For many years Texas fielded a basketball program but few people noticed. Sure they rose up to win the SWC title every so often, made a trip to the NCAA Tournament, but nobody cared. It wasn’t until Tommy Penders showed up in Austin in 1988 that the Texas program started showing a pulse. Penders was there for 10 years, and missed the NCAA Tournament twice.
But while he made the program consistently solid, he didn’t really make them good. They made the tournament in an era where the tournament had
expanded, but they hadn’t made much noise.
Enter Rick Barnes. In year three of Texas joining/forming the Big 12, Barnes was hired to coach the Longhorns. And what proceeded was a decade and a half of the most consistently good basketball Texas had ever seen. Chris Mihm, Royal Ivey, TJ Ford, Daniel Gibson, LaMarcus Aldridge, PJ Tucker, DJ Augustin, Kevin Durant, Avery Bradley, Jordan Hamilton, Tristan Thompson, Myles Turner… the list is long.
But by the 2014-15 season things had grown a touch stale. The Big 12 was called the Big 12, but it was reformatted after Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri and Texas A&M all left for other conferences. The league was run by Bill Self and Kansas, and the product at Texas had struggled to make a real impact for several years. The Longhorns and Barnes parted ways, and Shaka Smart took over.
Under Smart, things didn’t go well. He was there for six seasons but it never fully clicked. Despite quality recruit, Smart never got his program revving the way it was at VCU and now Marquette (this current season notwithstanding). Chris Beard got a year and two months before he ran aground. And now it’s Sean Miller’s turn.
Miller is fine. Personally I think he’s a good basketball coach, but in the SEC he’s middle of the road. So this game represents a really good opportunity for Missouri to get an important win.
The history against Texas is a mixed one. Before the Big 12 the two teams played 4 times and Mizzou won all four. Penders got Norm in the first Big 12 matchup, but then he got the Longhorns back the next three times. The last matchup was against Barnes in 1999, and then the Tigers didn’t win against Texas until a home win in 2008. They would win 6 of the next 7 spanning both Mike Anderson and Frank Haith years.
And then last year Mizzou lost an ugly game in Austin in the only matchup since the two schools parted ways by conference affiliation.
When I saw this game on the schedule I was relieved it would be at Mizzou Arena. Miller has a solid basketball team but not a great one. They’re good in the mid range ranking 207th in 2FGA distance, but somehow rank 32nd for FG% inside the arc. The key here for the Tigers will be defense. They’ve got to force tough shots away from the rim, and collect the rebounds. If they hold Texas as close to 1.0 ppp and less 1.1 or 1.2, I think they win this in a walk. Anything north of 1.1 ppp and you begin to put a lot of pressure on your offense.
Let’s just win this one.
Missouri-Texas Basketball: How to Watch, Game Info:
TIME: 7:30 p.m. CT
DATE: Saturday, February 14, 2026
LOCATION: Mizzou Arena; Columbia, MO
TELEVISION: ESPN2
STREAM: WatchESPN
FORUMS: Rockm.Plus/Forums
College Basketball Games to watch, February 14th, 2026
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