Halfway through the conference schedule, there’s a roadmap for No. 5 Texas to win the SEC title in its rookie year. Just don’t ask Vic Schaefer for directions.

“I don't see any map but the one that goes to College Station,” said Schaefer, referring to Sunday’s game at Texas A&M. “And I’m real familiar with that road.

“When you’re climbing that mountain and you're halfway up and you start looking at the top, that’s when you miss a step and you fall down. Then you’ve got to start back all over again. So I'm just focused on one day at a time.”

The Longhorns (21-2, 7-1) won’t have an easy path through February, and there are plenty of hazards along the way, starting with the Aggies (10-10, 3-5).

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But Schaefer refuses to get ahead of himself. No, sir. No way, no how. It’s easier to refocus after nights like Thursday, when Missouri gave UT all it wanted before the home team escaped with a 70-61 win.

He’s not thinking about next week’s date with No. 23 Vanderbilt or the epic rematch against No. 2 South Carolina. Those games against No. 12 Kentucky and No. 7 LSU are out there on the horizon.

The regular season closing kick against Georgia, Mississippi State and Florida features no gimmies, either.

Schaefer’s still recovering from three major wins in a seven-day span last week. Aaliyah Moore and Justice Carlton were held out of Thursday’s win over Missouri. Players are still expected to go to class, get treatments and be on time for practice.

“Hopefully I haven’t lost any more between now, this morning at 8:45 when I turned them loose to go to class, and when I get them back at 1:30,” Schaefer said.

The Longhorns experience personal ups and downs as well. Star guard Rori Harmon couldn’t hide her disappointment with Thursday’s performance on the other end of a Zoom call with reporters on Friday. Harmon had six points, six rebounds and 10 assists.

There’s a ton of players who’d take that stat line every night and be happy. Not Harmon.

“I’m not playing terribly, but I am not shooting the best,” Harmon said. “There’s a lot of confidence given to me throughout this team. And I may not have been doing my best this season in conference right now, but I think I'll be able to show up when the time comes and when it really matters.”

Harmon and her teammates will be jazzed up knowing that Reed Arena should be packed to the gills come Sunday. Everyone’s still getting used to the SEC newness of the rekindled Longhorns-Aggies rivalry. But it should generate another full house.

Harmon sounded like she was giving herself a pep talk when she admitted “all the fans are booing you,” but the Horns still must stay together as a team.

“We can’t have these games where we’re not punching first or we're getting down right off the bat, right off the tipoff,” Harmon said.

OK, Schaefer’s right. Probably wise not to look too far ahead.

It doesn’t do any good to spend time telling the players how far they’ve come when there’s still so much more road to go.

“They’ll make up their own mind about how good they think somebody is based off of record or who they know on the team or all that,” Schaefer said. “So I just try to put my head down, man.

“Head down, rear end up, plow ahead. That’s just the only way I know how to do it.”