Gamecocks and Longhorns can make strong statements in top-5 showdown in Super Bowl Sunday pre-game matchup

The first time Texas faced No. 2 South Carolina, maybe Vic Schaefer built it up too much. Or the hotel beds in Columbia were lumpy. Or the pre-game meal was lousy. Had to be something, anything.

About a month ago, the Longhorns had some great execution, but the ball simply didn’t go through the hoop. Madison Booker missed 16 of 19 shots, the team shot 28% overall and the Gamecocks rolled to a 17-point home win.

Aim at the SEC champions, you better not miss. And Texas sure missed a lot that day.

It’s easy to build Sunday’s rematch as a referendum on how much No. 4 Texas has learned since Jan. 12. But it feels more like just the second chapter in what’ll become an excellent SEC women’s basketball rivalry as time rolls on.

“I feel absolutely no pressure,” Schaefer said Friday. “We are 23-2, pards. No. 4 in the country. If that ain’t good enough for somebody, I don’t know what is. I feel no pressure at all.”

Schaefer isn’t about to let this game dictate, well, anything really. The Horns (23-2, 9-1 SEC) have picked up three top-25 wins since that lone conference stumble. That includes Thursday night’s 78-66 win over No. 24 Vanderbilt. No matter what happens Sunday, they’re still on track for a possible No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“It is one game, and for us, we’ve got to play way better than we did the first time,” he said.

“I think we all learned from that first game.”

“In games like this, it’s gotta be a knock-down drag-out.”

“When I saw the schedule come out, I didn’t go, ‘Oh crap.’”

Currently in SEC women’s play, every team plays each other once. But in a 16-game schedule, that means someone must play one team twice. Schaefer said it’s not hard to figure out that Texas was scheduled to face South Carolina in a home-and-home for TV purposes.

The Horns and Gamecocks will meet on ESPN at 1 p.m. Sunday, just hours before Super Bowl LIX. It’s fantastic counterprogramming for those who can’t stomach a four-hour football pre-game commercial marathon.

Texas and South Carolina will see a lot more of each other, too. The two teams will play once during the SEC slate next season; UT will play LSU twice. And Schaefer said the Horns and Gamecocks will meet in a non-conference game early in the season at an event that pays players NIL money.

“I’d play the Boston Celtics in best-out-of-7 if I could get my team a bunch of money in NIL,” Schaefer said.

So get used to these mega-matchups going forward. Instead of Baylor or Texas Tech, the new UT women’s rivalries are with South Carolina and LSU. The more, the merrier — for the fans, anyway.

Odds are Booker will have a better outing at Moody Center. The day after the South Carolina debacle, she got in the film room, watched what happened and “put it behind her,” Schaefer said. Booker ripped off three straight 20-point games the next three times out.

“I think it really shows her toughness, her resolve, her maturity,” Schaefer said. “It’s who she is, man.”

Schaefer believes his whole team has toughness, resolve and maturity. They just have to prove it against South Carolina.

“As a team, we’ve got to understand just enjoy the moment. It’s a basketball game, let’s go execute,” Schaefer said. “But understand that you’re going to be playing a team that’s going to bring it and you better bring it, too.”