor, uh DJ Campbell, and Christian Jones slash Cameron Williams. I mean, you you gotta feel really good about this with both of those guys in the fold.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Yeah, the offensive line is certainly more talented uh heading into this season, especially when uh you assume that Lauren Seymour is gonna get cleared with his eligibility. Um the the talent level certainly can rival that that 2024 group. Uh, I do think that that 2024 group had something that this year's you know group probably won't, and that's the continuity that all those guys had, uh, which is hard to replicate out of the portal, but you know, it's it it's certainly gonna be better than it was this past year, that's for sure. Uh, but you still retain some key pieces there, and you had to address something out of the portal, and I think Texas did a good job there. Um, so yeah, I'm with you there. Uh, it's it can't be overstated

Weighing Talent Versus Continuity Up Front

SPEAKER_02 3:32

how important those guys will be. Uh again, it's not as sexy of an addition as Biles, Coleman, Relique Brown, Hollywood Smothers, and those guys, uh, because those guys are gonna be your playmakers, they're gonna make all the highlights. Um, but yeah, I agree with you there. Uh for me, I I think one of the most important guys out of the portal for Texas is definitely gonna be Bo Masco. Um, he's not he's not necessarily an under-the-radar guy or anything like that. I think a lot of fans are really excited about his arrival. Um, and it was certainly significant whenever the Longhorns were able to just snag him out of the portal. Um, but just when you look at the rest of the secondary, you know, cornerback, safeties all around, it's pretty it's pretty,

Bo Masco And Stabilizing The Secondary

SPEAKER_02 4:13

it's a pretty young group for the most part. Of course, you have Jelani McDonald, uh, you have Derek Williams returning, Kobe Black. I mean, it's hard to, you know, crazy that he's already gonna be in his third season. Feels like he just got on campus. Um, but when you when you look at some of the youth, and yeah, some of these guys have been here for a few years, but not a lot of them have played in you know major games and taken major, you know, CFP snaps or anything like that. Uh so still uh overall an unproven group uh at some areas. Of course, Gelani McDonald's gonna be a superstar once again, in my opinion, and and rise to new levels. But um, when you have a young group like that and you're able to get a guy uh with experience like Bo Masco, of course, yes, he doesn't have the CFP experience either, uh, but he's taken significant snaps in the Big Ten. Um and so I think that can't be overstated because when you lose Malik Muhammad, who was that experienced guy, Jalen Gilbo as well, and you know, speaking of which, both those guys are at the combine today uh doing some drills, which is good to see for them. But um, when you lose those guys, uh it's hard to just you know replicate that experience with the current roster. So they had to get someone out of the portal, and I think Bo Masco can definitely do that um when it comes to uh you know replicating some of that experience, but of course he has to you know get on that postseason stage as well. But I think that one's gonna be super big because he um he's now gonna be your you know potential uh number one cornerback, uh barring something unforeseen where Cade Phillips just blows uh the coaching staff out of the water because I just uh you know I think Bo Masco is gonna be that number one guy, but Kid Phillips certainly is gonna be very talented as well. But uh the Grayson Littleton, another young guy in there. So it's a lot of youth, but a lot of talent. But I think that experience uh can't be uh can't be overlooked, and Bo Masco, I think, will bring that for sure.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Yeah, absolutely. And he was the second highest rated corner in the Big Ten last year, according to PFF.

Big Ten Reps And Replacing Muhammad

SPEAKER_01 6:08

There was a lot of good corners in the Big Ten last year, and Rutgers doesn't get all the pub because they weren't a very good team last year, and despite the schedule that he faced, he ended up performing very well. Uh, and you know, when you lose a guy like Manny Mohammed, who had so many skins on the wall, was obviously your your leader in the cornerback room. Uh adding a guy that has that kind of experience and and those kinds of reps to his name is is extremely important. I mean, he went up against Oregon last year, he went up against uh Ohio State, uh Illinois, uh some pretty good teams. Washington was a pretty good team, Iowa was a pretty good team in the Big Ten, and he held up pretty well in all of those games. So uh I'm excited to see what he can do.

Most Underrated Additions Debate

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Let's do this too, Zach, and I'm kind of springing this on you last second, but I think it's gonna be a fun conversation. How about the most underrated one in the class overall? I I think that we could go a lot of different directions with this one, uh, depending on what side of the ball you want to go to. Uh, I'll go first here again so that you can kind of think about yours while I'm talking. But uh I'm gonna go with uh I'm gonna go with Michael Massounis, the tight end. You know, people thought, okay, Texas needs a tight end with Jack Endries leaving. And a lot of the the talk was, well, do we need another Gunnar Helm? Do we need another Jack Endries type who's like a you know receiver that can make plays downfield? And they already have that with Nick Townsend, assuming he can take a step forward. Amari Winston also has that kind of in his game as well. So what what they needed to do was go out and get a real true inline blocking tight end that can move people and be an asset in the run game when they do that 12 personnel type stuff, which when they tried to run it last year was just kind of a disaster because they didn't have anybody with that skill set. Now you add Michael Masoonis to the mix, and all of a sudden you feel really good about that the opportunity to do that, and it's gonna help your new outside runs, uh, outside zone run game as well with Smothers and Brown. I think he's just a really great complimentary piece to all the other things they added on offense.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

Yeah, you stole mine there, so appreciate that. Uh no, but I I agree with I agree with you there. Um, you know, there's a few names to look at. Certainly, Michael Massounis is one of those uh, you know, I'm I'm I'm interested to see what he can do because he's not necessarily gonna blow

Tight End Fit And 12 Personnel Fix

SPEAKER_02 8:28

you away with uh you know pass catching ability, but we'll see. He may surprise some of us. Um, I I think Jack injuries is gonna be hard uh to get a guy like that when it comes to the receiving ability uh out of the portal. So it's gonna be looking a little bit different of the position, but I think it'll be for the best. Um, so I agree with you there. For an underrated guy, there's a few names to look at. I was thinking of like Ian Jaffrad, but I personally think he won't necessarily be underrated. I think he's gonna be a beast on the defensive line. So underrated probably doesn't fit him there. Um I'll go with Justin Cryer, linebacker out of Florida State. You know, he's got some experience under his belt. Um, not you know, the most eye-popping stats you've ever seen during his three years there, but I think he's gonna bring some experience to that position. I think the entire linebacker room is just gonna turn a lot of heads this upcoming season, of course, with Rasheem Biles of then Ty Anthony Smith, um Tyler Atkinson. Um, you know, of course, you get Marcus Boswell out as well. He's gonna be a little bit more of a project, I think, uh, in the long run. But Justin Cryer, with his experience, he'll be able to contribute uh right away. And I think you'll see him make some big plays. Um, you know, a lot like I said, a lot of the attention is gonna go to Rasheem Biles, Ty Anthony Smith, and I think Tyler Atkinson will be that number three guy potentially. Uh, but if he's not ready, uh which I would be surprised if he's not, Justin Cryer could step up and be a pivotal

Linebacker Room Reimagined With Cryer

SPEAKER_02 9:47

piece um in that linebacker room. And so I think he's definitely gonna be an underrated guy to watch for uh because you know he his addition was a little bit more on the quiet side, I would say. Uh Texas fans certainly you know paid attention to it, but nationally, it was a little bit more of a quiet edition. Uh, but you know, he's got us he's got some experience, like I said, and so that can't be overlooked. And so uh I think he fits perfectly into that category because uh he may not uh dominate all the headlines at the end of the year, but I think uh he'll he'll be able to make some plays um you know as the season goes on and definitely fit that kind of underrated label.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Yeah, and just to kind of add to that a little bit, I this was that he was gonna be my other pick if I decided to go on the defensive side of the ball. And the reason being is because Rasheem Biles and Anthony Smith kind of naturally play the same position. I think you're gonna see a lot of them on the field together, obviously. It would be a crime to only have one of them on the field when both of them are so talented, especially Rasheem Biles being the playmaker that he is. But Justin Cryer fits the mold of a true Will Musk champ, Mike linebacker. He's big, he's physical, he's a thumper, and he he can get in there and and disrupt the run game and play really well behind a giant nose tackle like Ian Gaffrard. So I I like him a lot. I think he's gonna be a really good player in this system, and I think that

Scheme Fits For Biles, Smith, And Cryer

SPEAKER_01 11:05

they did a great job of rebuilding that room as a whole, which was gonna be really difficult to do after the loss of Anthony Hill. Uh and Leonga Lafau leaving was was disappointing. Uh Bo Barnes leaving was disappointing. But I think overall, you know, if you if you sat there and told me that we're basically trading Leonga Lafay and Elijah Barnes for Juice Cryer and uh and Rasheem Biles, I'd be like, okay, yeah, I'll take that trade for sure. So uh it's gonna be a really good linebacker room, and I'm really excited to see

Combine Standouts: Anthony Hill Headlines

SPEAKER_01 11:34

it. Uh let's move on to the uh to the NFL combine, Zach, because we had a few guys for Texas that have gone and done some workouts, and they've been performing incredibly well thus far. Um obviously the headliner that everybody wants to know about is Anthony Hill. And um, you know, he he ran his 40 time, ran a great time for him, 4'5-1. Uh, that's gonna that's gonna help him a lot in his uh in his draft you know, stock and his draft status because you gotta have a little bit of speed to play the the linebacker position in the NFL. He measured out at 6'2, 238 pounds, good size for him, uh good arm length at 32 uh and 3.8 and and good hand size as well. But he also did a 1.58 10-yard split, a 37-inch vertical jump, 10.5 broad jump. And uh the one that I was a little disappointed in was the bench press reps. He only had 21 bench press reps where there were some guys that outperformed him there, but overall he's had a really, really good combine so far.

SPEAKER_02 12:34

Yeah, um I was really looking forward to seeing what Anthony Hill could do. I I think the world of this guy, and I know Texas fans do as well. Um maybe I'm a little biased because just working with the working uh with the media and and seeing him, talking to him, just his infectious personality, uh really it really draws a lot of attention. And it's so funny to see uh you know how playful and funny he is off the field, but then he gets on the field and he's just an absolute monster. Uh so I I'm a little biased there. I I really uh think the world of Anthony Hill and hope he does well in the league. And certainly with his combine performance, um, I think you know a lot of teams are gonna be uh moving him up a little bit on their draft

Speed, Measurements, And Draft Stock

SPEAKER_02 13:15

boards. He entered uh Indianapolis kind of as a second round sort of guy. Um, but I think that there's a ceiling for him to potentially move up and delay first round if you know if some of these uh results you know um grab some attention. You know, there's been some doubt. I remember like during the season, ESPN uh there's an uh ESPN uh piece where uh an anonymous scout said that uh some of Anthony Hill's you know draft stock is a little bit overhyped because of the Longhorn logo, which is frankly ridiculous in my opinion, because Texas has sent Texas has sent uh many, many players to the league um during the Steve Starkeesian era, and Anthony Hill is arguably among the best of that of that group, and you know he'll join that group in a couple months. So um, yeah, just a little bit ridiculous there. Uh I'd like to know who that scout was, but um, you know, it's beside the point. But I yeah, Anthony Hill, good time for him there. Um I think that his speed was never in question during his time at Texas, and so you like to see that uh he uh you know he had a good time there. Um, but you know, Trey Moore as well. You know, he was a guy who uh started off uh UTSA, um, you know, was unranked coming out of high school. Uh me and him actually went to the same high school, so always got a little bit of soft spot for him as well. But uh he uh you know has risen up tremendously during his time at UTSA and then at Texas, and so he had a nice little time there as well. Um I don't I don't have it pulled up in front of me.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

I don't know if he's 454 for Trey Moore, which is a great time.

SPEAKER_02 14:50

Yeah, and he's not really even really necessarily known as a super speedy guy, so that that that's that's definitely a good time for him. Um you love to see his rise over the past couple years.

Trey Moore And Malik Muhammad Times

SPEAKER_02 15:00

And then today, Malik Muhammad. Um, he he was running as well. I know Michael Taff was doing some interviews, uh Jalen Gilbo was doing some interviews uh yesterday. Uh, but Malik Muhammad today uh he runs a uh 4-4-2 unofficial, or that that might be official now. Um this is all coming in over the past like 30 minutes or so. Uh but yeah, 4-4-2 for Malik Muhammad. Good time there for him. Um, I think a lot of teams think the world of him. And so interesting to see where he goes. Uh, he was a tough loss you know for Texas during this this offseason, but we all kind of expected that he was gonna be a three and done guy. Um, and he definitely has proven that uh at the combine today.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Yeah, he he I'm very pleased with his 4-4-2 time. Uh, if you kind of look at it. I'll I'm gonna bring up some of these uh some of these numbers to so you can kind of see where they uh where they sit in comparison to the rest of the uh of the of the combine attendees. Uh we'll we'll start with Malik Mohammed

Where The Numbers Rank Among Peers

SPEAKER_01 16:04

since that's who we just talked about. I mean, that's eighth among corners, and it's it's really tight there. Like once, you know, uh Tor Torreano Pride Jr. from Missouri ran a 4-3-2, and that was far and away the best time. Dalen Everett with a 4-3-8 was the second best time. But then, you know, from Malik Mohammed all the way down to Latrell Murchison from from Houston, it's a 4-4-0, 4-4-1, 4-4-2, 4-4-3. So they're all kind of right there. So he's he's running, he he ran a great time for himself uh in that regard. And if you look at the linebacker group, uh Anthony Hill was the third fastest linebacker to run a 40 just behind Sonny Styles and Caleb uh alarms or from TCU. And um it's uh it's interesting because they don't list uh they don't list Trey Moore as a linebacker, they list him as an edge because he was working out with the edges yesterday, and he ran the fourth best time for an edge yesterday, uh, ahead of Cassius Howell from Texas AM, uh, just behind Malachi Lawrence, David Bailey, and Arvell Reese from Ohio State, who is probably gonna be a top two pick. Like that guy's insane. I'm kind of surprised he's listed as an edge because I always kind of pictured him as just a traditional linebacker, but I mean he's an absolute freak of nature, so I'm not surprised to see that he's gonna be doing some other things at the NFL level.

Gilbo’s Decision And Pro Day Strategy

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Um, you know, it it's interesting, Zach, because some of the some of the Longhorn players still haven't, you know, gone yet. Uh we're still waiting on on Jalen Gilbo, and we're still waiting on Michael Taft. And I'm not sure exactly what they're going to do at the Combine if they're gonna run every drill or anything like that.

SPEAKER_02 17:38

But yeah, CJ CJ Vogel of on Texas Football does great work over there. He just uh reported on uh X that Jalen Gilbo is opting not to run at the Combine. So um makes sense, you know, and interesting there. He he could have potentially boosted his draft stock, but he's not necessarily a super speedy guy, that's not really what he was known for. So maybe he's doesn't want to risk um you know a bad time. But in my opinion, I don't know if I agree with that decision because when you're in his position where he's not like a surefire high draft pick or anything like that, you want to try to boost your stock in any way you you can, and it's not like a you know slow UR time is gonna hurt him in in too much, but interesting decision there from Jalen Gobo. That that just came in a few minutes ago. So I guess uh he made that decision today and uh he's just hoping for the best uh once the draft goes around. But we'll have to see if he does any other drills.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

Yeah, a lot of times if if guys you know aren't comfortable with the 40 time they're running at the current moment, they'll opt to do it at the pro day. Right. So I assume that's what Jalen Gilbo's gonna do. He's just gonna opt to do it during the pro day, and then and then we'll see what happens there. He he's kind of he's kind of one of those guys that's on the fringe of being drafted at all, in my opinion. So um, you know, he he needs all the the extra extra help he can get. So if he can keep training and get that 40 time up a little bit, I think that that'll help him in the long run. Um, but yeah, we're still waiting on Michael Taff and we're still waiting on a few of the other guys on the on the other side of the ball.

Evaluating Hill’s NFL Projection

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Uh but you know, overall, really, really good performances so far from the Longhorns that have participated in the combine, and you love to see it because we know that these guys are talented. Uh, I will fight tooth and nail against whatever analyst or scout that was that labeled Anthony Hill overrated because of the Longhorn on his helmet. I think that that is arguably the most ridiculous thing that I've heard out of this draft process so far when it would when it uh pertains to Longhorns. Uh you know, Lance Zerline of NFL Network or NFL.com, I should say, compares him to Bobby Wagner, uh, which I don't know if everybody listening to this podcast knows who Bobby Wagner is, but he's a future Hall of Fame linebacker. Like that that guy's that guy's an incredible player, and he's on the tail end of his career now, but when he was in the prime of his career, he was an absolute star. So if you're getting compared to that guy, I think you should feel pretty good about it. If you may if you saw some of the plays that Anthony Hill made, like you just watched him week by week, like go back to the Georgia game with that interception that he had, where he's you know kind of backtracking on the field and he turns his hips and go goes up in the air and grabs it behind his head. Like that is such an incredibly hard play to make. Very few players at the college level can make that play, and he was able to do it and make it look easy. So that should tell you everything you need to know about Anthony Hill as a player. Is he perfect? No, he's got some weaknesses. Uh, every player does. Um, Lance Zerline's weaknesses for him include production boosted by a heavy dose of run blitz calls, which okay, like he he played well in the in the defensive scheme that that was called for him. That's I don't know why that's a weakness. Uh occasionally allows cutback opportunities to develop. That's fair. Blitz disguise and trigger timing are below average. I think that that's pretty pretty fair. He can be a little bit better in that area. Uh, he can carry routes a step longer in zone coverage, and he his missed tackles spiked in 2024. Uh that was two years ago. So I don't I don't know if that necessarily pertains to last year, which was 2025. It seemed like he was a little bit better in the missed tackles department last year, but that's just me. Uh I'm a big Anthony Hill fan. I've I've been following him since he was like a sophomore at Denton Ryan, and I think he's you know he's gonna be an incredible pro, and whatever team gets him is gonna be very happy about

Ad Break: Custom Built Trailers

SPEAKER_01 21:24

it. Uh, but let's uh let's take a break real quick, Zach. Then we come back. We got some big basketball news plus uh a game to preview for the weekends. So we'll talk about that next year on the Texas Longhorns on SI podcast.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

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Memphis Home-And-Home Announced

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Welcome back to the Texas Longhorns on SI podcast. I'm your host, Matt Galatson, joined by my co-host, Zach Demitt. Zach, uh, we'll start with the big news for Texas basketball today. They announced a home in home series with the Memphis Tigers. Uh, I believe it starts next year and the year after. Um I I didn't see in the announcement which game is where first, so I'm sure you'll be able to clear that up for me. But uh it's it's a big one. I mean, it's it's a it's a you know, I know Memphis isn't a great team this year. I think they're 12 and 16 overall right now, but the three years previous, uh, I believe they made the tournament under Penny Hardaway, at least three of the last four years they've made it. And um historically, Memphis is a very good program under John Caliperi, and then and then since they've been a very consistent, good program, and and they really put a lot into uh their basketball program over there. So I I like that it's not Duke because I I I hate I I understand why Texas does it. They scheduled Duke and UConn in the same year, and I'm like, okay, that's a a choice because they're both really good programs. And and you know, but you you gotta have quality teams on your uh schedule in the non-con in Memphis, is certainly going to be one of those over the next couple years.

SPEAKER_02 23:43

Yeah, uh definitely. I mean, it has not been a good season for them. Uh Penny Hardaway, even I think it was like last week when he was getting interviewed after a loss, he was like tearing up because I think he's been so frustrated with the season. Uh, but despite that, it's college basketball. So these teams can change uh like that uh from season to season. And it's certainly it hasn't been easy this year, but they made uh they made it to the NCAA tournament three of the past four years under Penny Hardaway. Last year, uh they were um uh 29-6. They won the American Conference

Non-Conference Field And Context

SPEAKER_02 24:16

regular season uh title and the tournament title and went to the went to the NCAA tournament. So yeah, great program there. Um so hopefully for Texas's sake, uh, whenever Memphis comes to the Moody Center next season, which will that'll be the first matchup on December 16th. Um, hopefully from Memphis is a uh a stronger program, so a potential win uh will look better uh for the Longhorns, uh, you know, if they can pull that off. So we'll see what happens still a long ways away. Um but yeah, interesting news here kind of came out of nowhere. Uh, but these these non-conference matchups are gonna start getting announced uh as time goes on, and certainly into the offseason. Um as far as the non-con goes for Texas next season, they're gonna be playing in the Rady Children's uh invitational uh in uh late November. Um so they were in the Maui invitational this past season, but this season, uh I believe that's I believe that's in like uh Florida or San Diego. It's in San Diego. Um so the the field includes Georgetown, St. Mary's, and UCLA. Yeah, it's an alright field. Um I you know, I think Utah and St. Mary's are solid teams, but uh Georgetown, yeah, they're a little bit up and down. So uh but we don't know who Texas is gonna play yet uh for um you know in in that uh invitational. So we'll see what happens. But yeah, interesting, interesting to see the the series with Memphis. Um they're gonna be uh playing at FedEx Forum in the 27-28 season, uh, but we don't know the date for that quite yet. So Texas leads the all-time series four to two against Memphis. Of course, um it was in 2008, I believe, where Texas lost in the Elite Eight to Memphis, and that was with uh Derek Rose and John Calipari. Um and uh Memphis ended up going to the final four in the national title game, and they ended up losing that one in San Antonio. So um, yeah,

Remembering Texas–Memphis History

SPEAKER_02 26:05

uh interesting, interesting one there, and uh uh excited to see that one uh in uh many, many months in December.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

Yeah, I remember that Derek Rose Memphis team very well, and that was when Derek Rose was a player. Uh I know that the big the Derek Rose is the one issues, how good would he be a player? Kind of got in when he was at Memphis and then in his first couple weeks in Chicago. Uh that was that team was a huff out, and a big reason of that was for him. So I don't know that Memphis is gonna have anybody like that on the roster because they don't come around very often, but they're gonna be a a pretty good uh pretty good matchup for the Longhorns um in 2026 and 2020. Where uh in the basketball

Must-Win Vibes At Texas A&M

SPEAKER_01 26:56

front, Zach, uh big game for the Longhorns this weekend. They travel to College Station to take on the Texas AM Aggies in what kind of feels like a must-win game for the Longhorns. Uh they are currently, you know, right there on the bubble. Um uh really right alongside Texas AM. Both these teams are kind of in a similar position. And uh Texas AM already has the edge on Texas right now because of a victory early on in the season. But uh, you know, Texas is sitting at 17 and 11, AM is at 19 and 9. Uh, the ESPN matchup predictor gives Texanem a 65.2% chance to win the game. The line has not been released yet, but I would imagine Texas AM is favored in that game, obviously, because of the ESPN matchup predictor and uh and all that. But the game tips off at 3 p.m. tomorrow from Reed Arena. And uh Texas needs to figure out what went wrong in that last game. A big part of it was they did not have an answer for Rashawn A. G. Uh, do they have an answer this time? Probably not because they don't have a guy that can defend the four position very well. The defense has been lacking incredibly

Matchup Keys And Defensive Fixes

SPEAKER_01 28:06

over the last few weeks. We've talked about that over the last couple shows. But the offense has found its rhythm and it's been humming. So this could end up being an offensive shootout in Aggie Land.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

Yeah, that's what I that's what I'm anticipating as well, is that it'll be kind of a high-scoring game. Uh, the last matchup wasn't exactly high scoring. I think both teams were like really cold in the first half and then kind of like 74 to 70 or something like that. Yeah, 74-70. So both these teams can get into those 80s. Um, and it was kind of surprising that they weren't able to, yeah, because it was just a it was just a sluggish first half by both sides, but the Aggies were able to pull away in large part due to many defensive breakdowns from Texas. I mean, give credit to AM. They hit their shots, but I mean they were getting some wide open looks, and it was just constant uh backdoor cuts that Texas was unable to cover. Uh Ryland Griffin was great in that game. Um, and yeah, so it'll be interesting to see uh what happens. You know, both both of these teams kind of uh have most a lot of their production come from one guy, Jalen Swain from Texas, and Rashawn A. G. with Texas AM. So um, yeah, it's kind of a must-win for both sides. I mean, AM and Texas are kind of right there in this in similar positions. Um, you know, the Aggies have

Bubble Math And Seeding Implications

SPEAKER_02 29:20

two less losses, but the Longhorns have better wins. And so it's it's just kind of, you know, you might be uh seeing these two be side by side uh when they're being compared by the committee on selection Sunday. Who who knows? Both imagine both these teams meeting the first four of Dayton. That would that would be a sight to see. So um, yeah, it's kind of a must-win because uh if you're AM, you want to get to that 20-win mark, and if you're Texas a road win um in in conference play against a team that's currently projected in the field, uh, will be a quad one win. And that could potentially solidify Texas's spot in the in the bracket, because if you beat AM, let's say you lose to Arkansas and then you beat Oklahoma in the season finale at home, uh, you're right there at the 19 win mark, and then you can pick up a win in the SEC tournament, you'll feel pretty good about your chances of you know being in the bracket with while avoiding Dayton. So um I it's it's a really big game for Texas because of the opportunity that's that's at hand. Uh, but if you're AM, you can't you can't be dropping a home game uh to a team you already beat. So um it's it's a really really big game for both sides. Um I've seen multiple uh bracket predictors have uh these two teams right next to each other when it comes to where they are on the seed line. So uh really interesting to see what will happen uh tomorrow. I'll be at that game covering it uh for Texas Longhorns on SI. So um yeah, I expect it to be really loud at Reed Arena. Uh if AM can sweep the season series, uh that'll that'll be big time, especially with some of the close losses that uh AM suffered to Texas last season. So we'll have to wait and see what happens.

SPEAKER_01 31:01

Yeah, and and Texas has lost two straight.

Closing Notes And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 31:04

Uh they lost to Florida by 16 on Wednesday. And AM is coming off of uh a loss of themselves to Arkansas, where they lost by 15. So neither of these teams played their best game their last time out. Uh both games, you know, they they played well in spurts, but they weren't able to kind of hang with the superior teams. We'll see uh if Texas can kind of get the answer and get the Aggies back uh in, you know, could Texas AM got the got the win in Austin the first time around. Now Texas has an opportunity to go to College Station and get their revenge and help help to solidify their tournament, uh, their tournament um, you know, their tournament seed. So that'll be something to watch for. And we'll be back on Monday to to kind of recap that game, uh, talk about the NFL combine some more, and then you know, kind of get into some more Texas football. So make sure to tune in then uh and join us on Monday for that. But thank you so much for tuning in to this edition of the Texas Longhorns on SI podcast. Please make sure to like, subscribe, and rate our podcast and comment down below on YouTube to let us know your thoughts. It really helps us out in the algorithm on YouTube. But most importantly, be sure to tell somebody you love them, and we will catch you in the next one.