In roughly twelve hours, we hit the road for Norman, Oklahoma. This may elicit sympathy from you, the reader. Perhaps you even instinctively let out a small cry of pain. It’s okay. That reaction is completely normal. For me, the feeling is a lot like sitting in the waiting room when you’re four and need your immunizations for the first day of school. Except, of course, that being in Oklahoma sucks a lot more.

The Texas Longhorns (20-7 overall, 10-3 Big 12) head into this road trip on a roll, winners of their last four. The homestanding Sooners (15-11, 6-7), on the other hand, come in on a slide. They’ve lost three in a row and now have both Texas and Kansas in the next three days. If the Sooners can’t pull off the win tomorrow, things could get ugly.

If you don’t remember much about Oklahoma from the first match-up, feel free to re-read my preview of that game. The biggest difference this time around will be the addition of Longar Longar, who was suspended the first time the two teams met. He’s one hell of an offensive rebounder and will be a big match-up problem for Texas down low.

In addition to Longar, senior Nate Carter is a force in the Sooner frontcourt. Although it seems like he’s been at OU for 16 seasons — breaking Hollis Price’s record by one year — he doesn’t play like an old man. Carter is averaging eleven points per game, and is also going to challenge Connor Atchley and Damion James in the paint.

For a Texas team that often struggles to defend the perimeter, this poor-shooting OU team is a great match-up. David Godbold is leading the Sooners from behind the arc, with only a 36% success rate from three-point range. But percentages aside, Michael Neal is truly the biggest long-range threat for OU. Although he is only at 30% on the season, he has warmed up during Big 12 play, hitting at a 44% clip against league opponents. If Coach Barnes continues to challenge A.J. Abrams defensively, this is the man I’d expect to see him guarding.

The first meeting between these two teams was a one-sided affair that the Longhorns absolutely ran away with. Although the final score only showed an 11-point victory for Texas, they coasted with a 20-point advantage for much of the game before most of the starters were pulled. A huge reason for the Longhorn domination was a lopsided 32-20 tally on the boards, which helped lead to a 16-6 victory in second-chance points.

The addition of Longar inside is going to make it more difficult for the Horns to rebound, but I feel that they still can control the rebounding margin. If they don’t, the Sooners have a much better chance of ending the skid and defending their home court. They simply don’t have the outside shooters to keep up with Texas, so they are going to need as many easy buckets inside as they can get. If the Horns keep OU off the offensive glass, I don’t think the Sooners have a chance.

With Oklahoma State losing on Wednesday night, the Longhorns secured a first-round bye in the conference tournament. That makes these final three games a bit like gambling with someone else’s money. The Horns are likely already in the NCAAs, and are now only playing for better seeding. The OU contest is the one of the three remaining games that they are most likely to win, so it’d be great to steal a road win and push the victory total up above twenty. But a loss is not the end of the world, and that is a great relief after the amount of turnover the Horns experienced in the offseason.

The Time Warner DVR guide in Austin says that the game will air on Channel 23, but apparently there were some issues with Tuesday night’s game on that channel. My best advice would be to check out a sports bar with a satellite package, just in case Time Warner somehow botches the broadcast again. But if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, there are still tickets available. Feel free to come join us in the sixth circle of Hell Norman.