Ahead of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, Texas sat as the No. 4 overall team in the NCAA standings. That put them in a position to enter March Madness as a No. 1 seed — not too shabby.
At the time, the Longhorns were slated for the Sacramento, Calif., regional as the site of their potential Sweet 16 and Elite Eight contests. But after running through the competition to an SEC championship, Texas jumped developing rival South Carolina to earn the No. 3 overall seed.
The difference: a regional host of Fort Worth, Texas, instead of Sacramento.
With two NCAA women’s tournament rounds behind them, the Longhorns now travel north on Interstate 35 for a matchup against another SEC foe, the Kentucky Wildcats, in an environment expected to be overloaded by burnt orange. The trip from Austin to Fort Worth is about three hours — and for a Saturday game, a migration of the Longhorns’ most faithful is all but certain.
Texas played at Dickies Arena back on Dec. 14, an 89-54 win over Baylor, in the Sprouts Farmers Market espnW Invitational, providing some recent familiarity with the location.
“That was actually one of the reasons why Coach Schaefer wanted to schedule that game, was because we knew that was a possibility to be here towards the end of the year,” sophomore guard Jordan Lee said Friday. “There’s a great advantage of having familiarity in being on the court. … We’re excited to be here, and especially in the state of Texas. That’s super special to be representing in March.”
The matchup against No. 5-seeded Kentucky marks Texas’ fifth rematch of the 2025-26 season. On Feb. 9, the Longhorns hosted the Wildcats in Moody Center, emerging victorious by 11 points.
This is also the second consecutive season that head coach Vic Schaefer’s team has faced an SEC opponent in the Sweet 16, defeating then-No. 5-seeded Tennessee in the round a year ago.
“It’s seven weeks ago when we played (Kentucky), so I think they’re a way different team,” Schaefer said. “They’re playing way better. I think we’re different. We’re playing pretty well, too. Certainly I’ve looked at that film a couple of different times, but when you come from the Southeastern Conference and you have 10 teams in the tournament, it’s just inevitable. … I think that speaks to our league and how good our league is.”
Led by junior center Clara Strack and senior guard Tonie Morgan, the Wildcats have caused problems for plenty of top-tier opponents this season.
Boasting a 25–10 record on the year, Kentucky lost two regular-season matchups to Vanderbilt by a combined four points. It holds wins against LSU, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and just outlasted No. 4-seeded West Virginia, the Big 12 Conference tournament champion, in Morgantown to advance in the NCAA tournament.
In the game at Moody Center, Kentucky created late-game tension behind a 10-1 run between the third and fourth quarters that reduced its deficit to just one point. While Texas subsequently bounced back out of a timeout to re-extend its lead, the dangerousness of this Kentucky team does not go unnoticed.
“We know we’ve got a tough task at hand,” Schaefer said. “We’re going to have to play really well tomorrow against them.”
Tipoff from Dickies Arena will be at 2 p.m. Saturday’s winner will face either No. 2-seeded Michigan or No. 3-seeded Louisville on Monday night for a spot in the Final Four.
