Forty Acres Insider: May 26

Chris Del Conte head shot 2025

Longhorn Nation,

There's never been a more critical time for the future of collegiate sports, and today, I write to you from Destin, Fla., where we've set up shop for a week of SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE SPRING MEETINGS alongside several of our coaches and campus leaders. It's an important week filled with meaningful discussions, collaboration with leadership and coaches from across the league, and another opportunity to continue strengthening relationships as we begin year three with our SEC family. Commissioner Sankey will provide updates throughout the week as we tackle a wide range of timely topics surrounding the evolving landscape of college athletics and how we continue to position Texas at the forefront as the standard of excellence. There will also be plenty of reflections on our exciting first two years in the SEC and what makes this conference so special because, as the league's motto says, "It Just Means More." Be sure to follow all the SEC platforms throughout the week to stay updated on the latest news, notes, and developments.

Before we recap another exciting week of Texas Athletics that is already underway, it's important we first pause to honor and remember. This week began with gratitude and appreciation as we recognized those who have served our great nation on MEMORIAL DAY. It is a time to reflect on the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms and preserve the values that define our great country. We are forever grateful for their service, their courage, and the enduring legacy they leave behind.

In memory of many and in honor for all 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/bdgPOgKrvl
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) May 25, 2026

Last week was another one to be thankful for on the Forty Acres — not just for the victories, but for the unbelievable energy y'all brought while rocking the Burnt Orange and White. RED & CHARLINE MCCOMBS FIELD WAS ABSOLUTELY EN FUEGO, and we needed every ounce of the Texas Fight in taking down a feisty Arizona State squad and punching our ticket to a third-straight Women's College World Series. Now it's on to Oklahoma City for our Softball Horns, while Baseball earned the coveted honor of a top-eight national seed in the NCAA Tournament, meaning postseason baseball and the road to Omaha will run through the friendly confines of UFCU Disch-Falk Field. I know y'all will bring that same elite atmosphere and patented Longhorn pride and passion this weekend. And the action doesn't stop there. Women's Golf advanced to match play and junior FARAH O'KEEFE WON THE NCAA INDIVIDUAL TITLE at the NCAA Championship, Men's Golf tees it up later this week, Rowing is competing for a National Championship, and Track and Field is battling at NCAA Preliminaries looking to send more Horns to the NCAA Championships as well. It's championship season in every direction right now, folks — all Longhorns, all the time. Keep those Horns Up and Hook 'Em!

FOR THE NINTH TIME, YOUR TEXAS LONGHORNS ARE HEADED TO THE WCWS 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/Cd9EOKqoR6
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) May 24, 2026

Make it TWO-FOR-TWO! With SEC Championship seasons now complete, it's time for another victory lap because our Horns have done it again, folks. Your Texas Longhorns finished with the MOST conference championships in the SEC for the second-straight year, capturing six league titles in 2025-26 to edge Florida's five — matching what we accomplished in year one when we brought home eight SEC crowns. Last year, those eight titles were double the next closest school (South Carolina, 4), and now our 14 SEC Championships in our first two years in the league are TWICE as many as any other SEC program during that stretch (Arkansas & Florida, 7). And when you add in Beach Volleyball's back-to-back conference championships — the CCSA title last year and MPSF crown this season — that brings the grand total to 16 conference championships across the last two years. That's some sustained excellence across the board, my friends. Now here's another eye-popping reminder of what Texas Athletics continues to accomplish on the national stage. We are the ONLY FBS program this year to reach all of these milestones: at least 10 wins in Football, 25+ wins in Volleyball, 20+ wins in BOTH Men's and Women's Basketball, and 40+ in BOTH Baseball and Softball. That's elite company of one. The standard isn't being chased around here — it's being set on the Forty Acres. Puff those chests out, throw those Horns Up and enjoy the ride, Longhorn Nation!

SEC Championship season's complete & Texas AGAIN has the MOST titles in the league this year (6)🤘🏻

Over the last 2 seasons, Texas has claimed TWICE as many SEC Titles as anyone.

SEC Crowns (last 2 years)
1️⃣4️⃣ - TEXAS
7 - Arkansas
7 - Florida

1️⃣6️⃣ with Beach VB's CCSA & MPSF 🏆 pic.twitter.com/fj8jhJsa7J
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) May 25, 2026

What an awesome weekend. What an incredible team. What a joy it is to watch Coach White and Texas Softball compete. THE TEXAS FIGHT WAS ON FULL DISPLAY at McCombs Field all the livelong day — from our team and y'all, the best fans in the land! After dropping game one, Coach White and our defending National Champs dug deep, showed their grit, drive and determination and were Texas Tough in claiming the Austin Super Regional Title and punching their ticket to a third-straight WCWS — and fourth in the last five years. Alongside UCLA, our Horns are one of only two programs to reach OKC in each of the last three seasons. From Victoria Hunter's roof-raising and game-sealing pinch-hit homer Saturday to Teagan Kavan's dominant 5-0 shoutout Sunday that sealed the deal, our Horns left no doubt. Next up, we'll face Tennessee in game one in the WCWS on Thursday (1:30 p.m. CT/ESPN). The path to defending our crown continues and we're so darn fired up for OKC!

your Austin Super Regional Champs 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/l7z0NoiXsN
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) May 24, 2026

WOMEN'S GOLF IS CURRENTLY ON THE COURSE IN THE NCAA QUARTERFINALS, as Coach Ianello's team advanced to Match Play at the NCAA Championship for the second-straight year! Before we get to today's action, I've got to start with a huge shoutout to our junior Farah O'Keefe, THE 2026 NCAA INDIVIDUAL MEDALIST! Farah became just the third NCAA individual champion in program history and first in almost 30 years, as she joined Heather Bowie (1997) and Charlotta Sorenstam (1993) in that exclusive company, and I can't leave out the legendary Debbie Petrizzi who earned the AIAW individual crown in 1978. Farah recorded a 72-hole score of 12-under 276 (69-69-68-70) and closed out her final round in style with back-to-back birdies on holes 17 and 18 to post a two-stroke victory before raising the individual trophy! I'm thinking some more hardware (here's looking at you, ANNIKA Award) is in store for Farah very shortly. On the team front, our ladies posted a four-round score of 1-over in stroke play to tie for third in the team standings and earn their spot in the final portion of the Championship that's reserved for the top eight finishing squads. This marks the fifth time since the NCAA added Match Play in 2015 to its format that the Longhorns have advanced to this stage. As the No. 4 seed in Match Play, we'll face No. 5 seed Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinals (match started at 9:40 a.m. CT), and it's all about Surviving and Advancing at this point. If we can get it done in the quarters, we're right back on the course this afternoon in the semifinals with the championship match set for Wednesday starting at 4:25 p.m. CT. Check out the action on Golf Channel today, as the network will provide live coverage of the quarterfinals from Noon-2:30 p.m. CT and the semis from 5-9 p.m. CT. Let's have some fun ladies and bring back some hardware from California!

see y'all tomorrow for match play against Eastern Michigan 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/o7FKM00bbs
— Texas Women's Golf (@TexasWGolf) May 26, 2026

Men's Golf is primed and ready to make a run at the NCAA Championship this week. Fresh off a five-stroke victory at the Bryan Regional last week, Coach Fields' No. 3-ranked squad is HEADED TO THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE 19TH CONSECUTIVE TIME — the nation's longest current streak in Division I men's golf! The Longhorns have been consistently elite this season, posting four team titles and 10 top-three finishes in their first 13 stroke-play events of the year. It was a complete TEAM effort at the Bryan Regional, as all five Texas players finished among the top 14 on the individual leaderboard. Our play included a 23-under 265 in the second round, a program record for lowest 18-hole team score at a NCAA Regional. A tip-of-the-cap and big-time Hook 'Em to senior Luke Potter who claimed individual medalist honors with a 17-under 199 (67-64-68)! And kudos to senior Christiaan Maas, who was recently named one of 10 finalists for the Fred Haskins Award as the nation's top collegiate golfer. Now it's off to Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., for the NCAA Championship — an event we're hosting — starting Friday. Good luck men and let's go chase some hardware!

extending the nation's longest current streak of NCAA Championship appearances to 1️⃣9️⃣ straight by winning the Bryan Regional 🤘#TakeDeadAim | #NCAAGolf pic.twitter.com/kqBTIlC5ve
— Texas Men's Golf (@TexasMGolf) May 20, 2026

Baseball hosting another NCAA Regional
After y'all brought all that Texas Fight to the NCAA action at McCombs Field the last two weeks to help send Softball to the WCWS, now it's time to head back across Comal Street to the Disch and bring that same Longhorn passion and pride for Coach Schloss and our Baseball squad as they start out on their NCAA journey. For the 39th time in our program's storied history, that journey will start at home as the team was selected as the No. 6 overall seed and WILL HOST A NCAA REGIONAL RIGHT HERE STARTING FRIDAY with our Austin field also made up of UC Santa Barbara, Tarleton State, and Holy Cross. Our Horns will get things started against Holy Cross on Friday (Noon CT/SEC Network) before Tarleton and UC Santa Barbara face off at 5 p.m. CT. Single-session tickets will go on sale to the general public TODAY at 10 a.m. CT online at TexasLonghorns.com/Tickets. Make sure you get yours, and we'll see you at the Disch!

the 2026 Austin Regional 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/aJYWtLA8mH
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) May 25, 2026

The seeding was announced last week for the NCAA ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS, and Coach O'Neill and our Longhorns are once again positioned among the nation's elite. Our Horns earned the No. 2 seed in each of the I Eight, II Eight and I Four boats as the 22-team championship field prepares to hit the water Friday through Sunday at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Ga. We're pursuing a fourth NCAA Championship in the last six years after bringing home national titles in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Last season, our Horns finished third nationally, and overall Coach O'Neill's program has now produced a top-four finish in each of the last eight NCAA Championships. Time for our elite program to chase down some more hardware, my friends!

And there's NO SHORTAGE OF CHAMPIONSHIP ACTION happening across the Forty Acres this week. Women's Golf is taking dead aim on a National Title, Softball is looking to defend its National Championship in Oklahoma City, Baseball is hosting NCAA Regional action at The Disch, Men's Golf is preparing to tee it up at the NCAA Championship, Rowing will take to the water at the NCAA Championship, and Track and Field is competing in the NCAA Prelims in Fayetteville with hopes of sending more Horns to nationals. The spring sports calendar may be winding down, but it's still All Gas, No Brakes around here, y'all. Let's keep those Horns Up and Hook 'Em!

busy postseason time for the Horns 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/K9vR2VmV2a
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) May 25, 2026

Hook 'Em Horns,

Chris Del Conte

P.S. — The Pride and Winning Tradition INDEED!

THE PRIDE AND WINNING TRADITION 🤘🏻

Texas is the nation's ONLY FBS program this year with at least 10 wins in Football, 25+ in Volleyball, 20+ in Men's AND Women's Basketball, and 40+ in Baseball AND Softball 🤘🏻 pic.twitter.com/qrT3OILoyQ
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) May 24, 2026

P.S. —What Starts Here Changes the World!

Developing leadership, personal enhancement, and professional development on the 2026 UT Athlete Impact Tour in Costa Rica 🤘@be4evertexas x @TexasLonghorns pic.twitter.com/vZe8O70WOp
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) May 20, 2026

P.S. — Lots of Longhorn Volleyballers representing with Team USA!

"a lot of Texas Longhorns on this @TeamUSA roster"🤘😮‍💨#HookEm | @usavolleyball pic.twitter.com/wVJD9RYKz1
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) May 22, 2026

P.S. — The ONLY school to sweep the Golf NCAA Regional Championships!

the Horns are heating up 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/3n7WGyBPce
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) May 21, 2026

P.S. — LHN delivering more awesome content! Two Longhorn greats right here!!

dream course? 🤘🤔

stream episode 4 of Athletes on Athletes featuring Tommy Morrison and Farah O'Keefe is streaming now on LHN 📲

➡️ https://t.co/dZPuKsaf6v #HookEm | @LiveHumann pic.twitter.com/NX3ShZo9YX
— LHN (Longhorn Network App) (@LonghornNetwork) May 21, 2026

P.S. — Gotta love these segments too, thanks to our friends at Humann!