#11 Texas Survives

by awiggo on Feb 16, 2008 7:35 PM CST in Basketball Comment 15 comments

The Texas Longhorns did everything possible to blow a 12 point lead in the final two minutes in Waco, but somehow survived. Texas wins 82-77 and improves to 21-4 overall and 8-2 in the Big XII. The Horns are now 4-2 on the road on the conference.

The good news is Texas won and really controlled the game for the first 38 minutes. The bad news is Texas missed free throws, turned the ball over, and appeared destined to lose in the closing moments. If not for a brain fart from senior Aaron Bruce, Texas probably does lose for the first time in 22 games against Baylor.

I can't possibly write a review right now. I'm headed to the doctor because there is no way my heart can handle that much stress.

Till later.

--AW--

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Heartstoppers

[new]Heartstoppers (none / 0)
That Baylor crowd had been a keg of dynamite just needing someone to light the fuse all night and when Texas sparked it with complacency, it still ended up being a dud.

We'll take the win for sure, but WTF?

Not sure we learned anything from that other than you can never take your foot off the gas.

Bruce, another no-show, probably the biggest stat of the game again. Did he knock his girlfriend up or something cuz that guy's head ain't in the game.

Maybe there will be some good come from this...this being that we'll have our heads in the game from the start for our second of three Big Mondays in a row.

If this UT team ever gets a nickname, I'm going with: Heartstoppers

They may not break your heart, but they'll make it skip a beat for sure.

Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.

by 54b on Feb 16, 2008 7:43 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Excitement not over yet...

3:03 left in the 1st half

UAB is leading Memphis at home. UAB has a reputation of upsets.

by goingforthecorner on Feb 16, 2008 7:49 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Michael Beasley agaisnt Missouri

40 points, 17 boards, 14-15 FTs

We don't play them till Feb. 25th, but I can't wait to see the matchup of Beasley vs James.

by goingforthecorner on Feb 16, 2008 7:56 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

WOW!!

Rediculous finish. About 30 seconds after I commented that we had really controlled this game and we needed this type of solid win. We give up a three, then give away the ball for another Baylor 3 and are suddenly up ony 4.

Another lesson in making free throws. We missed the front end of three strait oneandones and almost pay dearly. DJ really needs to make those and I don't ever excuse an AJ miss late in the game. But hey, we came out with a win.

Oh and yeah, Aaron Bruce is a senior, right. He sure aint getting laid tonight.

by jimmer on Feb 16, 2008 8:00 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

And,

10 assists from DJ was pretty solid.

by jimmer on Feb 16, 2008 8:22 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

so...

i was watching this game on my laptop on the car becuase i have a verizon broadband thing and my laptop ran out of batteries at the 1:05 mark after dj's turnover and baylor's three to cut the lead to 4. i basically thought "sh!T" so what happened after that? i'm trying to find it on espn360 replay but i'm having no luck

TEXAS LONGHORNS #16 Jermichael Finley 36 rec 500 yards 2 td

by clra2 on Feb 16, 2008 8:09 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

we won.

yay!

by billyzane on Feb 16, 2008 8:21 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Monday's Ranking

Whew! If UT intentionally wanted to lose the game in the final two minutes I don't think they would have done anything differently. Only one BU player checking out of the game at the worst time changed the outcome.

That being said...I believe UT (now #11) should be ranked #6 after this week's action. Three of the four teams ahead of them lost, giving each of them the same number of losses as UT against weaker schedules than UT. That puts UT at #8.

Next, does Butler, currently #9 deserve to stay ahead of UT, even when UT knocks off the #3 team in the country when Butler's marquee win this week was against Cleveland St? And UT's top 3 wins are against #3 KU, #4 Tenn and #6 UCLA while Butler's top 3 wins are against Ohio St, Texas Tech and S Illinois. The SOS factor SHOULD let UT jump Butler and land at #7.

(If voters keep Butler ahead as long as they keep winning because of a 24-2 record that surpasses UT's 21-4 record they need to have their heads examined.)

Finally, does UCLA, currently #6 deserve to stay ahead of UT? A lot still depends on how they do at USC tonight. If they lose and join UT with 4 losses, with UT's head-to-head victory earlier this season UT deserves the higher ranking.

But, if UCLA wins I believe the Longhorns still can make the case that they should be ranked higher than a 22-3 Bruin squad. First, UT defeated the #3 team in the country this week. And defeated a tough, tournament bound Baylor on the road. Baylor and USC are about even from my perspective this season, and even if UCLA defeats USC, that just equals UT's win over Baylor today. UCLA played only one game this week, so UT's win over KU along with their win over UCLA should shoot them to #6.

The top 5 teams all have two or fewer losses and play decent schedules (unlike Butler), so breaking into that tier will take UT continuing to rack up quality wins while the top 5 suffer multiple losses these next few weeks. That may not happen before conference championship week, so #6 is as high as they go before seeds are announced. Again, UT has to continue to gut out wins for this scenario to hold true.

Just my thoughts on a successful, albeit heart-stopping week.

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by RkyMtnHorn on Feb 16, 2008 8:19 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Haha...

aren't you the guy who went on a rant about how ridiculous the rankings are? I'm surprised you even care about the polls.

by goingforthecorner on Feb 16, 2008 8:38 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Complaints Were About ESPN/USA Today

not all polls. ESPN tries to impose the teams from the coasts in population centers on the sports world so they can keep up their ratings for advertisers.

AP poll's problem is mostly limited to their end of year football rankings. The AP writers pretend they have some kind of final say on who the NCAA football champion is when the BCS Bowl Championship, like or loathe it, is the championship every team starts the season trying to win. Splitting championships because writers don't like the outcome is wrong.

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by RkyMtnHorn on Feb 16, 2008 8:44 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Michigan State

If Michigan St wins today, they deserve to stay ahead of Texas due to the head to head win.

by footballjesus on Feb 16, 2008 8:42 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Disagree

First: They lost this week to #19 Purdue and were ranked only one ahead of UT at #10 who beat #3 KU. So, say they beat #12 Indiana with Samson's distraction whirling around, I put beating KU and Baylor ahead of simply beating IU for the week. And, what, no penalty for losing, not even slipping behind the team right behind you that won both their games against top, quality opponents?

Second: They do not have as impressive a resume as UT's for their body of work this season. My arguments for UT passing UCLA on the basis of being tied with a head to head win includes UT's overall results versus UCLA's.

I don't think MSU should drop a bunch if they win - either #11 or #12, they did play a tough couple of games on the road against ranked teams this week. They've deserve to stay ahead of Xavier, with only Wisconsin possibly passing them besides UT.

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by RkyMtnHorn on Feb 16, 2008 8:53 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs