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December 12, 2025 • 11 mins
To open up today's episode, Jake and Craig discuss last night's 2026 SEC Football schedule reveal before breaking down Texas men's basketball's matchup with fifth-ranked UConn in Hartford.
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Happy Friday, folks, and welcome to another edition of the
Craig Ways Show here on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred
The Zone. Jake German with you live here in the
Austin Studios and joining us right off the jump here
from Hartford, Connecticut, the voice of the Longhorns, Craig Way. Craig,
you're staying nice and warm indoors as promised, getting ready

(00:24):
to call Texas at number five. You gotten tonight.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yeah, good to be nice and warm because it has
been in the twenties this morning, the early thirties, low
thirties here temperature. But you know that's a great thing
about basketball, You play them indoors. So tonight at People's
Bank Arena. Went over there earlier today with the team
during shoot around as they were starting to put together
their preparations for a tall task. And I take you

(00:49):
on the fifth rank Dukom Huskies.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Do you feel like you're fully into basketball mode yet
now that football season is winding down save for the
cheese at Citrus Bowl on New Year's Eve?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, I think, you know, maybe the first few days
of overlap, like in early November. Remember the Longhorns actually
started this basketball season more than a month ago. It
was November fourth, the game at Duke, so we're, you know,
five weeks into it.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
And between that, I'll tell you one.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Thing, if it was like a slow rise, and then
going to MAUI really put you in basketball mode because
you had three games in three days, and plus Jay,
you know, doing the women's games as well as the
men's I've already done. Let's see, the women are eleven
and oh and I've done all but one of those,
so that's ten of those. And the men here are

(01:42):
seven and three and I've done all but one of those.
So yeah, so it's you know, twenty games. I've already
called basketball already. So if I'm not into a doubt,
only I ever will be.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Well, let's snap you out of it for just one moment,
because last night on the SEC Network, the Texas Longhorns
twenty twenty six football schedule was announced. What were your
reactions when you saw the way those dates kind of
unfolded because we already knew the opponents, right, it was
just about when.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah, I think that was that was the key.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
It was you know who who they were going to
play and where they were going to play. And I
think The first thing I thought of when I saw
it was, Wow, they're playing Arkansas again at home, and
they're playing them on the same weekend that next to
last weekend of the regular season. I think that you know, obviously,

(02:33):
we know the Oklahoma game is going to be the
second Saturday in October. We knew the Ohio State game
was coming the second game of the season sandwiched in
between the Texas game, Texas State game, and the ugs
A game, So we knew those things were happening.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
It was going to be the other breakdown. And it
is kind of.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
Interesting, Jake, in that they are playing almost not quite,
but almost exact actly the opposite of what they did
last year. This past season, you know, when they didn't
have a single home game in the month of October,
all of that, and they now have three consecutive home

(03:13):
games in the month of October. Is kind of interesting
to have that with the back to back Ole Miss
and Mississippi State games in there.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
To open conference play at Tennessee is quite the challenge.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
And obviously they're gonna have to finish the regular season
on the road in College Station at Texas A and M.
But I think it's more of a balanced schedule this
time around, going in the twenty six than it is
to twenty five. I always feel like it tilts a
little one way or the other if you played more
than two consecutive games on the road or at home.

(03:48):
And most of the time the schedules adhere to that,
but in you know, with this big ballooned SEC, there's
gonna be some schedule. I don't know if you're regular
is the right word, but uncommonalities and playing four consecutive
games away from DKR. I know, they were the designated

(04:09):
home team for the excuse me, Okluma game this past season,
and they'll be the designated.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
Road team, so it'll kind of fall into that deal.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
But playing three consecutive games at home after, you know,
playing four consecutive games forty two days away from DKR,
those are uncommonalities, and it's a little more uncommon in
twenty twenty six because of the three straight home games,
But otherwise it looks like britty standards schedule.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
We'll get some different perspectives on that as the show
progresses here this afternoon, We're with you from two to
five right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone
and the Free iHeartRadio app Craig Sean Miller grew up
in Big East country, and you talked a lot about
that with him during Longhorn Weekly which aired last night.
We'll hear an excerpt from that later on in the
show today. How much is his familiarity with the opponent

(04:57):
and the region maybe shaping this matchup tonight.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, he had some success against Yukon last year, you know,
when he was with Xavier, so he noticed that plus
going up against him all those years, and that was
one of the things we talked about on the program.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
Uh, and when we had go raftery On.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Uh, just talking about the the difference in in how
it is for him and the difference in how the
Big East.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
Is constructed now.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
So it is it is quite a bit different than
when he was playing in the late eighties with Pitt
and you had the you know, the Big eastes we
knew with Pitt and Seaton Hall and Boston College. Uh,
you know those teams and Pitt and Boston College of
course are in the ACC now and then having Georgetown
and Saint John's and Sarrahcus having all of those teams, uh,

(05:49):
in the what what used to be the other Big
East before reconstituted, so it's a different place in time,
but he's very familiar with coming over here to the
state of Connecticut.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
He's fami.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Oh, you were playing in this building in fact, as
they're played in this building in the People's Bank Arena
last season when they got to win. This is the
first time Texas will have played a game in this
building in twenty five years. It was January, well almost
twenty six years, because it was January of two thousand
the last time Texas played in this building when they

(06:20):
lost to Yukon.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
So it's a little bit.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
Unusual, certainly for long worn fans and maybe some other then.
And obviously the players haven't played in here before other
than Dylan Swain and Lasina Treor was out with an
injury last year so they didn't play. He traveled with
the team, but he didn't play. But for Sean Miller,
it's pretty familiar country.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
You know, in your short time you've spent with Sean Miller,
what's he like in the lead up to these type
of big games from what you've observed, Uh.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
He's he's pretty calm, but I'll tell you he's very
studious about what he's doing. I was watching and I've
spoken often about what's impressive to watch him teaching the game,
even as he's coaching really hard and working all that
kind of stuff in games and the practices, and that
was on display again during the shoot around today.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
And then when it was over, I walked downstairs.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Our broadcast positions canna be elevated like it is in
so many places, and I'm walking downstairs from where Cameron
Parker had been setting up our equipment where we're gonna
broadcast from. And when I got down to the floor,
I saw the team kind of walking off the floor
at the end of the shoot around and they're putting
on their changing out of shoes and putting warm ups

(07:34):
back on. And I looked down the bench and I
saw Sean Miller just sitting there in an involved conversation
with Kenda Weaver and they were talking about things, and
I saw him, you know, in motion. So he's he's
always teaching. He's always doing that as part of the
coaching thing. So but he's but he's fun to be around,

(07:55):
and we had a we had a good chat.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
You know.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
I mentioned to him when I got on the plane
yesterday that about The only thing we did not get
into on this week's edition along one weekly was the
fact that Bill Murray's son.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
Is that the comedian, the actor Bill Murray.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
His son is an assistant coach on Dan Hurley's staff
at Yukon. And I said, hey, that was about the
only he goes. Let me tell you something. He's a
really good coach. And then he told me something I
did not know. He said he was a GA for
me at Arizona, a graduate assistant.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
And started off there, and he said I can tell
right away that he had great basketball IQ and great
acumen and that he would become a good coach.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
He said, he'll be a head coach someday.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
We're expecting to see Bill Murray at the game tonight
because he goes to a lot of the Yukon games
with his son on Dan Hurley's staff.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
Well, Craig, we can hear your call of the game
with coverage starting at sixth already tonight right here on
AM thirteen hundred.

Speaker 4 (09:02):
The zone logoings are pretty sizable underdogs.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
If you had a couple of quick hitters on where
they could work to pull an upset, what would those
look like?

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Well, Basically, they're gonna have to slow down the play
of the guards and forwards, most notably Alex Caraban. I
think that's that's gonna be a real big challenge for them.
They're gonna have to deal with Caravan, who comes in
averaging I'm looking at it now, fourteen points per game.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
He's a six eighth senior.

Speaker 2 (09:32):
He's he's a bit of a matchup problem, and that
might be a Daylan Swain matchup there. I think also,
you know solo ball was going to be important. He's
averaging fifteen points per game. And then the big guy inside.
I think that Manus Foka Titus can hold his own against.

Speaker 3 (09:52):
Terrace Reid, the transfer from Michigan. I think he can
do it.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
But the guy does average fifteen points in eight rebounds.
So even if you cancel him out, they've got to
find answers for Silas Demory at the point and then
solo ball and and Alex Caravan in order to have
it said, they've got to be able to neutralize those guys,
and then they're gonna have to make shots like you
do on the road. You're just gonna have to if
you're gonna pull a surprise.

Speaker 4 (10:16):
And most importantly defend without fouling.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
Yukon is probably a deeper team right now, it looks
like on paper than Texas is.

Speaker 3 (10:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:23):
Absolutely, And they've had problems with the foules of late,
and Sean talked about that the other night, even in
a pretty easy victory over Southern.

Speaker 3 (10:31):
He mentioned many too many.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
Just unnecessary fouls, I think is the way he described it,
too many unnecessary ones.

Speaker 3 (10:39):
And they will have to stay to that, you know.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
And part of when they've had problems with the fouls,
Monospokatitis has gotten into foul trouble.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
He has got to stay out of foul trouble tonight.

Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yeah, especially against the bigs that Yukon will have.

Speaker 4 (10:55):
Craig stay warm, have a great call.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
We'll be listening six thirty to night for the start
of coverage right here on AM thirteen hundred zone.

Speaker 4 (11:01):
Thanks for stopping by, you bet and listen now.

Speaker 3 (11:04):
You know. We'll get back late tonight.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
I've got a high school state semifinal telecast tomorrow. But Sunday,
Texas women big challenge from Baylor. It's in for Orth
It's hit noon and probably what's gonna happen is that
game's going to be at noon and we'll have it
for folks almoston eleven forty five air, and then Texas
Volleyball will be playing in the Elite eight and it
might go right after that, I think on television at

(11:28):
two o'clock they either go at two or six, Texas
sweeping in the end of the day in the sweet
sixteen up for Gregory Gym, and they're waiting on the
winner of the Wisconsin Stanford matchup.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
That's is going on right now.

Speaker 4 (11:39):
Yeah, how about the student showing up for an eleven
am start. That was fun.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Hey, listen if at meet well, school's out now, so
unless you've got a final.

Speaker 3 (11:47):
Yeah, it's impressive for them to be there.

Speaker 1 (11:50):
Craig, we'll be listening in tonight. Thanks again.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
All right, thanks
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