The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll came out for the first time today and, as always, gives us a lot to argue over and bitch about for the last few weeks leading up to the season.

Texas debuts at #19, which sits well with me. Our team is a young, unproven commodity and we honestly won’t know our club very well until mid-December. The Coaches vs. Cancer tournament offers a chance to play some solid talent early at a neutral site, which will test our kids and give them experience with the format of the NCAAs. Games in December against Gonzaga and LSU will acclimate the players to the college game and hopefully show us what we’re dealing with.

Elsewhere in the Big 12, Kansas checks in at #3 and Texas A&M is #13 to start the year. Billy Gillispie’s team played well last season by deflating the ball and playing some rough, low-scoring ballgames. It reminded me a lot of certain Big East teams, and it proved effective. Time will tell if they deserve to be ranked this high, as they play both LSU and UCLA in a one-week span, away from the rowdy home crowds of Reed Arena.

According to the early poll, Coach Barnes has done a solid job of scheduling quality talent to season our club. Outside of conference play, we have the aforementioned game with #7 LSU, and a game in Knoxville over the holidays against #24 Tennessee. Other opponents on the schedule who received votes are Gonzaga, Villanova, Oklahoma State, and — depending on how the Horns play in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament — Michigan State and Maryland.