While other Texas teams thrive, Rodney Terry’s Longhorns are buckling under the weight of playing in the SEC

The Longhorns have stood firm in just about every sport during their rookie year in the SEC. But Rodney Terry’s club appears to be hunched over with buckled knees, staggering to hold up under the weight of it all.

Tuesday’s 103-80 loss to No. 2 Alabama was one of those lopsided affairs that leave you wondering if Texas can even reach the finish line.

No matter the conference, no matter the circumstances, getting to the NCAA Tournament should be a slam-dunk for an athletic behemoth like Texas. That’s simply not the case here in what is essentially Terry’s third season.

The Horns (15-10, 4-8 SEC) have now lost four of their last five and desperately need the upcoming break. Texas will play No. 15 Kentucky on Saturday at Moody Center, and it’ll be the only game on the calendar for the next 10 days.

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Battling Big Blue Nation won’t be easy. On Tuesday, Kentucky took down No. 5 Tennessee at Rupp Arena and coach Mark Pope’s club is now 5-1 against top-10 teams, the most wins in Division I. And yet, the Wildcats are still 6-5 in league play. That’s how hard the SEC truly is.

“Yeah, we’ve got to get on the mend a little bit,” Terry said. “We’ve got to keep our spirits up. Keep our heads up. Got to keep playing.

“It’s a lot of basketball still to be played and try to get our guys healthy and get some bodies back out there ready to go a little bit at the pace we need to play.”

Complicating matters is Terry is losing the battle of perception. His group has beaten up lower-level teams but either came up short or got run over by the big dogs. And the 50-50 games, Texas isn’t getting those, either. See Vanderbilt and Ole Miss as examples.