STARKVILLE — Vic Schaefer walked onto the court at Humphrey Coliseum shortly before tipoff to a round of applause from the Mississippi State women’s basketball crowd. A few minutes later, Schaefer was again applauded when his name was read by the PA announcer as the Texas coach.

When speaking this week about the Texas women’s basketball team’s upcoming game at Mississippi State, Vic Schaefer has, at times, turned to coachspeak. “It’s the next one,” Schaefer said Monday of the Thursday tip-off in Starkville,

In the face of No. 1 Texas and the Bulldogs’ legendary former coach making his first trip back to Starkville, Mississippi State did not blink.

For the first time since leaving Mississippi State in 2020 for the '40 Acres', Vic Schaefer and his daughter Blair, are returning to Starkville.

Mississippi State women's basketball hung with No. 1 Texas most of the game until Vic Schaefer's Longhorns pulled away in the fourth quarter.