After sweeping through the opening round games and the semifinal of the Legends Classic, Tennessee and Texas finally meet in the championship game that many pundits had penciled them into months earlier. This marks the fourth-consecutive year with a battle of the UTs, with the Vols on a two-game winning streak against the Horns after sweeping the home-and-home in 2006 and 2007. Texas last claimed a victory against Tennessee with a 95-70 rout in the 2005 Maui Invitational.

The Vols are a quality team that can beat you inside and out. Everybody knows the dangers of leaving Chris Lofton unguarded outside, especially after he torched the Horns for 35 in last year’s overtime thriller from Knoxville. But this season, he’s started cold, hitting only 31% of his threes so far this season. He’s still the penultimate flopper, as anyone who watched last night’s semifinal with West Virginia can attest. We can only hope the refs don’t blow the whistle every time he flails on the ground following a three.

JaJuan Smith can also hit from outside, and is leading the Vols in scoring so far this year with almost 17 points per game. He’s a quick guard with even quicker hands on defense, and it’ll be exciting to see him match up against this Texas backcourt. Forward Tyler Smith has stepped up in his sophomore year, scoring over eleven points per game so far this year. Senior guard Jordan Howell gives about 20 minutes per game off the bench, but was incredibly unimpressive against the Mountaineers last night.

Wayne Chism is a tough player to defend, as the 6’9″ sophomore can abuse you inside or stroke a three if you leave him alone. He’s also going to be the toughest assignment on the glass today, which is still an area of concern for the Horns. Occasional LRT co-traveler Jon Rasul feels that this Tennessee team won’t be as much of a problem for Texas because they graduated big man Dane Bradshaw, who he dubbed the “Mark Madsen of the NCAA.” While I certainly agree that losing Bradshaw will hurt the Vols, sophomore Duke Crews is a pretty solid post player as well. Freshman Brian Williams also provides some minutes off the bench last night, but his game still looked pretty raw against West Virginia last night.

Tennessee loves to pressure the ball, and that intense defense helped bring the Vols back in the second half of last year’s crazy matchup. But the Horns only turned it over 10 times in that game, which is far below the average that Tennessee usually forces. If the Longhorns can once again maintain good ball control, I like their odds against the Vols. With Texas only turning it over ten times per game to start the year, I think that’s a very strong possibility.

The Mountaineers kept things close last night with a physical defensive game that disrupted the Volunteer offense. I don’t expect the Longhorns to use this same strategy, so look for another high scoring game from these two teams. Texas will need to once again shoot well in order to keep up with the high-powered Vols, but the real keys to this one are ball control and rebounding. The Horns can’t afford to give Tennessee extra possessions, so they can’t turn it over or give up a ton of offensive rebounds.

All told, this should be a fun one to watch. It’s the biggest test thus far for both programs, and will certainly be a resumé-padding victory for whoever pulls it out. Tune in to Versus for all of tonight’s action, which should start at 6 P.M. Central, or roughly 30 minutes after the finish of the consolation game between NMSU and West Virginia.

UAM was predicted by conference coaches to finish sixth in their eight team division, and they come into this game fresh off of two ass-kickings by D-1 schools. With a mascot as obscure as the Boll Weevil — unfortunately pictured to the left — maybe it should come as no shock that UAM has enjoyed the punching-bag role in this inaugural Legends Classic. Last Wednesday, they were crushed by Tennessee, 101-44 in Knoxville, before kicking kicked in the teeth by West Virginia on Friday night, 81-53. Today, the troika of torture is completed as they travel to Austin for an embarrassment at the hands of the Longhorns. Happy Thanksgiving, UAM!

For the second-straight game, the Longhorns face a severely undersized team, as the Boll Weevils list only two players at 6’9″. The short UAM squad was outrebounded 77-58 in the two losses to the Vols and Mountaineers, and fans can safely expect the Longhorns to control the glass again today.

Depth is certainly not a concern for UAM, as ten players saw the court in their most recent game against the Mountaineers, with guards Deron Brown and Giovanni Marchetti leading the way with 13 points apiece. What is a big concern is a lack of ball control, as the Boll Weevils turned it over 51 times in their first two games. Texas showcased an excellent transition game on Friday night, so look for a lot of points off turnovers and fast breaks in this one.

As for the Longhorns, keep your eyes on Damion James. His shot was a little off to start the game on Friday night, but he had a hell of a ballgame. Against an incredibly inferior UAM team, I see him with a double-double at the end of the game. As for the guards, we all know what to expect — a bunch of scoring, and some scrappy defensive play from Justin Mason. Here’s hoping that A.J. Abrams continues his ridiculously hot shooting.

Alexis Wangmene ate up a chunk of minutes in the post against UC-Davis, with Clint Chapman only playing for four. Will Texas still with this six man rotation, or will we see more of Chapman down low in meaningful minutes? And with the very real possibility that this one gets out of hand, fans will hopefully get a chance to see more from Harrison Smith, J.D. Lewis, and Ian Mooney. My fingers are crossed that this is the case for Dexter Pittman as well, considering he only played three minutes in mop-up duty on Friday night.

Tip is at 5, with a free autograph session to follow the game. Bring the family and a Sharpie, and we’ll see you at the Drum.

The UC-Davis Aggies come into the game having split their first two contests. The lone win came over Division III school La Verne, while the loss was only two days ago in a road game against New Mexico State. They finished last season at 5-23, just missing an at-large bid to the NCAAs.

The Aggies were outrebounded by the other aggies of NMSU by a 47-20 count. While the tallest UC-Davis players check in at 6’9″, their guards will have a few inches over the Longhorn backcourt. But even with that in mind, one can’t help but think that a team outboarded by 27 — albeit by a very lengthy NMSU squad — may have a few problems with their fundamentals on the glass. Redshirt freshman Mark Payne is their top board man, although he is averaging only 5.5 per game so far.

Davis runs nine men deep on the bench, with Kyle Brucculeri and C.J. Portz alternating as fifth starter and sixth man. Ryan Silva is the only reserve that serves as a huge scoring threat for the Aggies, averaging 11 per game in the first two contests.

Nearly half of the shots for UC-Davis come from behind the arc, and with the team hitting at 44%, the Longhorns will want to prevent open looks. Sophomore Shane Hanson has been particularly deadly so far this year, sinking 7-of-11 treys. Silva is also a threat, going 6-of-11 from three-point range in the first two games.

Despite that, the Aggies have been middle-of-the-road thus far. Their offensive efficiency checks in at only 99.2 according to Ken Pomeroy, meaning that they average about a point per possession. For comparison, the 2006-07 Longhorns finished the year with a 114.3 efficiency. Defensively, the Aggies’ efficiency falls in the bottom third of all NCAA squads.

For Texas, this is a chance to see what the offense can do at something that is a bit closer to full speed. Will Damion James still be anchored to the three-point line, or will he embrace the attacking wing role that P.J. Tucker held just two seasons ago? Can the freshmen big men and Dexter Pittman get themselves into the mix offensively, or is this going to be another guard show from our talented top three?

Injuries are still going to be a problem for Texas, as Gary Johnson has still not been publicly cleared. And of course, Dogus Balbay and Matt Hill will be watching in street clothes, as they will likely be all season. Pittman is still available to play, but after his rough outing on Monday night, one can’t help but wonder if the foot is still bothering him a bit.

If the Horns can dominate the rebounding battle and limit the three pointers from Davis, they will win this one running away. Fail to do those things, and they still likely win — it’ll just be a close, ugly one. I’ll refrain from saying what nightmare scenarios could cause the Aggies to come out victorious, considering the last time someone did that — I’m looking at you, Flutie — things ended…badly.

Tonight’s game isn’t on TV, so head out to the Drum for the 7 P.M. tip. It’s early enough to squeeze in before your Friday night plans and not too late for those with little ones. Come orange, wear early, stay loud, be late, yada yada yada. We’ll see you there.

Tonight is the first small step in silencing the naysayers, as Texas opens its season with a home game against the UT-San Antonio Roadruners. The teams last met in 2004, a game which ended in a 100-82 Longhorn victory. Texas has won all five matchups between the UT system schools, with all but one of the victories coming by at least twelve points. The one “close” contest was way back in 1989, when the Longhorns and the BMW Scoring Machine escaped with a three-point win.

Ken Pomeroy’s stats reveal that last year’s Roadrunner team was a highly ineffective one, scoring just 86 points for every 100 possessions. This put them near the bottom of the barrel, placing UTSA 329th out of 336 teams in D-1. Texas fans can expect more of the same tonight, as the Roadrunners have five juniors and four seniors on the roster. Sure, there’s always a chance that they’ve turned the corner over the summer. But the truth is that it’s hard to erase that much suck so quickly.

UTSA runs a small lineup, sending out three guards. With their tallest forward checking in at 6’9″, this should be a chance for the young frontcourt of Texas to show what they’ve got on the glass. Despite the diminutive lineup, the Roadrunners are quite adept at turning their offensive boards into second-chance points, converting their 17 in the Hardin-Simmons season opener into 16 points. Texas will need to keep UTSA from getting the easy buckets, since it comprises a huge portion of their lackluster offense.

UTSA also forced 29 turnovers, 15 of them steals. It’s hard to tell how much of that was caused by Hardin-Simmons being horrible, but the numbers still indicate that Texas could be troubled when D.J. Augustin isn’t at the point. When you see A.J. Abrams or Justin Mason moved to the 1, keep an eye on how they handle the quick hands of the UTSA guards.

Freshman Devin Gibson was the leading scorer for UTSA in their victory on Friday night. The guard from Cy-Falls in Houston dropped 20 points for the Roadrunners and added five steals. The Roadrunners had only two other players in double figures, as junior Joey Shank was 3-for-8 from behind the arc on a thirteen-point night and forward Travis Gabbidon added fourteen. The offensive production dropped off from there, as the next-highest scorers had only five.

For Texas, the injury bug is the main storyline. Abrams is slated to return from the toe injury that sidelined him in the exhibition game. Dexter Pittman and Matt Hill are still expected to be on the bench, however, further thinning the frontcourt rotation. That means freshman big man Gary Johnson will be needed even more, although there was no news from Belmont as of Sunday night regarding his clearance for the regular season.

This should be an excellent opportunity to see what the young players will be offering for Texas this season, without having to see as many of the crazy lineup combinations that Barnes was forced to use in the exhibition versus Xavier. It will be interesting to see who grabs the chunk of the minutes down low, as Connor Atchley, Clint Chapman, Alexis Wangmene, and hopefully Johnson will split time.

Promos for tonight’s game include free Texas basketball programs to the first 2000 through the doors, and free cookies to be sampled as you exit. Three canned food items can also get you a free ticket, and helps to support local food banks. Finally, students will be eligible to win gift certificates for Hyde Park Bar & Grill and the IMAX theatre.

So, grab the kids and head out to the Drum for an exciting night of hoops. We’ll see you there.