They say the third time is a charm.
Today and Saturday, the Longhorns will be looking for their charm in the form of a third consecutive Big 12 Indoor Championship - a feat no team has accomplished since the conference's inception back in 1996.
While the No. 7 Longhorns may be the two-time defending champions and are coming off a huge win at the New Balance invitational, not to mention setting a world record-winning distance medley relay performance, winning the conference title will be no easy task. The field at Nebraska's Devaney Sports Center will be the toughest the Longhorns have faced this year - 7 of the 12 teams are ranked among the top 25 in the nation, with 3 in the top 10.
"We are excited about the challenge," Texas coach Bubba Thornton said. "From the first meet in Houston, we have been talking about the team and not the
individual."
Texas will have to hold off Oklahoma (No. 6), Texas A&M (No. 10), Texas Tech (No. 16), Baylor (No. 19), host team Nebraska (No. 21) and Missouri (No. 25) to become the Big 12's top team again.
"We are going to challenge the other 11 teams. We continually should be a contender to win a conference title. We know how to win as a team," Thornton said. "No individual performance, be it a win or a world record, will be as big as winning that conference title."
Focused on securing the Big 12 championship, Thornton has been preparing his team for this meet since they returned to practice at the beginning of the calendar year.
"For us, this meet is no different than any other meet. The whole year we have been focusing on the team concept, at every meet that has been the focus," Thornton said. "So while this team championship will mean more than the others, we will go about winning it the same way."
Practicing Thornton's team approach and stressing consistent performances, the Longhorns have already won three meets as team, preparing themselves for this weekend's Big 12 meet and next months NCAA Indoor Championships.
"We have to control our emotions. Winning is all about consistency," Thornton said. "Now that we are at the conference meet, we can take that consistent base we've built, and control the adrenaline and emotions of being at the conference meet."
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