Texas mathematics: Subtraction really is addition

I asked Rick Barnes how he keeps doing it, and by doing it I meant losing an All-American each season without ever experiencing the actual losing of games that typically goes right along with it. It was a simple question, which might be why the Texas coach's answer was, well, simple.

"Our players," Barnes said. "We've got good players who work hard."

The beat goes on for Rick Barnes, who now has A.J. Abrams leading the Longhorns. (AP)

That's all true, of course; Texas has good players, and they most certainly work hard. But lots of programs have good players who work hard, and yet when those programs lose a Brandon Roy or Carmelo Anthony they slip, and there's almost no avoiding it. Kansas State is not as good without Michael Beasley, just like Southern California is not as good without O.J. Mayo. But Texas seems immune to such inconveniences, because similarly to how the Longhorns improved the season after Kevin Durant bolted, they're doing it again in this first season post-D.J. Augustin.

Question from last April: How will the Longhorns be better without Augustin?

Proper answer from anyone with foresight: They just will be.

Texas enters this weekend's game with Texas State ranked sixth in the Associated Press poll and in possession of a 7-1 record featuring wins over No. 15 Villanova and No. 16 UCLA. Not bad. And the wildest thing is not that the Longhorns are doing this, but that they are doing it much differently than how a UCLA or North Carolina might do it, which is to say by replacing outgoing All-Americans with incoming All-Americans.

I mean, have you seen Texas' starting lineup?

Damion James is the only consensus Top 75 prospect.

All the others were supposed to be mere role players.

"It is crazy when I look at our team," Barnes acknowledged later, when he started to come around. "Damion James was a highly regarded player. But when you look at the (other) guys we started (against Villanova) -- Justin Mason, A.J. Abrams, Connor Atchley and Dexter Pittman -- they weren't highly recruited players. But they've worked. And they get the credit for it."

Actually, no.

"I think it comes down to Coach Barnes," Abrams said. "He does a great job of getting us mentally and physically ready."

How all this turns out is still to be determined, mostly because it's rare for teams without a true point guard to advance to the Final Four. For proof, think of last season when we had Mario Chalmers (Kansas), Derrick Rose (Memphis), Ty Lawson (North Carolina) and Darren Collison (UCLA). Two of those guys are now in the NBA; the other two are on their way. So if you want to discount Texas' national title hopes because you don't believe Mason and/or Abrams can run a Final Four team, that's fine, because you'd be making a decent point (despite the fact that Mason has looked steady so far).

On the other hand, if you do that, understand what you're doing: You're discounting Texas as a program, and that's never wise. Because similarly to how the Longhorns improved the season after Durant bolted, they're doing it again in this first season post-Augustin. They're a different team, sure. But if recent history has taught us anything it's that different isn't always bad at Texas.

In fact, it's usually just as good.

If not better.