Texas women's basketball: Longhorns' marquee matchup with Vanderbilt airs on SEC Network+ – Austin American-Statesman

Longhorns Women's Basketball
On Thursday evening, a game between Texas women's basketball and Vanderbilt won't be lacking in subplots.
For starters, this is a top-five matchup since Texas (23-2, 8-2) and Vanderbilt (23-2, 9-2) are respectively ranked fourth and fifth in both the Associated Press and USA TODAY coaches polls. The game will boast plenty of star power since Texas standouts Madison Booker and Rori Harmon and Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes are all All-American candidates while UT's Aaliyah Crump and Vanderbilt's Aubrey Galvan are two of the top freshmen in the SEC. Oh, and Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda will get to start for the Commodores against a Texas team she spent the last three seasons with.
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If fans want to watch this game, however, they won't get to do so on a traditional television channel.
When Texas and Vanderbilt tip off in Nashville at 6:30 p.m., they will do so on SEC Network+, which is a digital platform. SEC Network+ is accessible to those who have cable or ESPN+ subscriptions. 
On Tuesday, Texas coach Vic Schaefer expressed disappointment about this game's broadcast designation. Schaefer said he didn't know why Texas and Vanderbilt had earned the SEC Network+ treatment.
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"The league sends out a questionnaire every year wanting the coaches to rank the league," Schaefer said. "I'm assuming they do that for TV as well as scheduling equity. But obviously my opinion of the league is way different than all the other coaches, or they don't look at it. I don't know. I don't have the answer to that."
More: Meet the men who are getting the Longhorns ready for a title run
While Texas and Vanderbilt get the streaming treatment on Thursday, two SEC games will be on linear TV. The SEC Network will air a game between Texas A&M (9-10, 2-8) and No. 18 Kentucky (18-7, 5-6) at 5:30 p.m. and a showdown featuring Arkansas (11-14, 0-10) and No. 14 Ole Miss (19-5, 6-3) at 8 p.m. The other three games on the conference's Thursday schedule will also air on SEC Network+.
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According to a SEC spokesperson, "the conference office works with its television partners to facilitate a television schedule that is representative of the conference throughout the season.  The number of linear television appearances varies from week to week.  Selections are made prior to the start of the season to facilitate team travel.  The SEC’s digital network programming is an important facet of meeting SEC Women’s Basketball fans where they are."
When the SEC released its TV designations in October, Texas had just four of its games placed on SEC Network+. Only LSU and South Carolina were set to appear fewer times on the streaming service. 
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Twelve of UT's 12 SEC games were scheduled to be aired on linear TV, and the Longhorns' games against Oklahoma and Tennessee were even assigned to ABC. The SEC has not yet announced who will broadcast the Longhorns' postponed game against Arkansas, which originally had a SEC Network designation.
More: Texas PG Rori Harmon has the records. Vic Schaefer wants her to get more recognition.
How does the Longhorns' TV schedule stack up against its SEC foes? Here is a breakdown of the TV assignments for the 16 SEC schools with the percentage of a team's game on linear television in parenthesis:
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* The Ole Miss-South Carolina game on Feb. 22 will air on either ESPN or ESPN2. That is also the case with the Tennessee-Oklahoma game on the same day.
A University of Montana graduate, Danny has spent the past 18 years with the American-Statesman sports department and he currently covers the University of Texas football team and athletic department. He is a devoted husband, father and Colorado Rockies fan. 
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