Forty Acres Insider: December 19

Chris Del Conte head shot

Longhorn Nation,

SIMPLY THE BEST! We Lit The Tower Orange upon our triumphant Longhorns' return to the ATX on Sunday night because Texas Volleyball is BETTER THAN ALL THE REST — AGAIN!! It's back-to-back National Championships for Coach Elliott and our Longhorns in what was as epically dominant of a title match or game as you'll ever see. The offense was spectacular, the serving on point and the defense exquisite, not just on Sunday, but pure perfection in taking down the nation's top trio of teams (Stanford, Wisconsin & Nebraska) over our last three matches. We left no doubt, we are the Champions of the World! Kudos to the tourney's Most Outstanding Player Madisen Skinner, and so happy for our super senior Asjia O'Neal who came back for one more year just for this moment. It was a total team effort, and I'm so darn proud. And Longhorn Nation, Holy Cow did you show up and show out in Tampa — the Burnt Orange passion and pride was on full display, and we are beyond grateful for each and every one of you. In the season of giving, you gave us your all, so take a bow, you are champions, too!

Thank you, Longhorn Nation 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/ksnU3vrdtk
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) December 18, 2023

We just keep on keepin' on as our athletics teams continue to bring home the hardware. Count 'em up, Volleyball is our 10th National Championship in the last three years and the 65th Natty in school history. Our Longhorns have won at least one national title in each of the last NINE seasons, and Volleyball's three Natty's in the last 12 years are tied for the most of any program during that time. There's absolutely no doubt, The Pride and Winning Tradition of The University of Texas is something special, and we are where Champions are Built. We all know What Starts Here Changes the World my friends, and I count my blessings every day that I get to be a part of it and that y'all are in our Longhorn Family!

Where we belong 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/clGctejU9r
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) December 17, 2023

Speaking of the best, tomorrow (Wednesday) is National Signing Day for Football so you can follow along on all of our platforms, as well as with our friends at Longhorn Network to hear about all of the promising young talent that will be coming to the Forty soon. Coach Sark will wrap up the day with a press conference you can catch live on LHN, the Longhorn Radio Network and AM 1300 The Zone at 3:30 p.m. CT, so tune in and let's keep the good times rollin' all the live long day!

Speaking of good times, a pair of record-breaking Longhorns were tabbed BETTER THAN ANYONE last week, too! Sprinter extraordinaire Julien Alfred won the prestigious Bowerman Trophy as the nation's top collegiate women's Track and Field student-athlete (think Heisman Trophy for Track and Field), just the second Longhorn ever to claim that honor. Huge shoutout to Leo Neugebauer, our first-ever Bowerman finalist for the men, who was honored at the USTFCCCA Convention, as well. There were three male and three female finalists, and two of the six were Longhorns, so let's give an emphatic Hook 'Em to Coach Flo — who indeed knows! The sensational Lexi Missimo was selected as Top Drawer Soccer's Player of the Year, becoming our program's first-ever National Player of the Year honoree. And it didn't stop there for the individual honor roll as Football's T'Vondre Sweat, Kelvin Banks, Byron Murphy and Xavier Worthy continued to rack up All-American team honors; Soccer's Trinity Byars earned a spot on Top Drawer Soccer's Best XI team; Volleyball's Asjia O'Neal and Madisen Skinner brought home first-team All-America accolades along with the team title; and Men's Basketball's Tyrese Hunter was The Halal Guys Showcase MVP in our 96-85 win over LSU in Houston on Saturday.

we're not crying, you're crying. 🥹🤘#FloKnows x #HookEm pic.twitter.com/08t4uPlWua
— Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC) December 15, 2023

The year is far from over and you don't have to wait until next year to get fired up for your Horns as we keep the Texas Fight going. You can bring great cheer and raise the roof at Moody Center the next couple weeks with some fantastic Holiday Hoops as the men welcome in Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday (2 p.m. CT/LHN) and UNC Greensboro the following Friday, Dec. 29 (7 p.m. CT/LHN). The women start things off on the road at UTRGV on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. CT/ESPN+), before hosting Jackson State on Wednesday, Dec. 27 (7 p.m. CT/LHN), and tipping-off Big 12 play with a key one at home against Baylor on Saturday, Dec. 30 (1 p.m. CT/FOX). Texas Hoops will ring in the New Year, as well, with the men hosting UTA on Jan. 1 (1 p.m. CT/LHN) at Moody Center.

we're hoopin'🤘#HookEm | @Seatgeek pic.twitter.com/SMhq5SNADp
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) December 18, 2023

This will be our final Forty Acres Insider of the year as we head into the holidays, so here's to a Happy Holidays and prosperous New Year to all of you. It has been a spectacular 2023 thus far, there's plenty still ahead, and we look forward to ringing in 2024 with what will be our first ever CFP game versus Washington in the Allstate Sugar Bowl (7:45 p.m. CT/ESPN). In the meantime, don't hide that Longhorn Pride. It's a glorious time to be a Longhorn! Puff those chests out, put on that Burnt Orange and White, and get those Horns up high. These last few weeks of the year are an awesome time to celebrate the holiday season with family and friends, while getting revved & amped up to bring it for your Longhorns on New Year's Day. It's All Gas No Brakes in the Big Easy!!

Sugar Bowl bound 🤘

Texas vs. Washington
Sugar Bowl | New Orleans, LA
January 1, 2024@CFBPlayoff x @SugarBowlNola pic.twitter.com/vQtNfGGnTU
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 3, 2023

Volleyball makes it back-to-back National Championships!

Total domination in Tampa! Our Volleyball team made history by tearing through the NCAA Final Four and overpowering the No. 1 overall seed Nebraska to win the program's second-consecutive National Championship. Before taking down the Cornhuskers, the Longhorns had to get past No. 3 Wisconsin in the NCAA Semifinals on Thursday night. After two evenly-matched tough sets in the semifinal, the Longhorns turned it on in the third and fourth sets to brush aside the Badgers. Then on Sunday afternoon while playing in front of the largest indoor volleyball crowd ever of 19,727 and a national television audience on ABC, Texas became the first team ever to record sweeps in back-to-back National Championship matches. There was almost never any doubt as Texas served up a title-match record 12 aces and blew Nebraska away. Madisen Skinner, who picked up her third career National Championship, was simply dominant throughout the postseason and was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Asjia O'Neal, the Slide Queen herself, capped off a tremendous career in the Burnt Orange and will forever be one of the all-time great Longhorn athletes. And let's not forget about our Hall of Famer Head Coach, Jerritt Elliott, who proudly lifted that National Championship trophy high in the air for the third time in his incredible career. The celebration didn't stop in Tampa, as we couldn't wait to see the UT Tower lit up with that Burnt Orange #1. We got back as fast as we could to cap off just one of the best days, celebrating the school's 65th national team championship!

BACK-TO-BACK NATIONAL CHAMPIONS #HookEM pic.twitter.com/SD52oYdQvQ
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) December 17, 2023

Making History!

Had to make sure you saw these eye-popping numbers. Sunday's NCAA Volleyball National Championship match averaged 1.7 MILLION viewers on ABC and is the most-watched college Volleyball match in HISTORY. That is simply awesome! The broadcast peaked with 2.1 million viewers and included 1.8 million viewers during the match window only. Viewership numbers for this year's NCAA Championship match were up 115-percent overall and up 151-percent among female viewers over the 2022 title match. And how about this nugget? Female viewers made up 51-percent of Sunday's audience. Talk about a sport that is simply exploding in popularity.

Making history and taking trophies🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/clf49tAlmp
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) December 19, 2023

Headed to New Orleans? Save the date for the Burnt Orange Bon Temps Bash on Dec. 30!

Only a few more weeks until Longhorn Nation descends on the Crescent City! Our team is planning a very special evening dubbed the Burnt Orange Bon Temps Bash on Saturday, December 30 at 6 p.m. CT at the famed Mardi Gras World along the banks of the Mississippi River. Featuring live performances from nationally-acclaimed artists, as well as appearances by the Longhorn Band and Texas Cheer, Texas Pom, and King Hook 'Em, this will be the official Texas Athletics party to get you ready for the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl! In addition to live music, we've got New Orleans-inspired fare and beverages, photo ops with some of the most iconic parade floats, and plenty of entertainment for the whole family. We've even got a special fireworks show planned to cap off the evening! Stay tuned as we announce the artists and release ticket information this week!

Men's Basketball opens four-game homestand on Friday afternoon

Our No. 19 Men's Basketball team moved to 8-2 on the season with a 96-85 win against LSU as part of The Halal Guys Showcase on Saturday in Houston's Toyota Center. How about our guy Dylan Disu?! After missing the last eight months while recovering from surgery on his left foot and making his first appearance on the court since he played in last year's Sweet 16 win over Xavier, Disu picked up right where he left off with 17 points, including a perfect 9-for-9 effort at the free throw line, and a career-best five assists without a turnover in 20 minutes. Simply amazing! Tyrese Hunter earned the game's MVP honors after his season-high 19 points, and D-Mitch added another double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds). Mid-Court Max did his normal deal with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds and earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors! RT and the guys return to start a four-game homestand over the holidays and will play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday afternoon (2 p.m. CT/LHN). The Longhorns will also host UNC Greensboro on Friday, Dec. 29 (7 p.m. CT/LHN) and UTA on Monday, Jan. 1 (1 p.m. CT/LHN), before they open Big 12 play at home against Texas Tech on Saturday, Jan. 6 (7 p.m. CT/ESPN2). Season-ticket holders, if you are out of town and can't make it to a game over the holidays, please make sure a fellow Longhorn fan is in your seat! You can transfer your tickets through your online Texas Athletics account using Ticket Transfer OR you can return your tickets to Texas Athletics by using Ticket Return on your online account, and our group will help put Longhorn fans in your seats. Let's continue to pack The Mood for EVERY game!

good to have our guy back 🤘

performance stat x #InvescoQQQ #HookEm | @DylanDisu pic.twitter.com/4Vgf5kTEaA
— Texas Men's Basketball (@TexasMBB) December 16, 2023

Women's Basketball improves to 11-0

How about them Horns! Our No. 5 Women's Basketball team picked up an impressive road win in the desert last week over Arizona to get to 11-0 on the season! Rori Harmon, the best point guard in the country, missed a triple-double by just one rebound as she led the way with 19 points, 11 assists and nine boards. Texas travels to Edinburg for a matchup against UTRGV on Wednesday night (6:30 p.m. CT/ESPN+). Then between Christmas Day and New Year's, we've got TWO opportunities for you to cheer on the Longhorns in The Mood. Catch the Longhorns at home against Jackson State on Wednesday, Dec. 27 (7 p.m. CT/LHN). Then get your tickets (that's a great last-minute holiday gift idea) as we open Big 12 Conference play against a Baylor team that is currently undefeated and ranked in the top 10 on Saturday, Dec. 30 (1 p.m. CT/FOX).

best two-way guard in the country.

and we aren't the only ones saying it 🤘https://t.co/xh5YPt0VHO #HookEm pic.twitter.com/iZqipOorn3
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) December 14, 2023

Hook 'Em Horns,

Chris Del Conte

P.S. – Celebrating our Hall of Famer, DJ!

Immortalized in the College Football Hall of Fame.

A look back at Derrick Johnson's @cfbhall ceremony and celebration 🤘@superdj56 x #HookEm pic.twitter.com/yFKiWUO546
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 15, 2023

P.S. – So proud!

Y'all made Texas proud 🤘#FloKnows x #HookEm pic.twitter.com/2QU3CrvwYv
— Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC) December 16, 2023

P.S. – So grateful for our friends and supporters at the Tower!

Huge shout-out & thank you to our @UTTowerTweets facilities team for making this lighting happen last night! The Tower is undergoing electrical repairs so no elevators - they had to climb the stairs on short notice to arrange the window shades to create the "1" on each side… https://t.co/U8UBBmNqvT
— Jay Hartzell (@JCHartzell) December 18, 2023

P.S. – Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Ricky's Heisman Year!

What a joy it was spending the weekend in NYC with @Rickthelaureate celebrating the 25th Anniversary of his @HeismanTrophy. It was a thrill and privilege having the honor of introducing Ricky at the Heisman Trophy Gala as well 🧡🤘🏻 pic.twitter.com/IQJV6LqwfK
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) December 14, 2023

HEADLINES

Video: Longhorn Excellence – Dylan Disu

Longhorns in the NFL: Week 15

Women's Basketball's Harmon earns Big 12 Player of the Week honors

Abmas named Big 12 Men's Basketball Newcomer of the Week

Soccer duo earn College Soccer News All-American status

Soccer's Byars, Missimo named to Top Drawer Soccer's Best XI teams

Video: Derrick Johnson College Football Hall of Fame induction feature

Alfred named The Bowerman winner

Video: No. 19/22 Men's Basketball media availability (Dec. 14)

Intersport, FOX Sports announce major annual Volleyball Showcase beginning Labor Day Weekend 2024

Sarkisian named Bryant Award finalist