Texas to play Marquette in Big East-Big 12 Battle

After facing former head coach Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge in each of the last two seasons, the Texas Longhorns get another matchup with a former head coach when they play the Marquette Golden Eagles on Dec. 5 in Milwaukee as part of the Big East-Big 12 Battle, the conferences announced on Thursday.

With Texas leaving for the SEC after the 2023-24 basketball season, there won’t be a return matchup against Smart and Marquette at the Moody Center, but there should be plenty of drama surrounding the game in Wisconsin with the venue to be determined and FOX Sports holding the television rights.

The two schools have only played once previously, a 65-56 win by Marquette in the championship game of the Milwaukee Classic in 1977. The Longhorns went on to win the NIT Championship that season under head coach Abe Lemons, finishing 26-5 overall.