After months of anticipation, Longhorns men's basketball is back in action on Sunday afternoon. Texas will open its preseason slate against St.John's at Madison Square Garden. In year two of the Sean Miller era, expectations are high after Texas made it to the Sweet 16 last season. Now the goal will be to build on that success.
In the offseason, Texas was busy in the transfer portal, adding David Punch, Isaiah Johnson, Amari Evans, Elyjah Freeman, and Mikey Lewis. That group brings different levels of experience and will be relied on heavily. They will be joined by one of the nation's top freshman classes.
good morning NYC 🌆🤘#HookEm | #AlwaysCompetepic.twitter.com/kfZdd12cO2
— Texas Men’s Basketball (@TexasMBB) October 24, 2026
The Longhorns 2026 class features Austin Goosby, Bo Ogden, and Marcus Spears Jr. That group is part of a recruiting class ranked the fourth-best in the nation by 247 Sports. If they meet expectations, Austin will have plenty of reasons to celebrate.
Sunday's matchup will mark the first meeting between these two programs since the 2006-07 season. At the time, the Longhorns, led by then-freshman Kevin Durant, claimed a 77-76 win over the Red Storm at MSG in the third-place game of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic. Texas will look to push its win streak over St. John's to two with a little more wiggle room.
10 days until we're back in the Moody 🤘#HookEm | #AlwaysCompetepic.twitter.com/ZWW0nbDx9H
— Texas Men’s Basketball (@TexasMBB) October 23, 2026
Tipoff is set for noon, and the Longhorns will hope to show why they are seen as national title contenders.
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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Longhorns basketball starts preseason slate at Madison Square Garden