Nothing makes a 22-hour drive home better than a demoralizing loss. With nothing but the endless road in front of you, there’s ample time to revisit every moment and autopsy the cadaver of the game until it’s nearly unrecognizable. Of course, that’s even more fun if you add a fast-moving winter storm into the mix.

After watching the Oakland/Oregon game that followed the Texas loss, we took an LRT traveler back into north-central Indiana to be with his family for the holidays. We rolled in around 3 A.M. and decided to check the weather before we pressed on. Unfortunately, we discovered that if we stuck to the current route, a snowstorm would be hitting Chicago at the same time we would be arriving. The decision was made to double back to I-69 and sprint south to Indianapolis in an attempt to skirt the front. We failed. Miserably.

Rain and 40-MPH wind gusts buffeted us from one lane to the other, and driving was reduced to a crawl. And when we finally made a 6 A.M. stop at a gas station for refueling, stretching, and scouting the hotel options ahead of us, the storm really made its move. In only an hour, the temperature dropped more than 10 degrees, snow blew in, and everything began to ice over. For two guys from Texas who hadn’t slept in about 21 hours, that seemed like reason enough to pack it in for a little bit of rest.

So, after six hours of much-needed sleep in Indianapolis, we’re going to try this thing again. It’s still windy and snowing, but at least now we won’t pass out behind the wheel. And when we get back to Austin, we’ll try to take one more look at this loss and put the thing to bed.

Everybody enjoy the holidays, and be safe out there.

Update (8:31 P.M. CDT): After a five-hour shift behind the wheel, it’s my turn to grab some sleep. We’re now in southeastern Missouri, with only 742 miles between us and Austin. In the meantime, here are a few thoughts on last night’s game…

1) This one underscored Augustin’s importance. With him out of the game late in the first half, Michigan State went on their big run as the Texas offense ground to a halt. Players dribbled around the perimeter for 25-30 seconds before jacking up poor shots.

2) Credit goes to the Spartans for some great defensive work, as they constantly collapsed into double teams against penetration. Augustin stuggled against it in the first half, and the other guards were completely unable to overcome it.

3) Where was the bench? I don’t recall them making any impact beyond J.D. Lewis hitting a three and Alexis Wangmene forcing a turnover. Yes, the bench is thin, but they will have to produce more than that the rest of the year.

4) The stats they showed in the arena had Texas with a ridiculously low number of assists. This is partially a result of scoring a lot from the line, but it is also a sign of how often the Horns were trying to create for themselves off the drribble, which was not a good idea against the MSU scheme.

5) It’s tough to beat a team who shoots 50%, but Texas didn’t do itself any favors in giving up so many easy buckets in this one. I’ll refrain from more comments on the defense until I get home and watch the tape, but it was certainly frustating.

All told, this is nothing more than a loss. I’m sure some fans are over-reacting after it, but some perspective should be maintained. It’s a tough pill to swallow because these were two great, evenly-matched teams who could beat each other on any given day. But Rick Barnes still has a great squad this season that will win a ton of games, and the sky is certainly not falling.

I’ll have a more in-depth look at the game sometime on Monday after we make it back to Austin.

After a good night’s sleep — a true rarity on this five-day sojourn — we are leaving Nashville with sights set on Champaign, Illinois. We just passed The House That Vince Built and are winding through the foothills on I-24. Updates to come, as long as we don’t get caught in a reality remake of Deliverance.

Update (3:23 P.M.): It has been a fairly uneventful trip so far today. A series of storms dogged us through southwest Kentucky, but did not slow things down too much. Unfortunately, southern Illinois is so barren and boring it could make your eyes bleed. Champaign is only 49 miles away, so thankfully this seemingly interminable drive will come to a close.

While we’re in Assembly Hall, you can check out #9 Pitt against #7 Duke (6 P.M. CST, ESPN) or the Battle of the Suttons between Oral Roberts and Okie Lite (6 P.M, ESPN2).

I mentioned last week that our trip to Michigan St. could surpass the Spokane adventure in scope and downright insanity. Six hours into the journey, I can safely say that was not an exaggeration.

Last night, after watching Texas defeat Oral Roberts we packed up the SUV and headed out for five days of driving and college hoops. Our route first takes us to Nashville for tonight’s game between Belmont and Austin Peay. The following day, we travel to Illinois for a contest between the Fighting Illini and Miami of Ohio. Friday puts us in Toronto, with the doubleheader in Auburn Hills looming on Saturday.

This update from the road comes courtesy of my passenger’s iPhone. I’ve dictated this entry while Dexy’s Midnight Runners plead with Eileen on the stereo and we fight through the heavy fog on I-30.

Roughly 20 minutes ago, we crossed into Arkansas where the stench was immediately overpowering. If we manage not to suffocate, more updates can be expected from the road.

Update (8:15 A.M CST): About 45 miles southwest of Memphis, we pass a trailer full of sheep. Their bleating cries could easily be heard over the sound of the highway — “Baa means no!”

Update (11:35 A.M. CST): Less than 40 miles from Nashville and fatigue is mixing with relief as we approach the first destination. We have not stopped in five hours, so we’ve been feasting on a healthy mix of Monster, Starburst, Wheat Thins, and Mountain Dew — truly a breakfast of champions.

Update (5:34 P.M. CST): After a day spent at the campuses of Belmont and Vanderbilt, we are cramming dinner down our throats before heading back to the arena for a 7:05 tip. While you can’t see this one on TV, you can still have hoops for supper by tuning in to Memphis/Cincinnati (6 PM CT, ESPN2) or Nicholls State/UNC (8 PM, ESPNU).

While tickets are already on sale for the Michigan State and Rice games in Detroit and Houston, fans have still been in the dark about when they can secure their seats for the Legends Classic and UCLA game. But thanks to LRT, Longhorn fans will wait no longer. That’s right, folks. We’ve got your info……sort of.

Tickets for the two Legends Classic games in Newark will go on sale this Thursday, October 11th. The games will be played at the brand new Prudential Center, which means it’s been difficult to find anything resembling a reliable seating diagram. A call to the box office has confirmed that there will be three price levels per ticket, allowing fans to buy them at 53, 23, and 12 dollars. No confirmation as to whether or not there’s a service charge for that new-arena smell.

The UCLA game being played in December at Pauley Pavilion is a little more dicey. Bruins season tickets have been on sale for months, and recently “holiday packs” were put on sale to get fans into the upper-deck seats for games later in December. Now we learn that all non-conference single game tickets will go on sale October 17th — except for the Texas game.

Box office reps couldn’t give me a sale date for the December 2nd game (or the Pac-10 Conference games for the Bruins), but they were fairly certain that the only seats available would be upstairs. So, if you’re planning on sitting in the lower levels for the UCLA game, you may want to start scouring the web. And if you’d like to buy through LRT-sponsor Ticket City, leave us a comment or shoot an email if you would like to help us get a cut. I have no shame in my internet whoring.

More info to come later this month on those UCLA tickets through the school, but in the meantime snap up your seats for Rice, Michigan State, and the Legends Classic. And if you want to hook up with the LRT crew anywhere on the road this season, just let us know.

Yes, we’re alive and in Austin, not dead somewhere on a mountain in Montana. It’s been a weird, weird week without Texas basketball around to talk, think, or write about. I guess I didn’t realize it while the season was going on, but making all of these trips had essentially whittled my life down to school, work, and basketball. It’s kind of odd to have the biggest part of that suddenly missing.

But fortunately, tonight the NCAA tournament is back. I can only hope that these Sweet Sixteen games are as thrilling as Saturday’s second-round action. I may or may not get to a USC wrap at some point this weekend. In all honesty, that game was so ugly and demoralizing, I don’t have a whole lot to say about it.

There is still a ton of stuff going on in the basketball world, though. We’ve got ex-Horns playing in the homestretch of the NBA season, there will be a ton of coaching changes in the college ranks — Tubby Smith is out at UK as of today — and, of course, we get to play the “Will he or won’t he?” game regarding Kevin Durant.

Once again, apologies for the disappearing act this week and enjoy the ballgames tonight. Longhorn Road Trip should be back full force by Monday.

The Longhorn Road Trip just got a whole lot longer. Thanks to the genius of the the NCAA Selection Committee, Texas — a “protected” four seed — will be playing its first two rounds over 2,000 miles from home, with a possible Sweet 16 date in East Rutherford, New Jersey their reward for a pair of victories.

Does anybody actually know anything about Spokane, Washington? Or have any tips of what to see along the way? I’m guessing there won’t be a whole hell of a lot once we get past Denver, but looking at mountains for 891 straight hours ought to be grand. If you’ve got any sights or restaurants for us to check out, feel free to leave them below in the comments.

Honestly, the entire Big 12 got shafted by the committee. A&M is a 3-seed that gets sent to Lexington, while Memphis gets sent to New Orleans as a 2-seed? Why aren’t the Tigers close to home in Lexington while the Aggies play closer to home in Nawlins? And that doesn’t even address the fact that A&M could end up playing Louisville in the second round, only 75 miles down I-64 from the UL campus.

Then Kansas is given a 1-seed, but is rewarded with a regional where 2-seed UCLA gets to play only five hours from home? I realize that the top seeds are only supposed to be protected in the first two rounds — unless, apparently you’re a top four seed from the state of Texas — but is preserving the S-curve so important that a 1-seed should get jobbed that badly?

Why not ship UCLA to the San Antonio regional and send Memphis out to the San Jose regional? I’m assuming, of course, that the S-curve held perfectly for these top eight seeds. If that’s so, you’ve got the overall third-best team (Ohio State) playing the fifth-best team (UCLA) if chalk holds to the Elite Eight, while the fourth-best team (Kansas) gets the sixth-best (Memphis) and no top seeds are absolutely screwed by road games in the second weekend.

That’s enough bitching for now. At least Texas has two winnable games in front of them. We’ll be driving to Spokane on Wednesday and Thursday, so there will likely be few updates to the website in the middle of the week. A preview of the New Mexico State Aggies should be coming on Thursday night once we arrive at the hotel.

I’ve been toying with the idea of another year of Longhorn Road Trip during the 2007-08 season, but today’s scheduling news has me geeked beyond words. Mark Rosner of the Austin American-Statesman posted the story to his blog earlier today, announcing that the Horns would host Wisconsin and play Michigan State in Detroit next year.

Readers of this blog may have noticed my infatuation with the Badgers, thanks in no small part to a former co-worker from my days in Belmont. And granted, Wisconsin is going to be rebuilding next year much like we were this season. But I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to see the Badgers here in Austin and then get to see a game up in ‘Scon in the 08-09 season. Hopefully Bo Ryan will still have some hair left by then.

So what’s on the slate for next year’s schedule? Check out this nice package of non-conference opponents:

at UCLA in December
at Michigan State (Detroit)
at Arkansas
home against TCU
home against Wisconsin
plus, a November tournament in Austin/New Jersey

I was waffling on the idea of another season following the team, but that schedule right there may have pushed me over the edge. You can be sure that I’ll revisit the topic during the offseason.

Quarterfinal preview coming at you early on Friday morning before I drive to Oklahoma City.

It’s almost time to hit the road, and it appears that Oklahoma is a rain-soaked, thunderstorm-ridden area under a tornado watch. So now not only do we have to worry about running into Jason White’s mother, but there’s the danger of flying trailer homes. Faaaaantastic!

This has led me to an important conclusion, one that you may dissect and discuss with friends throughout the day. You see, my theory is that OU still sucks.

The photos from the long road trip to Tennessee are now online. Just click “photos” above and then select that album from the next page. As for the actual write-up about the Tennessee trip? Slow your roll, kid.

Texas Tech preview will be at your browsers by the time you scramble some eggs in the morning.

Chances are, you didn’t notice the new link stuck at the top of the page today. But it’s there, hidden in between the schedule and our contact information. I’ve got the first two photo galleries up online, with more coming throughout the weekend.

For now, I’ve only got them grouped by city. That means pictures from the game, the arenas, and the places around town are all stuck in the same place. Eventually, I’ll create albums for photos of each player, each game, and one combining all the arenas. Then you can skip the stuff you don’t want to see and get right to what you are looking for.

But in the meantime, click the link above and you can get started with the shots from New York and Phoenix. I’ll get around to the others sometime after I bring you the Baylor preview.