Forty Acres Insider: March 11

Chris Del Conte head shot 2025

Longhorn Nation,

It was another wall-to-wall week in Texas Athletics filled with a whole lot of TEXAS FIGHT AND HORNS UP, my friends. We got together at so many different events, had many a Longhorn victory, and as we spring forward, we've got so much more to come on the horizon. I know y'all were just as fired up as we were, as Coach Schaefer and Women's Basketball stampeded through our first SEC Tourney. Though we came up just short of the title, it was a thrilling ride. No. 12 Baseball got another series sweep and made it 13-straight wins, No. 4 Men's Tennis remained perfect in SEC play with a pair of victories, No. 1 Softball's win streak reached 15, and No. 4 Men's Golf rallied in Monday's final round to sweep the team and individual (Luke Potter) titles at The Hayt. Campus has been abuzz while Austin is on full display with SXSW in town, and we sure hope y'all had a good 'ol time taking in our Hook 'Em House right in the heart of it all at Antone's downtown!

Now it's on to another exciting week as the winter and spring seasons collide in an abundance of fun games, matches and festivities. Men's Basketball's regular season didn't end the way we wanted, but now it's time to rally and roll up their sleeves in taking their game into championship season at the SEC Tourney in Nashville. Baseball and Softball are preparing to head into SEC play where it just means more, Diving and Indoor Track & Field are in NCAA competition this week, and Tennis and Beach Volleyball are going at it on the court and in the sand, too!

We can look back as we prepare for what's ahead for No. 5 Women's Basketball. Although it didn't end the way we'd hoped with that championship trophy in our hands, OUR HORNS PUT ON A HECK OF A SHOW in Greenville, S.C., taking down Ole Miss (70-63) in the quarterfinals and got a gritty, hard-fought win over No. 9 LSU (56-49) in the semis. That pushed our Horns' win streak to 15-straight and secured a spot in the SEC Championship Game, making it a fourth-straight conference championship game berth (Big 12 2022-24/SEC 2025) for Coach Schaefer's squad. We came up short in that one to No. 5 South Carolina in their home state, but that won't put a damper on what's next — March Madness and what certainly will be a No. 1 seed and a home game to start things off right here at Moody Center. Stay tuned for all the details on that as the brackets are announced on this Selection Sunday (7 p.m. CT/ESPN).

It was another awesome weekend of Baseball at UFCU Disch-Falk Field as Coach Schloss and our guys swept Santa Clara to improve to 13-1 on the season. If you're keeping track, that's two series sweeps and two tourney titles (Shriners Children's College Showdown/Las Vegas Classic) for our bunch already. I'VE GOT TO SHOUT Y'ALL OUT, TOO! You are incredible, packing the Disch and bringing the heat for our victories last weekend, and we can't thank you enough for that support. It's just getting started, and we know you're as amped up as we are for what's ahead. We've got a mid-weeker tonight against UT Arlington (6:30 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) before our Horns hit the road to open SEC play at Mississippi State this weekend. It won't be long, and we'll be hosting our first SEC series a week from Saturday with current No. 1-ranked LSU coming to town (March 21-23). The Disch is gonna be en fuego for that one and the rest of the way, my friends!

No. 1 Softball kept the good times (and big bats, dominant arms and stingy defense) rollin' as well, this time on the road in Columbus, Ohio, with five more wins at the Ohio State Tournament. That makes it 15-straight wins and a 26-1 record for Coach White and our squad. It's on to SEC play for Softball, too, this week with a trip to No. 3 Florida slated for Saturday-Monday. Just like Baseball, that will be the setup to our first home SEC series versus a top-25 Auburn squad at Red & Charline McCombs Field (March 21-23). Can't wait to see you on the Forty for a full weekend of hardball and softball Texas Fight in a couple weeks!

It was more of the same for Longhorn Nation as the crowd was rockin' at the Texas Tennis Center last week, too. Coach Berque and Men's Tennis answered your cheers with a 4-3 victory over No. 22 Mississippi State Thursday and 4-1 win over Auburn Saturday. That moves us to 5-0 in the SEC and 14-2 overall with a trip to No. 2 TCU on the docket tonight (5:30 p.m. CT) before returning to SEC play with Alabama in town Sunday (Noon CT). Coach Joffe and the women dropped a pair of heartbreakers with 4-3 losses at Florida on Friday and No. 11 Auburn on Sunday. They'll look to rebound on the road at Vanderbilt (Friday) and Missouri (Sunday) before returning home against LSU (March 21).

Men's Basketball will look to bounce back from a hard-fought, heartbreaking loss in our Red River Showdown with OU on Senior Day last Saturday at Moody Center. Fresh off a top-25 road overtime win at Mississippi State last Tuesday, this one came down to the final possessions, and our guys — including a special group of seven seniors — left it all on the court. And y'all we're outstanding as always, bringin' the energy and Texas Fight from tipoff to the final whistle. Thank you so much for supporting both of our basketball teams all season long! Now it's bounce-back time as our Horns head to the SEC Tournament in Nashville where we'll play Vanderbilt in the first round on Wednesday (2:30 p.m. CT/SEC Network).

We're CHARGING TOWARD THE TITLE BOUT as the first step on the path to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships is taking place as we speak with our Longhorns at the NCAA Zone Diving competition in Iowa City. Coach Scoggin is leading our squads as we look to advance divers to the upcoming NCAA meets for Coach Capitani and our second-ranked women (March 19-22) followed by Coach Bowman and our top-ranked men (March 26-29) in Washington. Track and Field heads to Virginia Beach for the NCAA Indoor Championships this week, as well.

While I've got you and before we get to all the notes, here's an emphatic Hook 'Em Horns to our Football freshman phenom Colin Simmons and Legendary Longhorn Mack Brown who will be honored at the 88th Maxwell Awards Gala in Atlanta on Friday. An honor recognizing his phenomenal rookie season on the Forty, Colin will be our first-ever Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Year Award winner. Coach Brown will receive the Francis "Reds" Bagnell Award for his contribution to Football, which we know there are oh so many. Well-deserved honors for two incredible Longhorns!

Our transition to the SEC Network in live sports coverage

I've received quite a few messages recently related to this next topic, so with our spring sports now going in full force, it's a great opportunity to remind y'all about our transition from what we had previously with ESPN's Longhorn Network to what we've moved to with the SEC Network when it comes to our live sports coverage. As I mentioned in the Town Hall, we built the Texas Studios Powered by Dell Technologies, and our staff is using that space while working alongside many outstanding students from Moody College to produce both videoboard shows and THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIVE BROADCASTS for the Disney family of networks. We certainly appreciate your patience, understanding and feedback but hopefully clarifying how these broadcasts work will help as well. The three tiers of broadcast include:

• Linear Game Broadcasts: These can be found on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and SEC Network. ESPN hires the on-air play-by-play and color analyst talent for these broadcasts.

• Digital Game Broadcasts: These can be found on SEC Network+ and on the ESPN app. Our staff hires dedicated play-by-play and analyst talent for these broadcasts.

• Streamed Games: These are also found on SEC Network+ and on the ESPN app. We take the audio feed from our talented radio personalities for these broadcasts.

This is a huge priority for us and a product that will only get bigger and better with experience, adjustments, and reps (just like our sports teams!). And I can assure y'all that our students are getting a first-class experience and learning from the best in the country. The recently announced Sports Production and Broadcasting minor will bring even more talent to the Forty Acres and we're so thankful for our partnership with Moody College!

Men's Basketball set for SEC Tournament in Nashville

RT and our guys concluded the regular season with a split in their two games last week. Last Tuesday night in Starkville, Tramon Mark recorded a game-high 24 points and the kid Tre Johnson added 23 points as the Longhorns earned an impressive 87-82 overtime win at No. 25/nr Mississippi State. It marked our fourth victory over a ranked opponent this season, and the team showed some tremendous Texas Fight down the stretch in overtime to pull out the victory. Then it was back in The Mood on Saturday for Senior Night, and Longhorn Nation – you once again showed out in full force, but we couldn't get across the finish line on the court in a hard-fought 76-72 loss to Oklahoma. Congrats to our guy Tre Johnson, who was named SEC Freshman of the Year on Monday in addition to earning spots on the All-SEC Second Team and SEC All-Freshman teams. Tre is having an exceptional season and became the 10th player in program history to earn conference freshman of the year accolades. Now it's on to Nashville this week for the SEC Tournament, and we'll get things started with a first round contest against Vanderbilt on Wednesday (2:30 p.m. CT/SEC Network).

Women's Basketball advances to SEC Tournament Championship Game

I can't say enough about Coach Schaefer and our Women's Basketball team. The SEC regular season champs went to Greenville, S.C., last week to compete in the SEC Tournament as the No. 1 team in the country, and our ladies did exactly what they've been doing all season. The Longhorns brought defense, toughness, passion and grit and represented our university in a first-class manner, both on and off the court. We got things started in the quarterfinals with a 70-63 win over an Ole Miss squad that is a projected top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament. All-American Madison Booker scored 19 points, and Texas earned its 30th win of the year to make it back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time since 1986-87 and 1987-88. That's impressive! In the semifinal matchup against No. 9 LSU, Rori Harmon reached the 700 career assist mark, while Booker posted 25 points in the 56-49 victory. That extended our win streak to 15 straight games, and it was the 12th time this year that our ladies had held an opponent to less than 50 points. That set up a showdown against No. 5 South Carolina in the Gamecocks' backyard, and it marked the sixth time that Coach Schaefer had guided a team to the SEC Tournament championship game. Harmon and Taylor Jones combined for 28 points and Booker added a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards, as our group battled but came up short in our attempt to bring that trophy back to Austin. Now our group gets a little rest in advance of the Big Dance, and we can't wait to watch the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday (7 p.m. CT/ESPN) to see who and when we will host in the First and Second Rounds in Moody Center!

Baseball runs winning streak to 13 with three-game weekend sweep!

Coach Schloss and our Baseball team is on a heater! After earning four home victories this past week, the Longhorns sport a 13-1 record and have run off 13 consecutive wins. The guys broke out the bats in a 15-5 eight-inning run-rule victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday night. Then it was a combination of outstanding pitching and timely hitting that saw the Longhorns earn a weekend sweep at The Disch over Santa Clara where we outscored our opponent by a combined 18-6 margin. Pretty, pretty good! We are back at UFCU Disch-Falk Field later tonight against UT Arlington (6:30 p.m. CT/SEC Network+), so I hope to see y'all at the ballpark. Then it's time to get SEC play started, and our guys head to Starkville to take on Mississippi State in a three-game set on Friday (6 p.m. CT/SEC Network+), Saturday (2 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) and Sunday (1 p.m. CT/SEC Network).

No. 1/2 Softball improves to 26-1 and matches program's best start since 2006!

Spell it out with me: T-E-X-A-S! That's the name of the NUMBER ONE TEAM IN THE NATION who swept through its five games at the Ohio State Tournament in Columbus over the weekend. That is now 26 wins in our first 27 games to begin the season, matching the 2006 squad (led by the great Cat Osterman) for the best 27-game start in program history, and our current win streak is now up to 15 games! We started the week with a 4-0 victory over Baylor at home on the strength of a complete-game shutout by Teagan Kavan. Coach White and our ladies then headed up to Columbus, Ohio and claimed five wins over a three-day period by a combined margin of 48-5. That is simply DOMINANT! The Longhorns showed their mental toughness and Texas Fight in the final game of the five-game tourney with a 4-2 win at tourney host Ohio State on Monday night. Now we'll turn the page and begin SEC play with a trip to Gainesville this weekend for our first-ever SEC series. The top-five matchup against No. 3 Florida will include games on Saturday (1 p.m. CT/SEC Network), Sunday (12 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) and Monday (6 p.m CT/SEC Network).

Men's Golf rallies to sweep team and individual titles at The Hayt

Coach Fields and our guys are off to an excellent start to their spring season. The No. 4 Longhorns rallied for an impressive seven-stroke victory at The Hayt at Sawgrass Country Club on Monday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. And a big-time congrats to junior Luke Potter, who earned his first collegiate individual win. That marks the second team title of the year for our guys, as they previously won the Southwestern Invitational (Jan. 27-29). It's also the second-straight tournament that a Longhorns has claimed the individual title, as Tommy Morrison won the crown at the Amer Ari Invitational (Feb. 6-8). Entering Monday's final round in fourth place and 10 strokes off the lead, Texas registered the low team score for the second straight round and was the only squad to shoot under-par on Monday. The Longhorns posted a 54-hole total of 18-under par 846 (290-274-282) to finish seven strokes ahead of Duke in second at 11-under 853. The 15-team field included five squads in the top 25 of the latest national rankings. Potter began his day three strokes behind the individual leader, but he carded a 3-under 69 to post a three-round score of 10-under 206 (71-66-69) and won the title by three strokes over North Carolina's David Ford. And I've got to give a shoutout to junior Christiaan Maas, who tied for fourth at 5-under 211 (73-67-71). Coach Fields and our team will look to keep the momentum going when they return to the course next Monday and Tuesday (March 17-18) at the Pauma Valley Invitational in San Diego.

Kim's top-three finish leads Women's Golf at Darius Rucker Intercollegiate

Our No. 7 Women's Golf team showed that Texas Fight as the ladies battled 30 miles-per-hour winds, heavy rain and challenging conditions in South Carolina to finish in a tie for sixth place at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. How good has Lauren Kim been this year? She recorded her fourth top-five finish of the season with a tie for third at even-par 216. And we need to give some love to Farah O'Keefe, or as I like to call her 'Miss Consistent,' who tied for 11th and has now finished in the top-11 in six straight tournaments! Coach Ianello has been using a variety of lineups with so many talented golfers on her roster, as she wants to give them opportunities to compete and see what they can do before the postseason. You can get a great look at our team right here in Austin, as we'll host the Betsy Rawls Invitational next Monday and Tuesday (March 17-18) at the UT Golf Club, so check our web site and social platforms for tee times and pairings.

Beach Volleyball serves up two wins at the TCU Invitational to improve to 11-2

The party on the beach doesn't stop for our No. 13-ranked Beach Volleyball team. The Longhorns took down their first ranked opponent at the TCU Invitational last Friday with a 3-2 win over No. 12 FAU. Macey Butler and Noa Sonneville got the points started for the Longhorns by winning on court 4 with a score of 21-19, 21-18. After going down 2-1, Karin Zolnercikova and Maddison Parmelly took down the Owls on court 3 with a score of 21-18, 21-12, and Emma Grace Robertson and Katie Hashman claimed the winning point at No. 2 with a three-set victory (21-22, 21-17, 15-12). The Longhorns also added a 3-2 win against Boise State with another clinching point by Robertson and Hashman at No. 2 (21-19, 21-14). Our women travel to the Golden State this weekend for the East Meets West Invitational in Manhattan Beach, Calif. And how's this for strength of schedule – on Friday we will face No. 1 UCLA (11 a.m. CT) and No. 2 Loyola Marymount (3:30 p.m. CT) and follow that up on Saturday with matches against No. 9 California (1 p.m. CT) and No. 15 Hawaii (5 p.m. CT).

Hook 'Em Horns,

Chris Del Conte

P.S. — Football is puttin' in that work!

P.S. — We see ya Matthew, always great having the M.O.C. in the house

P.S. — Great shoutout Coach Vic! Appreciate our student media and the effort these young reporters made to cover our program!!

P.S. — Was awesome honoring Longhorn Legend Calvin Schiraldi on Saturday!

P.S. — Thank You for your never-ending support my friends!

P.S. — This never gets old, LIGHT THE TOWER my friends!

P.S. — Another Texas takeover at the NFL Combine!

P.S. — Welcome Home Coach Akina, it's great to have you back!

P.S. — Stay tuned for the 3rd & Longhorn interview with Colt McCoy, recorded live at the Hook 'Em House!

P.S. — This is so cool!