The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 3 Rowing earns three No. 2 overall seeds for 2026 NCAA Championships
05.19.2026 | Rowing
The Longhorns will make their 11th-consecutive NCAA Championships appearance.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 3 Texas Rowing earned three No. 2 seeds for the 2026 NCAA Division I Rowing Championships, the selection committee announced Tuesday. The Longhorns will be making their 11th-consecutive NCAA Rowing Championships appearance.
Texas is one of 12 at-large selections for this year's NCAA Championships. The championships will be held May 29-31 at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Ga., with North Georgia and the City of Gainesville serving as hosts. Live coverage information will be provided by the NCAA at a later date.
The Longhorns earned the No. 2 overall seed in the I Eight, II Eight and I Four. Texas finished runner-up at the 2026 SEC Championship with victories by the II Eight and I Four. The Texas First Varsity Eight finished the regular season undefeated with wins at then No. 1 Stanford, No. 19 Michigan, No. 24 Indiana and at the San Diego Crew Classic.
In the First Varsity Eight, Tennessee claimed the No. 1 seed followed by No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Princeton, No. 5 Yale, No. 6 Virginia, No. 7 California, No. 8 Syracuse, No. 9 Washington and No. 10 UCF. Stanford clinched the No. 1 seed in the Second Varsity Eight followed by No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Virginia, No. 4 Princeton, No. 5 Washington, No. 6 Yale, No. 7 Brown, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 9 Syracuse and No. 10 California. In the First Four, Stanford hauled in the No. 1 seed followed by No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Washington, No. 4 Rutgers, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 6 Virginia, No. 7 Yale, No. 8 UCF, No. 9 Brown and No. 10 Cal.
The team championship is composed of 22 teams. Nine conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 12 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the championship field. Teams qualifying for the championship are required to field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers. For the I Eights, II Eights and Fours, all 22 boats will be seeded into four heats.
Rhode Island (Atlantic 10), Stanford (ACC), UCF (Big 12), Washington (Big Ten), Northeastern (CAA), Princeton (Ivy League), Jacksonville (MAAC), UMass (MAC), Boston University (Patriot League) and Oregon State (WCC) earned the nine automatic qualifications via conference championships. Texas, Brown, California, Columbia, Miami (FL), Michigan, Ohio State, Rutgers, Syracuse, Tennessee, Virginia and Yale received at-large selections.
Texas is looking to win its fourth NCAA title over the last six years. Texas won national championships in 2024, 2022 and 2021. Texas finished third overall at last year's national regatta, totaling 118 points. Texas finished fourth at the 2023 national championship with 110 points. Texas has recorded a top-four finish in each of the last eight national championships.
