The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Forty Acres Insider: March 18
03.18.2025 | Forty Acres Insider
Important news happening in and around Texas Athletics compiled by Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte. [<a href="http://texassports.com/archives.aspx?path=forty_acres_insider">Forty Acres Insider archives</a>]
Longhorn Nation,
It's that time of the year … LET THE MADNESS BEGIN! Our watch rooms erupted — overflowing with cheers, smiles, hugs & high fives — during Sunday's NCAA selection shows on campus, and what a joy it was to see both our Men's and Women's Basketball squads' names called. We're In!! … well folks, your Longhorns are goin' dancin' with Coach Schaefer and our women earning a No. 1 seed and tipping it all off right here at Moody Center. Meanwhile, Coach Terry and the men are in Dayton as we speak getting ready to square off with Xavier in the First Four Wednesday night. It's CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON FOR SWIMMING AND DIVING, TOO, as Coach Capitani and our No. 2-ranked women are in the Great Northwest with their eyes on the prize! We may have Spring Break on campus, but we're all gas no brakes here in Athletics with NCAA Championship action for all those programs and an action-packed weekend ahead on the Forty Acres. In addition to NCAA Women's Hoops being in town, Baseball, Softball, Women's Tennis and Beach Volleyball are taking to the courts and fields competing in the ATX this weekend, as well! It will be a full-on Texas Sports Buffet! What an awesome time it is to be a Longhorn, so get your burnt orange and white-best ready, come on out and join us, and get those Horns up all the livelong day!!
With the brackets out and hoops talk at a fever pitch, let's start things off with March Madness! This marks the FIFTH-STRAIGHT YEAR both our men's and women's programs have earned an NCAA Tourney bid, something very few programs can stake a claim to. We are one of only five programs nationally that have made each of the last five NCAA fields on both sides of the bracket (Baylor, Creighton, Tennessee and UConn are the others). How cool is that?!
DANCING AGAIN: @TexasMBB & @TexasWBB are one of only 5 programs that have had BOTH their Men's AND Women's teams advance to each of the last 5 NCAA Tournaments (joining Baylor, Creighton, Tennessee & UConn)🤘🏻🤘🏻 pic.twitter.com/kjmgy6Pi1t
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) March 17, 2025
With its 31-3 record and SEC Regular Season Championship on an outstanding resume already, Women's Basketball earned the top seed in the Birmingham Region and the right to host the first two rounds on our homecourt. Coach Schaefer has led our Longhorns to the Elite Eight in three of the last four tourneys and is hungry for more! We'll tip things off with the winner of a "First Four" matchup between 16th-seeded High Point and William & Mary on Saturday (approximately 8:45 p.m. CT/ESPN2). LET'S PACK THE HOUSE Y'ALL! The roof was raised, and it was a raucous atmosphere at The Mood all season long, and we're thrilled to have more of that. Here's to keeping the good times rollin' and cheering our Horns on to Survive and Advance! Here's all the info on tickets!
y'all already know the place to be 🤘#HookEm | @MarchMadnessWBB pic.twitter.com/BFu3KvqTNn
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) March 17, 2025
On the heels of a strong run through the SEC Tournament in Nashville last week, Men's Basketball is once again headed to the NCAA Tournament! What a joy it was watching this team turn in a solid showing at our first-ever SEC Tourney, taking down NCAA Tourney teams Vanderbilt (79-72) on Wednesday and a double-overtime Lone Star Showdown thriller over No. 14 Texas A&M (94-89) on Thursday. Our Horns rallied and made it to the quarterfinals in the best dang conference in the land, and now we're in the Big Dance and facing Xavier in the "First Four" on Wednesday in Dayton (8:10 p.m. CT/truTV). NEW OPPORTUNITY AHEAD, let's go Horns!
stage is set 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/FMcjyuClHx
— Texas Men's Basketball (@TexasMBB) March 17, 2025
It's time to take dead aim on a National Title for Coach Capitani and our No. 2-ranked and SEC Champion Women's Swimming and Diving program. Coach Scoggin's divers got things started last week as three of our women earned national championship meet berths at the NCAA Zone Diving competition in Iowa City. They'll join 15 swimmers that advanced, as a squad full of 18 Longhorns traveled to Federal Way, Wash. on Sunday to get ready for the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships later this week. Follow along on all of our platforms to keep tabs on all the goings on as our squad hits the water starting Wednesday. We also had four men's divers advance last week, as Coach Bowman and No. 1 Men's Swimming and Diving will be sending a roster full of Longhorns to Federal Way to compete for the championship from March 26-29, so stay tuned for that one as well.
Hey, before we get too far into this, we've got to give a BIG SHOUTOUT AND HORNS UP for our National Track and Field Champion Kelsey Daniel, who soared to a school record (26-9.25) in claiming the NCAA long jump title in Virginia Beach last Friday night. We've got a rich and proud history of long jumpers at Texas (men and women), but Kelsey is our first-ever men's indoor champion in that event. He sure did do it in dominant fashion, clearing the 26-feet mark four times and also posting the third-best jump (26-7.25) in school history during his outstanding competition, as well. Way to go Kelsey!
CROWN HIM 👑🤘
— Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC) March 15, 2025
Kelsey Daniel wins the NCAA long jump title with a program record jump of 8.16m (26-9.25) ‼️‼️
He's the 1st male Longhorn EVER to win the LJ indoor title 🤘#FloKnows x #HookEm pic.twitter.com/SdZiplrqHV
New conference, same pride and winning tradition of The University of Texas! Coach Schloss and No. 11 Baseball STAMPEDED INTO SEC PLAY with a sweep at Mississippi State in our conference series debut last weekend. That makes it 17-straight wins for our Horns and sends us into tonight's meeting with UTSA (6:30 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) on a big-time roll. And fresh off that road SEC series sweep, our conquering heroes will be bringing our conference of impressive bats, arms and gloves — where it just means more — right here to UFCU Disch-Falk Field this weekend with No. 1 LSU in the house. All eyes will be on this one, as our first-ever SEC home series is an epic clash of perennial baseball powers to look forward to. We know the Disch will be absolutely en fuego for sure!
this team, y'all 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/wiGZdHFdVi
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) March 17, 2025
Speaking of stampeding and en fuego, Coach White and No. 2 Softball is FULL STEAM AHEAD, TOO! Our Horns secured a massive series road win, traveling to No. 3 Florida and sweeping a double-header on Saturday to win two of the three games. The bats were boomin' Saturday with 20 runs, including four homers en route to a pair of victories. Our win streak reached 17 before falling to the Gators on Monday, now they'll be bringing their game back home to the friendly confines of McCombs Field this weekend with an SEC series versus a top-25 Auburn. Come on out and support your Horns! We can't wait to see you on the Forty for a full weekend of hardball, softball AND Texas Fight!
ALL WE DO IS WIN, my friends, as No. 3 Men's Tennis remained perfect in SEC play at 6-0 with a 4-0 sweep of Alabama on Sunday. Coach Berque and our Horns will take their show on the road this weekend with an SEC swing through Arkansas on Friday (5:30 p.m. CT) and LSU on Sunday (Noon CT). No. 13 Women's Tennis secured a pair of conference road victories last week at Vanderbilt on Friday and Missouri on Sunday. Now it's back to our homecourt & crowd at the Texas Tennis Center against LSU on Friday (2 p.m. CT) and Ole Miss on Sunday (Noon CT).
There was lots of TEXAS TRIUMPHANT SPIRIT on the sand last week for Coach Metzger and Beach Volleyball, as they traveled to the West Coast and competed on a high level against four top-ranked teams. Our Horns brought home a pair of top-20 victories on a memorable Saturday with a thrilling 3-2 win over No. 7 Cal, followed by a 4-1 victory over No. 18 Hawaii. Now four squads from the west (No. 10 Arizona State, Cal, No. 14 Grand Canyon and No. 2 LMU) will be making their way to the east as we're back on our home sand with the East vs. West event at the Wright-Whitaker Sports Complex on Friday and Saturday, and admission is F-R-E-E! It's such a fun sport to watch, and we sure do bring the energy to every event, so come on out and cheer on our Horns!
And in this wall-to-wall week of Texas Sports, No. 7 Women's Golf is in the midst of hosting the Betsy Rawls Invitational, where they jumped out to a Monday lead. Meanwhile, No. 4 Men's Golf had a strong Monday, too, and tees it up for their final day of the Pauma Valley Invitational in San Diego today. There's a plethora of Longhorn Action, so GET THOSE HORNS UP AND LET'S HOOK 'EM!
busy week for the Horns 🤘#HookEm | @SeatGeek pic.twitter.com/Dn5yfYboZP
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) March 17, 2025
Only one week until the Football Season Ticket Renewal Deadline!
We are only one week away from the 2025 Texas Football Season Ticket Renewal Deadline (Wednesday, March 26). I want to thank all of our loyal season ticket holders who have already renewed their season tickets, and we can't wait to see you back at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium this upcoming season. If you still need to renew your season tickets, you can do so online by logging in to your account.
Interested in season tickets? Join the waitlist by March 26
On the heels of back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinal appearances, the excitement around Texas Football is at an all-time high, as we have over 10,000 fans who are already on the 2025 Texas Football season ticket waitlist. Any fans who are interested in joining us as season ticket holders this fall can join the Texas Football Waitlist TODAY! It doesn't cost anything to get on the list, but in order to come off the waitlist and have the opportunity to purchase season tickets later this spring, you must be a 2025 Longhorn Foundation donor by the football season ticket deadline on March 26 (minimum of $50 annual gift).
Bring the Texas Fight to March Madness at Moody Center this Saturday and Monday!
Coach Vic Schaefer and our Women's Basketball team have earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season! The passion and pride that Longhorn Nation has brought to Moody Center all season long has been nothing short of spectacular, and we need that same energy for the NCAA First and Second Round games this week. Our Horns will take on the winner of Thursday's High Point/William & Mary game this Saturday at approximately 8:45 p.m. (30 minutes following the Illinois/Creighton game which starts at 6:15 p.m.). The winners of Saturday's games will then face off next Monday for the right to go to the Sweet Sixteen!
All-session tickets are now on sale and can be purchased online at TexasLonghorns.com/tickets. It's going to be a heck of a tournament, and I look forward to having Longhorn Nation alongside us every step of the journey!
Baseball and Softball play their inaugural SEC home series this weekend!
What a weekend it was on the road for our nationally ranked Baseball and Softball programs! In their first ever Southeastern Conference series, they each went into hostile territory and came away with series wins.
Coach Schloss and the Baseball will take on a hot UTSA squad tonight at UFCU Disch-Falk Field before hosting the No. 1 LSU Tigers this weekend! Tickets for these games are sold out in advance, and fans interested in purchasing tickets are encourage to visit SeatGeek. We are anticipating capacity crowd this weekend versus LSU, and in order to accommodate as many UT students with the Big Ticket as possible, we will be reserving the YETI Yard for UT students with a Big Ticket and valid physical UT student ID.
Coach White and our No. 2 Softball team had a phenomenal showing against one of the best teams in the nation in No. 3 Florida, and we can't wait to welcome them home to McCombs Field this weekend against a ranked Auburn squad. There are a limited amount of tickets available for Saturday and Sunday's games and you can get them here!
4EVER TEXAS career development workshop with Men's and Women's Golf programs
Last Wednesday was another special event for our 4EVER TEXAS student-athlete development program, as in partnership with our Men's and Women's Golf Teams, it hosted a career development workshop at The University of Texas Golf Club that was attended by 39 student-athletes from 10 sports. The group learned golf fundamentals such as chipping, putting, driving, reading greens, conquering the bunker, as well as golf etiquette and how it correlates to professional success. It was a special honor to have Women's Golf Coach Laura Ianello!
Scott McConnell to receive USBWA Katha Quinn Award
Here's to an emphatic Hook 'Em, Horns for our very own assistant athletics director for communications, Scott McConnell, who was named this year's Katha Quinn Award winner. Presented by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, the honor goes to sports information director or administrator that has excelled at serving the media. Scott has done just that for more than a quarter of a century as our primary men's basketball communications contact, and he's a proud UT graduate to boot! Scott does an incredible job and is such a valuable member of our team who epitomizes our "we not me" mantra here in Athletics. Congratulations my friend, we appreciate all you do, and this is some well-deserved recognition for a job well done.
Scott McConnell @TexasMBB to receive Katha Quinn Award for service to the media. Thank you Scott! https://t.co/XMEy9uOqum pic.twitter.com/jbWO5cdCUT
— U.S. Basketball Writers Association (@USBWA) March 17, 2025
Hook 'Em Horns,
P.S. — How about this for a Sunday Funday!
What a Sunday for our Horns‼️
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) March 17, 2025
WE'RE IN ➡️ it's March Madness time for @TexasWBB & @TexasMBB, with No. 1 seeded women hosting at Moody Center. @TexasBaseball wins its 17th-straight & gets a sweep at Mississippi State in SEC series debut, while @TexasMTN & @TexasWTN get SEC wins🤘🏼 pic.twitter.com/2bH3U8VF3w
P.S. — Looking Good Men! Congrats to Colin Simmons and Coach Brown at the Maxwell Awards!
Tonight's Longhorn honorees at the @MaxwellFootball Awards Gala @CoachMackBrown & @ColinSimmons__ 🤘🏻🤘🏻 pic.twitter.com/jvh2oGnIkz
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) March 14, 2025
P.S. — Making History! Our first-ever Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year honoree!!
🏈 @ColinSimmons__ is our @shaunalexander Freshman of the Year Award winner! 🏆 #MaxwellFootball #MFCGala pic.twitter.com/DwFJ2hyzhu
— Maxwell Football (@MaxwellFootball) March 15, 2025
P.S. — Our guy Coach Brown's well-deserved Reds Bagnell Award for contributions to football!
🏈 @CoachMackBrown is our Francis "Reds" Bagnell Award winner! 🏆 #MaxwellFootball #MFCGala pic.twitter.com/sTMkfeSb04
— Maxwell Football (@MaxwellFootball) March 15, 2025
P.S. — Things you love to see!
always special to see our alumni family all together. thanks for coming out y'all. 🫶🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/dVVynDqR1i
— Texas Women's Golf (@TexasWGolf) March 16, 2025
P.S. — No. 1 Ranking for Rowing!
ready to get started 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/FMiFkR2BHu
— Texas Rowing (@TexasRowing) March 11, 2025
P.S. — Lighting the Tower never gets old! Your regular season SEC Women's Basketball Champs!
so much love for these people. @SEC champs 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/Hm6tQXDMhb
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) March 17, 2025
HEADLINES:
Football's Colin Simmons, former head coach Mack Brown honored at Maxwell Awards
Track and Field earns five USTFCCCA First-Team All-America honors at NCAA Indoor Championships
Men's Basketball NCAA Tournament preview vs. Xavier
Women's Basketball's Vic Schaefer named Naismith Coach of the Year semifinalist
No. 7 Women's Golf leads Betsy Rawls Invitational after opening day
Rowing ranked No. 1 in preseason Pocock CRCA Coaches, Junior Rowing News polls