Report: Texas to face Marquette, former UT head coach Shaka Smart, in the 2023 Big East-Big 12 Battle
With the 2022-23 campaign closed and Rodney Terry now the permanent head coach of the Texas Longhorns, the offseason shifts into the period where players enter the transfer portal and scheduling news is released for next season. One of the staples of the Big 12 schedule is the Big East-Big 12 Battle, and the Longhorns will see a familiar face in the 2023 version of the event.
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Per Jon Rothstein, Texas will face Marquette in the 2023 Big East-Big 12 Battle. Marquette, the 2023 Big East regular season champion, is led by former Texas head coach Shaka Smart.
Other matchups include defending national champion UConn at Kansas, Houston at Xavier, Villanova at Kansas State, St. Johns at West Virginia, Creighton at Oklahoma State, Providence at Oklahoma, Iowa State at DePaul, Texas Tech at Butler, TCU at Georgetown, and Seton Hall at Baylor.
Smart was head coach of the Longhorns from 2015 to 2021. He led the Horns to the program’s first Big 12 tournament title, the 2019 NIT title, and three NCAA tournament appearances. However, his Longhorns teams never won a game in March Madness, with losses in 2016 to Northern Iowa, 2018 to Nevada, and 2021 to Abilene Christian.
After the loss to the Wildcats, Smart took the Marquette job left open by the dismissal of Steve Wojciehowski. Texas then filled its vacancy with Chris Beard, who was head coach of the Longhorns for just over one season.
Smart is 320-162 as a head coach. He was 109-86 at Texas and is 48-20 at Marquette. He has led the Golden Eagles to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years, winning in the first round in 2023 before falling to Michigan State.
Texas recently elevated Terry to head coach, removing the interim tag. Terry said on March 27 that Smart reached out to him and congratulated him on his new title. Terry is 22-8 as head coach at Texas and 185-164 overall.
Texas completed a 29-9 (12-6 Big 12) season, making the program’s first appearance in the Elite Eight since 2008.
In addition to the reported contest with Marquette, Texas will join UConn, Indiana, and Louisville in the 2023 Empire Classic on November 19-20 in New York City. The Longhorns’ opponent in the event will be announced in the future.
