Please note: The television schedule for Texas and the Big 12 women's basketball TV schedule is in the process of being finalized, and will be released at a later date.
AUSTIN, Texas -- The University of Texas women's basketball 2005-06 schedule, announced on Monday, features 11 teams which advanced to the 2005 NCAA Tournament. The 2005-06 schedule features 15 games at home (at UT's Frank Erwin Center), with 12 away contests.
The schedule remains tentative. Texas' TV schedule and the TV schedule of the Big 12 Conference have not yet been finalized; the complete TV schedule for ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, College Sports TV (CSTV) and FOX Sports Net (FSN) coverage and game times will be announced at a later date.
Jody Conradt's Longhorns, in addition to facing the always-demanding Big 12 Conference slate of games, will meet a number of traditional top rivals, including Tennessee, Connecticut, Duke, Rutgers and New Mexico. Tennessee was a semifinalist a year ago at the NCAA tourney won by Big 12 opponent Baylor; Duke and Rutgers both advanced to the 2005 NCAA Elite Eight, while Connecticut and Big 12 opponent Texas Tech were Sweet 16 participants. Texas faces all but Connecticut in the months of November and December; the Texas-UConn game will take place in mid-February (Feb. 12) in Austin.
Texas also will travel to the Junkanoo Jam Tournament in the Grand Bahamas on Thanksgiving weekend (Friday and Saturday, Nov. 25-26) to face South Carolina in the first round before a second-round contest against either Purdue or George Washington, two teams which advanced to the NCAA second round a year ago.
The other 2005-06 opponents who advanced to the 2005 NCAA's included: Big 12 members Kansas State (second round), Iowa State (first round) and Oklahoma (first round) along with New Mexico (first round participant).
The Longhorns graduated six seniors from the 2004-05 squad which went 22-9 overall, advancing to the NCAA Tournament second round before being upended by Georgia, 70-68, at Reunion Arena in Dallas. Along the way, the Longhorns posted a second-place finish in the always-tough Big 12 Conference, going 13-3 in regular season action, before advancing to the Big 12 Tournament semifinals.
"Once again, we have put together a very challenging and demanding schedule," noted Conradt, who starts her 37th year overall as head coach and who ranks second in all-time women's college victories with a record of 869-278. "Our team, with a strong group of returnees and seven freshmen, will be tested early and often. We always want to challenge ourselves with top non-conference opponents to start the season, and this year's schedule is no exception.
Texas opens the 2005-06 campaign at home hosting a pair of exhibition games against Everyone's Internet (Wed., Nov. 2) and the Houston Jaguars (Thur., Nov. 10) before opening the season with two home matchups against New Mexico (Fri., Nov. 18) and Sam Houston State (Monday, Nov. 21).
UT then travels to the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam, facing South Carolina in opening-round play (Nov. 25) at 2:30 p.m. (Central). The first game of this four-team tourney features Purdue and George Washington (noon, Central). The next day, the third-place and championship games (at noon and 2:30 p.m., Central time) will take place. Texas is making its first appearance in this tourney.
The month of December finds the Longhorns facing six non-conference opponents, beginning with back-to-back matchups against Tennessee (Thur., Dec. 1) in Knoxville followed by a home contest against the Duke Blue Devils (Sunday, Dec. 4).
The Duke game is the first contest of a four-game homestand. Three straight in-state opponents then come to Austin: Stephen F. Austin (Thur., Dec. 8), North Texas (Sun., Dec. 18) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Wed., Dec. 21). Texas rounds out its December schedule with a game at Rutgers on Friday, Dec. 30.
The Longhorns will open 2006 Big 12 action on Wednesday, Jan. 4 when UT travels to Lawrence, Kansas to face Kansas. Highlighting the Big 12 slate will be home-and-home games with Baylor (Sat., Jan. 7 at Waco; Wed., March 1 at Austin), Texas Tech (Wed., Feb. 1 in Lubbock; Sun., Feb. 26 in Austin) and Oklahoma (Wed., Jan. 25 at OU; Wed., Feb. 15 in Austin). Additional Big 12 home contests include games against Kansas State (Sunday, Jan. 22), Oklahoma State (Sat., Jan. 28) and Texas A&M (the State Farm Lone Star Showdown on Wed., Feb. 8).
Following the regular season finale on March 1 against Baylor, the Longhorns will travel to Dallas for the 2006 Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament which takes place at Reunion Arena. This will be the third year that Reunion Arena is the site of the annual Big 12 tourney. Texas has had great fortune playing in the conference tourney at Reunion Arena, winning the tourney title there in 2003 while finishing as runnerup in 2004.
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