Jeff Howe

Not CJ, but Texas is on the hunt for a middle infielder. I haven't heard the exact plan regarding first base.

Finishing above .500 in the SEC is an accomplishment. Anything over 10 wins means you had a heck of a year.

Probably not, because Minor League Baseball should continue to operate independently of MLB, even in the event of a lockout. Contracts for draftees will be finalized long before the CBA expires and unless they're on a 40-man roster, they shouldn't be impacted by a work stoppage.

The key thing to remember in this portal cycle is that Texas doesn't want to get burned by the draft. The staff took Moroknek and (more so) Freeman at their word last year and got left holding the bag. They had a connection with Ashton Larson through Nolan Cain and scrambled to find Pendergrass, which ended up being pretty important last-minute pickups.

Pack, Sam Cozart and incoming transfer Linkin Garcia (Texas Tech) were named first-team Freshman All-Americans:

No. They’re in a better position than most with Volantis and Cozart. What they need and who they target depends on how they project guys like Crossland, Winter and Walls.

For Gamecock baseball, hiring Paul Mainieri was the equivalent of self-imposed probation. They’ll be better with just about anyone else leading the way.

I’m glad you brought up NCAA Tournament seeding. Now is as good of a time as any to remind everyone that Fort Worth is hosting first and second-round games in 2027 and the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio hosts the South Regional. The last time Texas went to the Final Four, the Longhorns were the No. 1 seed in the South Region and went through San Antonio (the Alamodome) to get to New Orleans.

The nine SEC opponents plus Memphis highlight the home schedule.

According to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, Texas has commitments from the No. 1 (Armstrong), No. 4 (Garcia) and No. 18 (Solitaria) prospects among his top 60 prospects in the transfer portal.

Home: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee Road: Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt Home-and-Home: Florida, Oklahoma and Texas A&M

Point taken, but I think we can agree that Tobacco Road college hoops is a different animal than almost anywhere else in the country. Alums/fans of those schools all attend the basketball games no matter what.

Angel Laya is a target. He hasn't committed.

Yes. We've reported that Angel Laya is a target.

Anything close to .300 will be better than what Texas had in the bottom third of the order at the end of the season.

After wrapping an official visit to Texas on Wednesday, Long Beach State outfielder Trevor Goldenetz became the latest transfer portal commitment for Jim Schlossnagle and the Longhorns. Goldenetz is the second transfer outfielder to commit to Texas in the current cycle, joining Kent State’s Sawyer Solitaria. Goldenetz and Solitaria make up a four-member portal haul as of Wednesday, a group that includes Texas Tech infielder Linkin Garcia and St. Mary’s catcher Ian Armstrong. The 6-foot-1-inch, 180-pound Goldenetz had a productive season as a freshman for the Dirtbags, hitting .370 in 30 games before suffering a hand injury, which forced him to miss more than a month of action in April and May. Goldenetz, who scored 26 runs, walked 19 times and recorded a .489 on-base percentage, made it back to appear in the team’s season-ending road loss to Cal Poly on May 16 after he was hit by a pitch and scored a run in an April 6 home loss to Cal Baptist. With All-American Aiden Robbins expected to be an early-round selection in the 2026 MLB Draft, Jayden Duplantier and Dariyan Pendergrass out of eligibility and Maddox Monsour entering the transfer portal, Schlossnagle’s staff has made acquiring outfielders a priority during the current portal cycle. While the Longhorns will welcome SEC Freshman of the Year Anthony Pack Jr. back for his sophomore season in 2027, Jonah Williams is coming off an early-season shoulder injury and returned to the football program for the 2026 season, forcing Schlossnagle and the Texas coaches to mine the portal for players fit to compete for the two open outfield spots alongside Pack. Along with Goldenetz and Solitaria, the Longhorns continue to pursue other transfer targets in the outfield. On Texas Football has been told that Oregon transfer Angel Laya (.296/.396/.538 with 14 home runs and 47 RBI) is one of the targets of interest for Texas. Texas Baseball Transfer Portal Tracker Incoming: Linkin Garcia, INF, Texas Tech (Fr.) Ian Armstrong, C, St. Mary's (Soph.) Sawyer Solitaria, OF, Kent State (Soph.) Trevor Goldenetz, OF, Long Beach State (Fr.) Outgoing: Will Hill, OF, Fr. Jadyn Ferguson, RHP, Fr. (Missouri) Cooper Rummel, RHP, Fr. (Duke) Presley Courville, C, Fr. Kade Bing, LHP, Jr. Andrew Ermis, C, Jr. Callum Early, INF, Soph. Maddox Monsour, UTIL, Fr. Jason Flores, RHP, Soph. View full news story

Davis and Williams were consensus All-American players. The original run of Texas valuing big humans on the offensive line.

Bill Simmons and J. Kyle Mann on Swain:

For me, Tausch, Blalock and Dan Neil are among those under consideration for the fourth spot. The other three, IMO, are no-brainers.

From an Austin perspective, since there's overlap between the college basketball season and the NHL regular season, I'd look at what's happened in Oklahoma City and how it could impact attendance. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State fans both agree that the presence and rise of the Thunder have played a big role in the lack of interest in people going to basketball games in Norman and Stillwater. Yes, the product has to be up to par, but there are only so many dollars to get stretched so far in metro areas before people have to make decisions how to spend their time and money.

Matt is a great guy. I was heartbroken when I saw his post yesterday.

For an Austin franchise to work, I think you'd have to put the arena between Austin and San Antonio on I-35 so that you could draw from both metro areas. I don't believe UT/Oak View Group/Live Nation will allow a downtown venue to be built that would compete with Moody Center for concerts/live events.

Ed Cooley was 2-0 against Texas at Providence, so I'm hoping for better results.