Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (It's good to be king... and queen)
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The Heat is the most underrated comedy in history
Folks, these are the best of times.
In the aftermath of Texas winning its first national championship in softball, Chris Del Conte's baby ... the Texas athletic department ... is on the verge of winning its fourth Director's Cup trophy in the last five seasons after having never finished higher than second in its history (three times between 2001-02 through 2004-05.).
Let's just take stock of what's happening right now under CDC's watch:
* Texas Football is the only CFB program in the country to play in the semifinals of the last two years of the playoffs and is a possible pre-season No. 1.
* Texas Women's Basketball just completed a 35-4 season and earned a Final Four bid for the first time in 22 years.
* Texas Baseball, in year one under Jim Schlossnagle, spent parts of this season ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, despite an unsatisfying conclusion to the season.
* Texas Volleyball has won two of the last three national championships.
* Texas Men's Swimming won the program's 16th NCAA title a few months ago under first-year head coach Bob Bowman.
* Texas Women's swimming won the SEC championship in year one, has won 13 consecutive conference titles and has enjoyed a top-3 finish in the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1992-1995.
* Texas Men's Tennis was the national runner-up in 2024, a national semi-finalist in 2025 and won a national championship in 2019.
* Texas Women's Tennis only finished 13th nationally this season, but has won a national championship as recently as 2022.
* Texas Men's Track won an indoor national championship in 2022, while Texas Women's Track won the outdoor national championship in 2023.
* Texas Men's Golf lost in the NCAA quarterfinals this year, but won a national title three years ago and has finished No. 1 or No. 2 in three of the last seven seasons.
* Texas Rowing has won three national titles under Dave O'Neil and has finished no lower than third nationally in six of the last seven seasons.
Now the softball program has joined the party with its first national title. Only women's golf (2025 NCAA quarterfinals), men's basketball (mostly irrelevant for the last decade-plus), women's soccer (2024 SEC champions) and women's beach volleyball (NCAA quarterfinals in its first year as a program) are failing to compete as true national championship-level contending programs at the moment and there's nuance with each of those four programs outside of men's basketball, which happens to be in year one under Sean Miller.
(courtesy of @Direct_Cupdates)
Ladies and gentlemen, take a moment to stop and smell the roses. Break out that incredibly valuable bottle of wine that you've been saving. Pass the blunts made of the good stuff!
This is what the best of times looks like.
We're living in them right now.
There's not enough credit in the world right now that can be given to Del Conte, who is known as a master fundraiser and front-man for the program, but deserves an immense amount of credit for his hires since taking over as athletic director on December 9, 2017.
Check out all of his hires:
2018: Edrick Floreal (Track)
2018: Mike White (Softball)
2019: Bruce Berque (Men's Tennis)
2020: Vic Schaefer (Women's Basketball)
2020: Steve Sarkisian (Football)
2021: Chris Beard (Men's Basketball)
2023: Rodney Terry (Men's Basketball)
2023: Stein Metzger (Beach Volleyball)
2024: Bob Bowman (Men's swimming and diving)
2024: Jim Schlossnagel (Baseball)
2024: Laura Ianello (Women's Golf)
2025: Sean Miller (Men's Basketball)
(Bolded names have either won a national title at Texas, have their teams ranked in the top 5 nationally last season or won a national title within the last decade at another university.
Holy moly! When CDC hasn't been trying to fix the men's basketball program (let's just not re-litigate that one today), he's basically been the Daniel Day-Lewis of college athletic directors ... he mostly always knocks it out of the park and when there's a miss, there's almost always some nuance behind it. For instance, he shouldn't have needed to make three men's basketball hires ...
His first three hires have all won nattys at Texas. His next two hires (yes, there's a conversation to be had about how much credit he deserves for Sarkisian) are knocking on the door of a natty. His last four non-men's basketball hires have won a national title at Texas, had Texas ranked No. 1 this season or are in the first couple of seasons in Austin after winning titles elsewhere.
It's pretty freaking stunning.
CDC is the best athletic director in the history of Texas Athletics and at this point you really have to treat him as the most valuable commodity on the 40 Acres. He's led Texas Athletics to the best stretch of combined success that any Orangebloods has ever known.
Don't take this for granted. Marinate in it. Soak yourself in it.
There will be a day when the dominance comes to an end, as all great empires eventually die, but it doesn't seem like the decline is in the near future, not with so many of these programs at the top or near the top of the summits.
More titles are there to be won. It's CDC's world and we're all just happily living in it.
Well, everyone but those that live in College Station or the state of Oklahoma or in UT's new conference ... the big bad SEC.
Those folks are just going to have to learn to live with it.
No. 2 – Ryan Wingo ... the X-Factor
I spent time this weekend thinking about the emergence of sophomore wide receiver Ryan Wingo, who is either expected to emerge as a superstar this season at wide receiver for Arch Manning or something that lives in a neighboring zip code.
Is it too much to ask for a guy that hasn't yet carried a passing game with his ability? What are the realistic statistical goals for him in year two, with 238 receptions for 3,172 yards and 30 touchdowns worth of production needing to be replaced and upgraded from last season's passing offense?
As I reported back in February, while Wingo didn't break 50 yards receiving or score a touchdown after the month of September in 2024, he still finished with the sixth most receiving yards of any Texas freshman receiver in the history of the program. Only Xavier Worthy (981), Roy Williams (809), BJ Johnson (698), Jaxon Shipley (607) and Mike Davis (478) ever had more.
I found myself wondering what those six players that performed better than Wingo as freshmen ended up doing as sophomores. Let's take a look.
* Mike Davis: From 47 catches for 478 yards and 2 TD in 2010 to 45 receptions for 609 yards and 1 TD in 2011.
* BJ Johnson: From 41 catches for 698 yards and 3 TD in 2001 to 41 receptions for 539 yards and 4 TD in 2002.
* Jaxon Shipley: From 44 catches for 607 yards and 3 TD in 2011 to 59 receptions for 737 yards and 6 TD in 2012.
* Roy Williams: From 40 catches for 809 yards and 8 TD in 2001 to 67 receptions for 836 yards and 7 TD in 2002.
* Xavier Worthy: From 62 catches for 981 yards and 12 TD in 2021 to 60 receptions for 760 yards and 9 TD in 2022.
Honestly, there wasn't a damn thing to learn from the walk down those memory lanes, except that making a big jump from freshman to sophomore isn't the slam dunk that everyone might assume it to be, as only Shipley catching 15 more passes for 130 yards and 3 touchdowns from 2011 to 2012 made jumps in receptions, yards and touchdowns from one season to the next. Davis had fewer catches and touchdowns. Johnson had 159 fewer yards. Williams had fewer touchdowns and a much lower YPC. Worthy was down in every category, despite going from Hudson Card/Casey Thompson to Quinn Ewers.
Call it confirmation bias because I'm ignoring history and clinging to the notion that Wingo will improve across the board in every category from last season. There's simply too great of a need for him to produce in an offense begging for someone to emerge as Arch Manning's go-to guy. Put this in pencil ... not in ink ... but, I'm softly and carefully projecting him for 48 catches for 816 yards and 8 touchdowns in 12 regular season games. That's an average of 4 catches, 68 yards and 0.67 touchdowns per game.
If Texas plays in an SEC Championship and/or multiple playoff games, it would mean he'll become only the 10th receiver in school history to break 1,000 yards in a season. If I'm wrong in a bad way, what does it mean for the Texas football team? It feels rather ominous to think about in the moment.
Also, if I'm wrong, none of us can say that we weren't somewhat warned about the historical trends that existed.
No. 3 - A 2025 college football theory ...
Impossible is such a strong word that I want to say from the jump in this section that what I'm about to suggest isn't that.
More like improbable than impossible.
As we have had conversations all off-season about the transitioning taking place along the offensive line, there are a handful of critical points that all seem to exist at the same time, making them the opposite of mutually exclusive.
a. The Texas 2024 offensive line was the best collective group of offensive linemen that the Longhorns have produced since the 2006 team, which returned a big chunk of the 2005 national championship line and was able to replace All-American Jonathan Scott with another future All-American in Tony Hills. The clout of this group is reinforced with a semi-final run in the playoffs and the fact that it was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation's top offensive line. There were times this season against the likes of Michigan and Texas A&M on the road when this group seriously imposed its will on quality opponents.
b. Against the likes of Georgia and Ohio State, the Texas offensive line got treated like it was the pride of the worst Texas teams of the last decade, unable to control the line of scrimmage in any kind of way against opposing players on those teams that were significantly better than them. Thus, the Texas offense didn't score more than 16 points in the three games it played against the Dawgs and Buckeyes.
c. This year's Texas offensive line will largely rely on players in 2025 that weren't good enough to be full-time players in 2024 or even good enough to see much meaningful action at all in a couple of cases.
Now there's confidence behind the scenes that this unit will be fine. Hell, there's even some confidence that this group might be better than last year's group, which I find to be borderline insane, but the feelings do exist for some.
Ultimately, I'm not sure what to think other than I'm starting to wonder if it's practically almost impossible to build a dominant offensive line in college football that can be better than the best defensive lines that the sport has to offer.
There will be better defensive lines/fronts than the one Georgia brought to the table last January, but it included first-rounders Jalen Walker and Mykelle Williams, fifth-round picks Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins and Smael Mondon, sixth-round pick Warren Brinson and undrafted free agent Nazir Stackhouse. Same with the Ohio State defense that dominated Texas up front. The Buckeyes had a first-rounder in Tyleik Williams, a second-rounder in JT Tuimoloau, two fourth-rounders in Cody Simon and Jack Sawyer, and a fifth-rounder in Ty Hamilton.
Those were excellent, but not dominant groups that aren't on the level of some of the best units that Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State have produced over the course of continued excellence for the last decade-plus. Yet, those two excellent defensive lines dominated what was a ... uh ... historically good Texas offensive line, which featured one first-round draft pick and no one that will likely be drafted higher than mid to late day three.
I'm just not sure what the hell anyone in the sport is supposed to do. The only Joe Moore Award winners in the history of the award to win national championships are 2015 Alabama, 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama.
That 2015 Tide team had one seriously good player in Cam Robinson on its line, but it had Derrick Henry, Calvin Ridley and O.J. Howard among the skill players on offense, not to mention a hellacious defense.
The 2019 LSU line had four players drafted, but none before the third round. You know what it did have? Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Terrace Marshall Jr. and Clyde Edwards-Helaire at the skill positions.
Of course, the 2020 Alabama team was coached by Texas' Kyle Flood and featured two first-round tackles and a second rounder at center, but it also had Mac Jones, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, John Metchie and Najee Harris at the skill positions.
Maybe, just maybe, the offensive line that Texas fans pray can be built isn't actually a possibility. Maybe, just maybe, the trick is to have so much offensive talent around an offensive line that having a bunch of elite skill players matters infinitely more than the quality of the line. Maybe, just maybe, there's too much wasted conversation about the offensive line because if Texas had been better or even healthy at the skill positions in 2024, it would have won a national championship with an offensive line that no one seems to want to believe was good enough.
Discuss.
No. 4 – The missing Instant Analysis ...
What can I say? After working all day on Saturday and not getting much sleep on Friday night, I crashed a little early on Saturday night after leaving work at 9 p.m. to load up on a big day today.
The Longhorns picked up a commitment from DT (and staff favorite) Dylan Beryman after I decided it was safe to walk away for the night.
Oops.
Here's what it should have looked like...
Rankings: Here's the industry breakdown...
Rivals: (5.9) Mid 4-star, No.172 nationally, No. 8 in Louisiana
On3: (88) High 3-stars, NR nationally, No. 15 in Louisiana
On3 Industry Ranking: (91.61) Low 4 stars, No. 172 nationally, No.8 in Louisiana
247: (93) Low 4-stars, No.95 nationally, No. 4 in Louisiana
ESPN: (81) Low 4-star, No.173 nationally, No. 7 in Louisiana
Notable offers: Purdue (5/9 OV), LSU, Miami, Ole Miss, Mississippi State (OV 5/29), Missouri, Oregon, Texas A&M and USC
Evaluation: The 6-2, 294-pound Beryman is a pretty easy evaluation. He's not the biggest guy or the most athletic guy, but he is big, athletic and plays like a bull in a china closet as a high school player. He's got good suddenness off the snap and does a good job of creating separation with his hands. When he gets moving north/south, he's not the most explosive and athletic big man you'll set your eyes on, but his nose for the ball gets him in really good playmaking situations. Plays with real physicality, even if he needs to continue to gain power in his core and upper body. Looks like a future one-tech in time. He's not a player that projects as an early impact player, but you can see him being a key contributor in a few seasons towards the back end of the decade.
Why it matters: The Longhorns are finally in a position where the coaching staff doesn't have to feel desperate in rebuilding the position because while the program will lose the likes of Cole Brevard and Travis Shaw following the 2025 season, it will return the likes of Hero Kanu, Lavon Johnson, Maarad Watson, Alex January and Justus Terry in 2026. Therefore, the staff can feel good about taking a player in Berymon, who will need a few seasons of development before an impact can reasonably be expected. That's ok.
Expectations: The near best-case probably has Berymon redshirting in 2026, receiving around 100-200 snaps as a redshirt freshman in 2027 and emerging as a candidate to be a multi-year level starter in 2028. He'll need to be patient, but if he is and can stay healthy, the makings of a really good college player are there.
No. 5 – Updated Texas Scholarship Board ...
The first update since the Longhorns moved to a full 85-man scholarship roster with the late addition of kicker Gehrig Heil and 2 fresh 2026 commitments from the weekend.
No. 6 - A special shout out ...
I don't even know what to say about Texas star third baseman Mia Scott after watching her performance in Oklahoma City the last few weeks other than to say she might be the most gangsta athlete in school history.
I'm not saying she's the best because Texas is a school that has produced some monster athletes (I see you Julien Alfred, among others). I'm not saying she's the most dominant ... or the most clutch.
Just the most gangsta.
Playing in her last games as a Texas Softball legend, Scott has been playing down the stretch this season with a torn ACL. Yes, a torn freaking ACL. She wasn't going to let a thing like playing on one good ACL keep her from dominating on the biggest stage of her life in the final college competition of her life.
Of course, she did this on Friday night to all but clinch the school's first national title in softball, if it hadn't already been clinched.
What's left to say?
In the three-game series that will define her entire college career, she went 5-for-8 with a pair of home runs, 5 RBI and she scored 4 runs. Oh, and she handled the hot corner like she was Mike Schmidt in his prime.
Yes, she is, Pat. Yes, she is.
No. 7 - Scattershoooting on the champs ...
... He needed the national championship to rightfully cement himself as an elite of the elite master of his craft, but now that he has a natty .... man, let's give Mike White his flowers. He's built a team that has emerged as a legit threat to Oklahoma for the sport's top perch after three WCWS championship appearances and six Super Regional appearances in all six of his seasons in Austin. His product on the field has continued to evolve over the last half-decade, but the thing that stands out about the last month is that his team really turned the afterburners on at the exact moment when it looked like they were running out of steam. There was a stretch from 4/12 through 4/27 when the Longhorns went 3-6 in nine games against Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. That was followed less than two weeks later by a 14-2 mauling at the hands of Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament. And then it scraped by against Clemson in the Super Regionals by the hair on White's chinny chin chin. And then it did the damn thing in Oklahoma City, cutting through Florida, Oklahoma and twice through Nija Canady. White deserves all the flowers. Big boy program stuff.
... Attaboy, Chris Del Conte. His hire of White changed the direction of a program that has been lost in the forest for a long time. The streets remember.
... When Connie Clark took over as coach of the program in 1997 in its inception, I was a third-year UT student, whose 18-year-old girlfriend tried out for team in its first year as a program. Julie was one of the last cuts Clark made to the team that year and one of the things I remembered most about the disappointment that existed for Julie was the compassion and true consideration Clark had for an out-of-state student who had just barely missed her dream of playing college softball. Years later when I would occasionally pass Clark, she always seemed to treat me as if I was someone she still remembered from that moment (we had exchanged messages the summer before tryouts). Anyway, I bring this up to say I have a little bit of a special relationship with the program because I've been able to watch it grow up from a program that was a club team to one that is now a national champion. I've watched everything and everyone ... from Connie to Mike White and from Christa Williams to Cat Osterman to Blair Luna to Taylor Thom to Janae Jeffferson to Mia Scott and Teagan Kavan. Watching them finally get over the hump was incredibly satisfying. I hope Clark was somewhere where she was able to enjoy the moment.
... Texas committed eight errors in three championship series games and it didn't matter. YOLO!!
... Watch out Cat Osterman, Teagan Kavan is coming for your legacy! Just kidding. Kind of.
... Kavan in the WCWS: 31 2/3 IP and zero earned runs. That's against the best the sport has to offer other than having to play against her own team. In 14 1/3 innings pitched against Clemson in the Super Regional, she allowed 7 earned runs. Marinate on that a little.
... ICYMI ... the moment.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) The second is always easier than the first.
(Sell) All bets are off after Bell IMO.
(Sell) I might be one of the few that doesn't have Brooks in his top 10.
(Buy) That is not a high bar.
(Buy) D.J. Campbell, Ethan Burke, Cole Brevard, Trey Moore, Jaylon Guilbeau, Michael Taaffe and Anthony Hill make seven. Someone else from the junior class will play well enough to justify leaving for the draft.
(Sell) Put some respect on Richard's name (you did, I know). I don't know that Taaffe wanted any piece of that 1990 Miami team, either.
(Buy) No one is better going into 2025 IMO, but you're not wrong.
(Sell) I did that list 9 month ago.
(Buy) Absolutely.
(Sell) Did you mean to send that to the publisher of Aggieyell.com?
(Sell) I think it has to do with the fact that Kavian Bryant is the kind of guy you don't sit around waiting to offer.
(Buy) Rings matter. That comes from someone who loves Cat Osterman.
(Sell) A win in Athens would mean more, partially because it would happen later in the season. I don't hate the Buckeyes enough to ignore the conference/post-season implications. But, it's close.
(Buy) I love the way women's teams support each other. I wish I had as much positivity. Watch a volleyball team the next time someone makes an error because everyone will clap for their teammate in an effort to lift them up.
(Buy) Didn't even have to think about it.
(Buy) As in the words of the great Andy Bernard ...
(Sell) Maybe, but I'm not going to say that just yet.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... There's a part of me that thinks that the 2025 NBA Finals will end up reminding us of the 2001 NBA Finals. Yes, we had the game one steal on the road with a great shot late made by a great player (Tyrese Haliburton), but it feels like the next four games could all be OKC wins.
... 2025 NHL Finals >>> 2025 NBA Finals? Maybe, just maybe.
... Way to go, Coco Gauff! An American did the damn thing in Paris.
... Rest in peace, Tom Rafferty ... the first Cowboys center of my lifetime that I was aware of and a fan of.
... Genuinely ... WTF?
... I just can't right now with the US Men's National Team. This group just can't be inspiring ... at all.
... That was some kind of French Open men's Final. Consider me all-in on future Alcaraz/Sinner finals. Major props to Alcaraz.
... And then there was Arkansas and maybe Arkansas... the last SEC teams left standing in college baseball. It feels like Texas has missed a real opportunity to win a championship with only Top 8 seeds remaining (if Oregon State beats FSU) in the Tournament.
... Come on, Liverpool Get this Florian Wirtz deal done. Sell a kidney if you need to.
... Attaboy, Austin FC. I'm not sure I saw that 2-0 road performance win at Colorado coming, but it was a nice thing to see on Saturday.
... Nuno Mendes for Ballon d'or? I mean if we're going to live in the moment and ignore the greatest season of scoring output in the history of the Premier League... why not?
... How have I not seen the new Mission: Impossible yet?
... I've never watched an episode of Love Island ... am I missing out?
No. 10 - The List: Top 10 Cop Movies ...
Pretty randomly, I found myself watching Beverly Hills Cop this weekend.
Actually, truth be told, I found myself watching my favorite YouTube reaction videos of people watching Beverly Hills Cop this weekend.
Honestly, it's a pretty perfect film. It's Eddie Murphy at his absolute all-time peak. The supporting cast is beyond the scope of incredible. It's easy to focus on Judge Reinhold (Billy) and John Aston (Taggart), but Paul Reiser, Bronson Pinchot, Gilbert Hill, Jonathan Banks and Damon Wayans all play the role of Dion Waiters (IYKYK) in supporting roles. It's maybe the most Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer of all the Simpson/Bruckheimer collabs if it weren't for the original Top Gun.
It got me to thinking about the best cop movies of all-time. As much as I love Cop I (and Cop II for that matter), it can't truly make a Top 10 list of the best cop movies of all-time, can it? Because now the likes of The French Connection and Chinatown have entered the chat.
Therefore, I have decided to make two different Top 10 lists this week ... Top 10 Cop movies and Top 10 comedy Cop movies.
A couple of rules ...
a. In order for a movie to be considered a "cop movie" for the purposes of this discussion, a movie's central character has to be a cop. For instance, The Fugitive doesn't qualify as a cop movie because it's a movie about Dr. Richard Kimble, which merely involves the FBI and police as key supporting characters. I would argue that Heat isn't a cop movie, but instead it's a heist movie with Al Pacino starring in a key supporting role. Same with Reservoir Dogs. There's a fine line between some of these, but I will attempt to stand on the table for all of my decisions, while acknowledging that there is going to be some gray area.
b. Some action movies have great comedic moments, but weren't really considered the Top 10 comedy cop movies (See Die Hard).
Let's get to it...
Top 10 Cop Comedy Movies
Honorable Mention: The Heat, Running Scared, The Last Boy Scout, Rush Hour and Police Academy
10. The Nice Guys
9. 21 Jump Street
8. The Other Guys
7. Lethal Weapon II
6. Beverly Hills Cop II
5. Bad Boys
4. Super Troopers
3. 48 Hours
2. Lethal Weapon
1. Beverly Hills Cop
Top 10 All-Time Cop Movies
Honorable Mention: L.A. Confidential, Inside Man, Speed, Training Day, The Maltese Falcon, Mystic River and Serpico
10. Se7en
9. In The Heat of the Night
8. Fargo
7. Dirty Harry
6. The Departed
5. Chinatown
4. The Silence of the Lambs
3. No Country For Old Men
2. The French Connection
1. Die Hard
/respect for the Maltese Falcon getting a mention. And I’m not even an old.
Folks, these are the best of times.
In the aftermath of Texas winning its first national championship in softball, Chris Del Conte's baby ... the Texas athletic department ... is on the verge of winning its fourth Director's Cup trophy in the last five seasons after having never finished higher than second in its history (three times between 2001-02 through 2004-05.).
Let's just take stock of what's happening right now under CDC's watch:
* Texas Football is the only CFB program in the country to play in the semifinals of the last two years of the playoffs and is a possible pre-season No. 1.
* Texas Women's Basketball just completed a 35-4 season and earned a Final Four bid for the first time in 22 years.
* Texas Baseball, in year one under Jim Schlossnagle, spent parts of this season ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, despite an unsatisfying conclusion to the season.
* Texas Volleyball has won two of the last three national championships.
* Texas Men's Swimming won the program's 16th NCAA title a few months ago under first-year head coach Bob Bowman.
* Texas Women's swimming won the SEC championship in year one, has won 13 consecutive conference titles and has enjoyed a top-3 finish in the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1992-1995.
* Texas Men's Tennis was the national runner-up in 2024, a national semi-finalist in 2025 and won a national championship in 2019.
* Texas Women's Tennis only finished 13th nationally this season, but has won a national championship as recently as 2022.
* Texas Men's Track won an indoor national championship in 2022, while Texas Women's Track won the outdoor national championship in 2023.
* Texas Men's Golf lost in the NCAA quarterfinals this year, but won a national title three years ago and has finished No. 1 or No. 2 in three of the last seven seasons.
* Texas Rowing has won three national titles under Dave O'Neil and has finished no lower than third nationally in six of the last seven seasons.
Now the softball program has joined the party with its first national title. Only women's golf (2025 NCAA quarterfinals), men's basketball (mostly irrelevant for the last decade-plus), women's soccer (2024 SEC champions) and women's beach volleyball (NCAA quarterfinals in its first year as a program) are failing to compete as true national championship-level contending programs at the moment and there's nuance with each of those four programs outside of men's basketball, which happens to be in year one under Sean Miller.
(courtesy of @Direct_Cupdates)
Ladies and gentlemen, take a moment to stop and smell the roses. Break out that incredibly valuable bottle of wine that you've been saving. Pass the blunts made of the good stuff!
This is what the best of times looks like.
We're living in them right now.
There's not enough credit in the world right now that can be given to Del Conte, who is known as a master fundraiser and front-man for the program, but deserves an immense amount of credit for his hires since taking over as athletic director on December 9, 2017.
Check out all of his hires:
2018: Edrick Floreal (Track)
2018: Mike White (Softball)
2019: Bruce Berque (Men's Tennis)
2020: Vic Schaefer (Women's Basketball)
2020: Steve Sarkisian (Football)
2021: Chris Beard (Men's Basketball)
2023: Rodney Terry (Men's Basketball)
2023: Stein Metzger (Beach Volleyball)
2024: Bob Bowman (Men's swimming and diving)
2024: Jim Schlossnagel (Baseball)
2024: Laura Ianello (Women's Golf)
2025: Sean Miller (Men's Basketball)
(Bolded names have either won a national title at Texas, have their teams ranked in the top 5 nationally last season or won a national title within the last decade at another university.
Holy moly! When CDC hasn't been trying to fix the men's basketball program (let's just not re-litigate that one today), he's basically been the Daniel Day-Lewis of college athletic directors ... he mostly always knocks it out of the park and when there's a miss, there's almost always some nuance behind it. For instance, he shouldn't have needed to make three men's basketball hires ...
His first three hires have all won nattys at Texas. His next two hires (yes, there's a conversation to be had about how much credit he deserves for Sarkisian) are knocking on the door of a natty. His last four non-men's basketball hires have won a national title at Texas, had Texas ranked No. 1 this season or are in the first couple of seasons in Austin after winning titles elsewhere.
It's pretty freaking stunning.
CDC is the best athletic director in the history of Texas Athletics and at this point you really have to treat him as the most valuable commodity on the 40 Acres. He's led Texas Athletics to the best stretch of combined success that any Orangebloods has ever known.
Don't take this for granted. Marinate in it. Soak yourself in it.
There will be a day when the dominance comes to an end, as all great empires eventually die, but it doesn't seem like the decline is in the near future, not with so many of these programs at the top or near the top of the summits.
More titles are there to be won. It's CDC's world and we're all just happily living in it.
Well, everyone but those that live in College Station or the state of Oklahoma or in UT's new conference ... the big bad SEC.
Those folks are just going to have to learn to live with it.
No. 2 – Ryan Wingo ... the X-Factor
I spent time this weekend thinking about the emergence of sophomore wide receiver Ryan Wingo, who is either expected to emerge as a superstar this season at wide receiver for Arch Manning or something that lives in a neighboring zip code.
Is it too much to ask for a guy that hasn't yet carried a passing game with his ability? What are the realistic statistical goals for him in year two, with 238 receptions for 3,172 yards and 30 touchdowns worth of production needing to be replaced and upgraded from last season's passing offense?
As I reported back in February, while Wingo didn't break 50 yards receiving or score a touchdown after the month of September in 2024, he still finished with the sixth most receiving yards of any Texas freshman receiver in the history of the program. Only Xavier Worthy (981), Roy Williams (809), BJ Johnson (698), Jaxon Shipley (607) and Mike Davis (478) ever had more.
I found myself wondering what those six players that performed better than Wingo as freshmen ended up doing as sophomores. Let's take a look.
* Mike Davis: From 47 catches for 478 yards and 2 TD in 2010 to 45 receptions for 609 yards and 1 TD in 2011.
* BJ Johnson: From 41 catches for 698 yards and 3 TD in 2001 to 41 receptions for 539 yards and 4 TD in 2002.
* Jaxon Shipley: From 44 catches for 607 yards and 3 TD in 2011 to 59 receptions for 737 yards and 6 TD in 2012.
* Roy Williams: From 40 catches for 809 yards and 8 TD in 2001 to 67 receptions for 836 yards and 7 TD in 2002.
* Xavier Worthy: From 62 catches for 981 yards and 12 TD in 2021 to 60 receptions for 760 yards and 9 TD in 2022.
Honestly, there wasn't a damn thing to learn from the walk down those memory lanes, except that making a big jump from freshman to sophomore isn't the slam dunk that everyone might assume it to be, as only Shipley catching 15 more passes for 130 yards and 3 touchdowns from 2011 to 2012 made jumps in receptions, yards and touchdowns from one season to the next. Davis had fewer catches and touchdowns. Johnson had 159 fewer yards. Williams had fewer touchdowns and a much lower YPC. Worthy was down in every category, despite going from Hudson Card/Casey Thompson to Quinn Ewers.
Call it confirmation bias because I'm ignoring history and clinging to the notion that Wingo will improve across the board in every category from last season. There's simply too great of a need for him to produce in an offense begging for someone to emerge as Arch Manning's go-to guy. Put this in pencil ... not in ink ... but, I'm softly and carefully projecting him for 48 catches for 816 yards and 8 touchdowns in 12 regular season games. That's an average of 4 catches, 68 yards and 0.67 touchdowns per game.
If Texas plays in an SEC Championship and/or multiple playoff games, it would mean he'll become only the 10th receiver in school history to break 1,000 yards in a season. If I'm wrong in a bad way, what does it mean for the Texas football team? It feels rather ominous to think about in the moment.
Also, if I'm wrong, none of us can say that we weren't somewhat warned about the historical trends that existed.
No. 3 - A 2025 college football theory ...
Impossible is such a strong word that I want to say from the jump in this section that what I'm about to suggest isn't that.
More like improbable than impossible.
As we have had conversations all off-season about the transitioning taking place along the offensive line, there are a handful of critical points that all seem to exist at the same time, making them the opposite of mutually exclusive.
a. The Texas 2024 offensive line was the best collective group of offensive linemen that the Longhorns have produced since the 2006 team, which returned a big chunk of the 2005 national championship line and was able to replace All-American Jonathan Scott with another future All-American in Tony Hills. The clout of this group is reinforced with a semi-final run in the playoffs and the fact that it was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation's top offensive line. There were times this season against the likes of Michigan and Texas A&M on the road when this group seriously imposed its will on quality opponents.
b. Against the likes of Georgia and Ohio State, the Texas offensive line got treated like it was the pride of the worst Texas teams of the last decade, unable to control the line of scrimmage in any kind of way against opposing players on those teams that were significantly better than them. Thus, the Texas offense didn't score more than 16 points in the three games it played against the Dawgs and Buckeyes.
c. This year's Texas offensive line will largely rely on players in 2025 that weren't good enough to be full-time players in 2024 or even good enough to see much meaningful action at all in a couple of cases.
Now there's confidence behind the scenes that this unit will be fine. Hell, there's even some confidence that this group might be better than last year's group, which I find to be borderline insane, but the feelings do exist for some.
Ultimately, I'm not sure what to think other than I'm starting to wonder if it's practically almost impossible to build a dominant offensive line in college football that can be better than the best defensive lines that the sport has to offer.
There will be better defensive lines/fronts than the one Georgia brought to the table last January, but it included first-rounders Jalen Walker and Mykelle Williams, fifth-round picks Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins and Smael Mondon, sixth-round pick Warren Brinson and undrafted free agent Nazir Stackhouse. Same with the Ohio State defense that dominated Texas up front. The Buckeyes had a first-rounder in Tyleik Williams, a second-rounder in JT Tuimoloau, two fourth-rounders in Cody Simon and Jack Sawyer, and a fifth-rounder in Ty Hamilton.
Those were excellent, but not dominant groups that aren't on the level of some of the best units that Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State have produced over the course of continued excellence for the last decade-plus. Yet, those two excellent defensive lines dominated what was a ... uh ... historically good Texas offensive line, which featured one first-round draft pick and no one that will likely be drafted higher than mid to late day three.
I'm just not sure what the hell anyone in the sport is supposed to do. The only Joe Moore Award winners in the history of the award to win national championships are 2015 Alabama, 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama.
That 2015 Tide team had one seriously good player in Cam Robinson on its line, but it had Derrick Henry, Calvin Ridley and O.J. Howard among the skill players on offense, not to mention a hellacious defense.
The 2019 LSU line had four players drafted, but none before the third round. You know what it did have? Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Terrace Marshall Jr. and Clyde Edwards-Helaire at the skill positions.
Of course, the 2020 Alabama team was coached by Texas' Kyle Flood and featured two first-round tackles and a second rounder at center, but it also had Mac Jones, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, John Metchie and Najee Harris at the skill positions.
Maybe, just maybe, the offensive line that Texas fans pray can be built isn't actually a possibility. Maybe, just maybe, the trick is to have so much offensive talent around an offensive line that having a bunch of elite skill players matters infinitely more than the quality of the line. Maybe, just maybe, there's too much wasted conversation about the offensive line because if Texas had been better or even healthy at the skill positions in 2024, it would have won a national championship with an offensive line that no one seems to want to believe was good enough.
Discuss.
No. 4 – The missing Instant Analysis ...
What can I say? After working all day on Saturday and not getting much sleep on Friday night, I crashed a little early on Saturday night after leaving work at 9 p.m. to load up on a big day today.
The Longhorns picked up a commitment from DT (and staff favorite) Dylan Beryman after I decided it was safe to walk away for the night.
Oops.
Here's what it should have looked like...
Rankings: Here's the industry breakdown...
Rivals: (5.9) Mid 4-star, No.172 nationally, No. 8 in Louisiana
On3: (88) High 3-stars, NR nationally, No. 15 in Louisiana
On3 Industry Ranking: (91.61) Low 4 stars, No. 172 nationally, No.8 in Louisiana
247: (93) Low 4-stars, No.95 nationally, No. 4 in Louisiana
ESPN: (81) Low 4-star, No.173 nationally, No. 7 in Louisiana
Notable offers: Purdue (5/9 OV), LSU, Miami, Ole Miss, Mississippi State (OV 5/29), Missouri, Oregon, Texas A&M and USC
Evaluation: The 6-2, 294-pound Beryman is a pretty easy evaluation. He's not the biggest guy or the most athletic guy, but he is big, athletic and plays like a bull in a china closet as a high school player. He's got good suddenness off the snap and does a good job of creating separation with his hands. When he gets moving north/south, he's not the most explosive and athletic big man you'll set your eyes on, but his nose for the ball gets him in really good playmaking situations. Plays with real physicality, even if he needs to continue to gain power in his core and upper body. Looks like a future one-tech in time. He's not a player that projects as an early impact player, but you can see him being a key contributor in a few seasons towards the back end of the decade.
Why it matters: The Longhorns are finally in a position where the coaching staff doesn't have to feel desperate in rebuilding the position because while the program will lose the likes of Cole Brevard and Travis Shaw following the 2025 season, it will return the likes of Hero Kanu, Lavon Johnson, Maarad Watson, Alex January and Justus Terry in 2026. Therefore, the staff can feel good about taking a player in Berymon, who will need a few seasons of development before an impact can reasonably be expected. That's ok.
Expectations: The near best-case probably has Berymon redshirting in 2026, receiving around 100-200 snaps as a redshirt freshman in 2027 and emerging as a candidate to be a multi-year level starter in 2028. He'll need to be patient, but if he is and can stay healthy, the makings of a really good college player are there.
No. 5 – Updated Texas Scholarship Board ...
The first update since the Longhorns moved to a full 85-man scholarship roster with the late addition of kicker Gehrig Heil and 2 fresh 2026 commitments from the weekend.
No. 6 - A special shout out ...
I don't even know what to say about Texas star third baseman Mia Scott after watching her performance in Oklahoma City the last few weeks other than to say she might be the most gangsta athlete in school history.
I'm not saying she's the best because Texas is a school that has produced some monster athletes (I see you Julien Alfred, among others). I'm not saying she's the most dominant ... or the most clutch.
Just the most gangsta.
Playing in her last games as a Texas Softball legend, Scott has been playing down the stretch this season with a torn ACL. Yes, a torn freaking ACL. She wasn't going to let a thing like playing on one good ACL keep her from dominating on the biggest stage of her life in the final college competition of her life.
Of course, she did this on Friday night to all but clinch the school's first national title in softball, if it hadn't already been clinched.
What's left to say?
In the three-game series that will define her entire college career, she went 5-for-8 with a pair of home runs, 5 RBI and she scored 4 runs. Oh, and she handled the hot corner like she was Mike Schmidt in his prime.
Yes, she is, Pat. Yes, she is.
No. 7 - Scattershoooting on the champs ...
... He needed the national championship to rightfully cement himself as an elite of the elite master of his craft, but now that he has a natty .... man, let's give Mike White his flowers. He's built a team that has emerged as a legit threat to Oklahoma for the sport's top perch after three WCWS championship appearances and six Super Regional appearances in all six of his seasons in Austin. His product on the field has continued to evolve over the last half-decade, but the thing that stands out about the last month is that his team really turned the afterburners on at the exact moment when it looked like they were running out of steam. There was a stretch from 4/12 through 4/27 when the Longhorns went 3-6 in nine games against Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. That was followed less than two weeks later by a 14-2 mauling at the hands of Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament. And then it scraped by against Clemson in the Super Regionals by the hair on White's chinny chin chin. And then it did the damn thing in Oklahoma City, cutting through Florida, Oklahoma and twice through Nija Canady. White deserves all the flowers. Big boy program stuff.
... Attaboy, Chris Del Conte. His hire of White changed the direction of a program that has been lost in the forest for a long time. The streets remember.
... When Connie Clark took over as coach of the program in 1997 in its inception, I was a third-year UT student, whose 18-year-old girlfriend tried out for team in its first year as a program. Julie was one of the last cuts Clark made to the team that year and one of the things I remembered most about the disappointment that existed for Julie was the compassion and true consideration Clark had for an out-of-state student who had just barely missed her dream of playing college softball. Years later when I would occasionally pass Clark, she always seemed to treat me as if I was someone she still remembered from that moment (we had exchanged messages the summer before tryouts). Anyway, I bring this up to say I have a little bit of a special relationship with the program because I've been able to watch it grow up from a program that was a club team to one that is now a national champion. I've watched everything and everyone ... from Connie to Mike White and from Christa Williams to Cat Osterman to Blair Luna to Taylor Thom to Janae Jeffferson to Mia Scott and Teagan Kavan. Watching them finally get over the hump was incredibly satisfying. I hope Clark was somewhere where she was able to enjoy the moment.
... Texas committed eight errors in three championship series games and it didn't matter. YOLO!!
... Watch out Cat Osterman, Teagan Kavan is coming for your legacy! Just kidding. Kind of.
... Kavan in the WCWS: 31 2/3 IP and zero earned runs. That's against the best the sport has to offer other than having to play against her own team. In 14 1/3 innings pitched against Clemson in the Super Regional, she allowed 7 earned runs. Marinate on that a little.
... ICYMI ... the moment.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) The second is always easier than the first.
(Sell) All bets are off after Bell IMO.
(Sell) I might be one of the few that doesn't have Brooks in his top 10.
(Buy) That is not a high bar.
(Buy) D.J. Campbell, Ethan Burke, Cole Brevard, Trey Moore, Jaylon Guilbeau, Michael Taaffe and Anthony Hill make seven. Someone else from the junior class will play well enough to justify leaving for the draft.
(Sell) Put some respect on Richard's name (you did, I know). I don't know that Taaffe wanted any piece of that 1990 Miami team, either.
(Buy) No one is better going into 2025 IMO, but you're not wrong.
(Sell) I did that list 9 month ago.
(Buy) Absolutely.
(Sell) Did you mean to send that to the publisher of Aggieyell.com?
(Sell) I think it has to do with the fact that Kavian Bryant is the kind of guy you don't sit around waiting to offer.
(Buy) Rings matter. That comes from someone who loves Cat Osterman.
(Sell) A win in Athens would mean more, partially because it would happen later in the season. I don't hate the Buckeyes enough to ignore the conference/post-season implications. But, it's close.
(Buy) I love the way women's teams support each other. I wish I had as much positivity. Watch a volleyball team the next time someone makes an error because everyone will clap for their teammate in an effort to lift them up.
(Buy) Didn't even have to think about it.
(Buy) As in the words of the great Andy Bernard ...
(Sell) Maybe, but I'm not going to say that just yet.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... There's a part of me that thinks that the 2025 NBA Finals will end up reminding us of the 2001 NBA Finals. Yes, we had the game one steal on the road with a great shot late made by a great player (Tyrese Haliburton), but it feels like the next four games could all be OKC wins.
... 2025 NHL Finals >>> 2025 NBA Finals? Maybe, just maybe.
... Way to go, Coco Gauff! An American did the damn thing in Paris.
... Rest in peace, Tom Rafferty ... the first Cowboys center of my lifetime that I was aware of and a fan of.
... Genuinely ... WTF?
... I just can't right now with the US Men's National Team. This group just can't be inspiring ... at all.
... That was some kind of French Open men's Final. Consider me all-in on future Alcaraz/Sinner finals. Major props to Alcaraz.
... And then there was Arkansas and maybe Arkansas... the last SEC teams left standing in college baseball. It feels like Texas has missed a real opportunity to win a championship with only Top 8 seeds remaining (if Oregon State beats FSU) in the Tournament.
... Come on, Liverpool Get this Florian Wirtz deal done. Sell a kidney if you need to.
... Attaboy, Austin FC. I'm not sure I saw that 2-0 road performance win at Colorado coming, but it was a nice thing to see on Saturday.
... Nuno Mendes for Ballon d'or? I mean if we're going to live in the moment and ignore the greatest season of scoring output in the history of the Premier League... why not?
... How have I not seen the new Mission: Impossible yet?
... I've never watched an episode of Love Island ... am I missing out?
No. 10 - The List: Top 10 Cop Movies ...
Pretty randomly, I found myself watching Beverly Hills Cop this weekend.
Actually, truth be told, I found myself watching my favorite YouTube reaction videos of people watching Beverly Hills Cop this weekend.
Honestly, it's a pretty perfect film. It's Eddie Murphy at his absolute all-time peak. The supporting cast is beyond the scope of incredible. It's easy to focus on Judge Reinhold (Billy) and John Aston (Taggart), but Paul Reiser, Bronson Pinchot, Gilbert Hill, Jonathan Banks and Damon Wayans all play the role of Dion Waiters (IYKYK) in supporting roles. It's maybe the most Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer of all the Simpson/Bruckheimer collabs if it weren't for the original Top Gun.
It got me to thinking about the best cop movies of all-time. As much as I love Cop I (and Cop II for that matter), it can't truly make a Top 10 list of the best cop movies of all-time, can it? Because now the likes of The French Connection and Chinatown have entered the chat.
Therefore, I have decided to make two different Top 10 lists this week ... Top 10 Cop movies and Top 10 comedy Cop movies.
A couple of rules ...
a. In order for a movie to be considered a "cop movie" for the purposes of this discussion, a movie's central character has to be a cop. For instance, The Fugitive doesn't qualify as a cop movie because it's a movie about Dr. Richard Kimble, which merely involves the FBI and police as key supporting characters. I would argue that Heat isn't a cop movie, but instead it's a heist movie with Al Pacino starring in a key supporting role. Same with Reservoir Dogs. There's a fine line between some of these, but I will attempt to stand on the table for all of my decisions, while acknowledging that there is going to be some gray area.
b. Some action movies have great comedic moments, but weren't really considered the Top 10 comedy cop movies (See Die Hard).
Let's get to it...
Top 10 Cop Comedy Movies
Honorable Mention: The Heat, Running Scared, The Last Boy Scout, Rush Hour and Police Academy
10. The Nice Guys
9. 21 Jump Street
8. The Other Guys
7. Lethal Weapon II
6. Beverly Hills Cop II
5. Bad Boys
4. Super Troopers
3. 48 Hours
2. Lethal Weapon
1. Beverly Hills Cop
Top 10 All-Time Cop Movies
Honorable Mention: L.A. Confidential, Inside Man, Speed, Training Day, The Maltese Falcon, Mystic River and Serpico
10. Se7en
9. In The Heat of the Night
8. Fargo
7. Dirty Harry
6. The Departed
5. Chinatown
4. The Silence of the Lambs
3. No Country For Old Men
2. The French Connection
1. Die Hard
It’d be higher on my list, and make the top 10… and I might even put that in the Comedy category, because I find myself laughing a lot in the movie.
And if you’re including Maltese as a cop movie…Claude Rains played a French cop in a movie a little bit later with essentially the same cast. That qualify as a cop movie!?!?
Although… Heat appears to be conspicuously missing. Or was it cut due to some definition and fine print in your criteria?
Edit: Rear Window should also be on your list. Top 10.
Edit #2: went back and read your rules. As you actually mentioned Heat… I apologize.
However, I don’t understand how Maltese qualifies? Who is the cop in that movie? Or is “private eye” close enough for horseshoes?
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Not an old so I started watching movies in the 80s. Chinatown is my favorite movie before my time. I watch it anytime it’s on. Great move!
As a resident tennis pumper, that was an all-timer. Just an amazing match and one I hope is just the beginning of those two meeting in the finals in the years to come. The excellence of their contrasting styles has some of that Pete and Andre mojo. I’ll have more of that!
pre 80's need not apply...
- No Country for Old Men
- Se7en
- Heat
- The Departed
- Silence of the Lambs
- Reservoir Dogs
- Blade Runner
- Wind River
- Training Day
- End of Watch
.
Not sure I'd call cat a power pitcher. Her thing was more movement. Which kinda makes her k total more impressive.
#10 - Fun lists! Ever seen the properly cut version of The Big Sleep? Chinatown before Chinatown. And I think you need to break out Private Detective Noir Movies from Cop Movies to do it right.
Folks, these are the best of times.
In the aftermath of Texas winning its first national championship in softball, Chris Del Conte's baby ... the Texas athletic department ... is on the verge of winning its fourth Director's Cup trophy in the last five seasons after having never finished higher than second in its history (three times between 2001-02 through 2004-05.).
Let's just take stock of what's happening right now under CDC's watch:
* Texas Football is the only CFB program in the country to play in the semifinals of the last two years of the playoffs and is a possible pre-season No. 1.
* Texas Women's Basketball just completed a 35-4 season and earned a Final Four bid for the first time in 22 years.
* Texas Baseball, in year one under Jim Schlossnagle, spent parts of this season ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, despite an unsatisfying conclusion to the season.
* Texas Volleyball has won two of the last three national championships.
* Texas Men's Swimming won the program's 16th NCAA title a few months ago under first-year head coach Bob Bowman.
* Texas Women's swimming won the SEC championship in year one, has won 13 consecutive conference titles and has enjoyed a top-3 finish in the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1992-1995.
* Texas Men's Tennis was the national runner-up in 2024, a national semi-finalist in 2025 and won a national championship in 2019.
* Texas Women's Tennis only finished 13th nationally this season, but has won a national championship as recently as 2022.
* Texas Men's Track won an indoor national championship in 2022, while Texas Women's Track won the outdoor national championship in 2023.
* Texas Men's Golf lost in the NCAA quarterfinals this year, but won a national title three years ago and has finished No. 1 or No. 2 in three of the last seven seasons.
* Texas Rowing has won three national titles under Dave O'Neil and has finished no lower than third nationally in six of the last seven seasons.
Now the softball program has joined the party with its first national title. Only women's golf (2025 NCAA quarterfinals), men's basketball (mostly irrelevant for the last decade-plus), women's soccer (2024 SEC champions) and women's beach volleyball (NCAA quarterfinals in its first year as a program) are failing to compete as true national championship-level contending programs at the moment and there's nuance with each of those four programs outside of men's basketball, which happens to be in year one under Sean Miller.
(courtesy of @Direct_Cupdates)
Ladies and gentlemen, take a moment to stop and smell the roses. Break out that incredibly valuable bottle of wine that you've been saving. Pass the blunts made of the good stuff!
This is what the best of times looks like.
We're living in them right now.
There's not enough credit in the world right now that can be given to Del Conte, who is known as a master fundraiser and front-man for the program, but deserves an immense amount of credit for his hires since taking over as athletic director on December 9, 2017.
Check out all of his hires:
2018: Edrick Floreal (Track)
2018: Mike White (Softball)
2019: Bruce Berque (Men's Tennis)
2020: Vic Schaefer (Women's Basketball)
2020: Steve Sarkisian (Football)
2021: Chris Beard (Men's Basketball)
2023: Rodney Terry (Men's Basketball)
2023: Stein Metzger (Beach Volleyball)
2024: Bob Bowman (Men's swimming and diving)
2024: Jim Schlossnagel (Baseball)
2024: Laura Ianello (Women's Golf)
2025: Sean Miller (Men's Basketball)
(Bolded names have either won a national title at Texas, have their teams ranked in the top 5 nationally last season or won a national title within the last decade at another university.
Holy moly! When CDC hasn't been trying to fix the men's basketball program (let's just not re-litigate that one today), he's basically been the Daniel Day-Lewis of college athletic directors ... he mostly always knocks it out of the park and when there's a miss, there's almost always some nuance behind it. For instance, he shouldn't have needed to make three men's basketball hires ...
His first three hires have all won nattys at Texas. His next two hires (yes, there's a conversation to be had about how much credit he deserves for Sarkisian) are knocking on the door of a natty. His last four non-men's basketball hires have won a national title at Texas, had Texas ranked No. 1 this season or are in the first couple of seasons in Austin after winning titles elsewhere.
It's pretty freaking stunning.
CDC is the best athletic director in the history of Texas Athletics and at this point you really have to treat him as the most valuable commodity on the 40 Acres. He's led Texas Athletics to the best stretch of combined success that any Orangebloods has ever known.
Don't take this for granted. Marinate in it. Soak yourself in it.
There will be a day when the dominance comes to an end, as all great empires eventually die, but it doesn't seem like the decline is in the near future, not with so many of these programs at the top or near the top of the summits.
More titles are there to be won. It's CDC's world and we're all just happily living in it.
Well, everyone but those that live in College Station or the state of Oklahoma or in UT's new conference ... the big bad SEC.
Those folks are just going to have to learn to live with it.
No. 2 – Ryan Wingo ... the X-Factor
I spent time this weekend thinking about the emergence of sophomore wide receiver Ryan Wingo, who is either expected to emerge as a superstar this season at wide receiver for Arch Manning or something that lives in a neighboring zip code.
Is it too much to ask for a guy that hasn't yet carried a passing game with his ability? What are the realistic statistical goals for him in year two, with 238 receptions for 3,172 yards and 30 touchdowns worth of production needing to be replaced and upgraded from last season's passing offense?
As I reported back in February, while Wingo didn't break 50 yards receiving or score a touchdown after the month of September in 2024, he still finished with the sixth most receiving yards of any Texas freshman receiver in the history of the program. Only Xavier Worthy (981), Roy Williams (809), BJ Johnson (698), Jaxon Shipley (607) and Mike Davis (478) ever had more.
I found myself wondering what those six players that performed better than Wingo as freshmen ended up doing as sophomores. Let's take a look.
* Mike Davis: From 47 catches for 478 yards and 2 TD in 2010 to 45 receptions for 609 yards and 1 TD in 2011.
* BJ Johnson: From 41 catches for 698 yards and 3 TD in 2001 to 41 receptions for 539 yards and 4 TD in 2002.
* Jaxon Shipley: From 44 catches for 607 yards and 3 TD in 2011 to 59 receptions for 737 yards and 6 TD in 2012.
* Roy Williams: From 40 catches for 809 yards and 8 TD in 2001 to 67 receptions for 836 yards and 7 TD in 2002.
* Xavier Worthy: From 62 catches for 981 yards and 12 TD in 2021 to 60 receptions for 760 yards and 9 TD in 2022.
Honestly, there wasn't a damn thing to learn from the walk down those memory lanes, except that making a big jump from freshman to sophomore isn't the slam dunk that everyone might assume it to be, as only Shipley catching 15 more passes for 130 yards and 3 touchdowns from 2011 to 2012 made jumps in receptions, yards and touchdowns from one season to the next. Davis had fewer catches and touchdowns. Johnson had 159 fewer yards. Williams had fewer touchdowns and a much lower YPC. Worthy was down in every category, despite going from Hudson Card/Casey Thompson to Quinn Ewers.
Call it confirmation bias because I'm ignoring history and clinging to the notion that Wingo will improve across the board in every category from last season. There's simply too great of a need for him to produce in an offense begging for someone to emerge as Arch Manning's go-to guy. Put this in pencil ... not in ink ... but, I'm softly and carefully projecting him for 48 catches for 816 yards and 8 touchdowns in 12 regular season games. That's an average of 4 catches, 68 yards and 0.67 touchdowns per game.
If Texas plays in an SEC Championship and/or multiple playoff games, it would mean he'll become only the 10th receiver in school history to break 1,000 yards in a season. If I'm wrong in a bad way, what does it mean for the Texas football team? It feels rather ominous to think about in the moment.
Also, if I'm wrong, none of us can say that we weren't somewhat warned about the historical trends that existed.
No. 3 - A 2025 college football theory ...
Impossible is such a strong word that I want to say from the jump in this section that what I'm about to suggest isn't that.
More like improbable than impossible.
As we have had conversations all off-season about the transitioning taking place along the offensive line, there are a handful of critical points that all seem to exist at the same time, making them the opposite of mutually exclusive.
a. The Texas 2024 offensive line was the best collective group of offensive linemen that the Longhorns have produced since the 2006 team, which returned a big chunk of the 2005 national championship line and was able to replace All-American Jonathan Scott with another future All-American in Tony Hills. The clout of this group is reinforced with a semi-final run in the playoffs and the fact that it was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation's top offensive line. There were times this season against the likes of Michigan and Texas A&M on the road when this group seriously imposed its will on quality opponents.
b. Against the likes of Georgia and Ohio State, the Texas offensive line got treated like it was the pride of the worst Texas teams of the last decade, unable to control the line of scrimmage in any kind of way against opposing players on those teams that were significantly better than them. Thus, the Texas offense didn't score more than 16 points in the three games it played against the Dawgs and Buckeyes.
c. This year's Texas offensive line will largely rely on players in 2025 that weren't good enough to be full-time players in 2024 or even good enough to see much meaningful action at all in a couple of cases.
Now there's confidence behind the scenes that this unit will be fine. Hell, there's even some confidence that this group might be better than last year's group, which I find to be borderline insane, but the feelings do exist for some.
Ultimately, I'm not sure what to think other than I'm starting to wonder if it's practically almost impossible to build a dominant offensive line in college football that can be better than the best defensive lines that the sport has to offer.
There will be better defensive lines/fronts than the one Georgia brought to the table last January, but it included first-rounders Jalen Walker and Mykelle Williams, fifth-round picks Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins and Smael Mondon, sixth-round pick Warren Brinson and undrafted free agent Nazir Stackhouse. Same with the Ohio State defense that dominated Texas up front. The Buckeyes had a first-rounder in Tyleik Williams, a second-rounder in JT Tuimoloau, two fourth-rounders in Cody Simon and Jack Sawyer, and a fifth-rounder in Ty Hamilton.
Those were excellent, but not dominant groups that aren't on the level of some of the best units that Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State have produced over the course of continued excellence for the last decade-plus. Yet, those two excellent defensive lines dominated what was a ... uh ... historically good Texas offensive line, which featured one first-round draft pick and no one that will likely be drafted higher than mid to late day three.
I'm just not sure what the hell anyone in the sport is supposed to do. The only Joe Moore Award winners in the history of the award to win national championships are 2015 Alabama, 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama.
That 2015 Tide team had one seriously good player in Cam Robinson on its line, but it had Derrick Henry, Calvin Ridley and O.J. Howard among the skill players on offense, not to mention a hellacious defense.
The 2019 LSU line had four players drafted, but none before the third round. You know what it did have? Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Terrace Marshall Jr. and Clyde Edwards-Helaire at the skill positions.
Of course, the 2020 Alabama team was coached by Texas' Kyle Flood and featured two first-round tackles and a second rounder at center, but it also had Mac Jones, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, John Metchie and Najee Harris at the skill positions.
Maybe, just maybe, the offensive line that Texas fans pray can be built isn't actually a possibility. Maybe, just maybe, the trick is to have so much offensive talent around an offensive line that having a bunch of elite skill players matters infinitely more than the quality of the line. Maybe, just maybe, there's too much wasted conversation about the offensive line because if Texas had been better or even healthy at the skill positions in 2024, it would have won a national championship with an offensive line that no one seems to want to believe was good enough.
Discuss.
No. 4 – The missing Instant Analysis ...
What can I say? After working all day on Saturday and not getting much sleep on Friday night, I crashed a little early on Saturday night after leaving work at 9 p.m. to load up on a big day today.
The Longhorns picked up a commitment from DT (and staff favorite) Dylan Beryman after I decided it was safe to walk away for the night.
Oops.
Here's what it should have looked like...
Rankings: Here's the industry breakdown...
Rivals: (5.9) Mid 4-star, No.172 nationally, No. 8 in Louisiana
On3: (88) High 3-stars, NR nationally, No. 15 in Louisiana
On3 Industry Ranking: (91.61) Low 4 stars, No. 172 nationally, No.8 in Louisiana
247: (93) Low 4-stars, No.95 nationally, No. 4 in Louisiana
ESPN: (81) Low 4-star, No.173 nationally, No. 7 in Louisiana
Notable offers: Purdue (5/9 OV), LSU, Miami, Ole Miss, Mississippi State (OV 5/29), Missouri, Oregon, Texas A&M and USC
Evaluation: The 6-2, 294-pound Beryman is a pretty easy evaluation. He's not the biggest guy or the most athletic guy, but he is big, athletic and plays like a bull in a china closet as a high school player. He's got good suddenness off the snap and does a good job of creating separation with his hands. When he gets moving north/south, he's not the most explosive and athletic big man you'll set your eyes on, but his nose for the ball gets him in really good playmaking situations. Plays with real physicality, even if he needs to continue to gain power in his core and upper body. Looks like a future one-tech in time. He's not a player that projects as an early impact player, but you can see him being a key contributor in a few seasons towards the back end of the decade.
Why it matters: The Longhorns are finally in a position where the coaching staff doesn't have to feel desperate in rebuilding the position because while the program will lose the likes of Cole Brevard and Travis Shaw following the 2025 season, it will return the likes of Hero Kanu, Lavon Johnson, Maarad Watson, Alex January and Justus Terry in 2026. Therefore, the staff can feel good about taking a player in Berymon, who will need a few seasons of development before an impact can reasonably be expected. That's ok.
Expectations: The near best-case probably has Berymon redshirting in 2026, receiving around 100-200 snaps as a redshirt freshman in 2027 and emerging as a candidate to be a multi-year level starter in 2028. He'll need to be patient, but if he is and can stay healthy, the makings of a really good college player are there.
No. 5 – Updated Texas Scholarship Board ...
The first update since the Longhorns moved to a full 85-man scholarship roster with the late addition of kicker Gehrig Heil and 2 fresh 2026 commitments from the weekend.
No. 6 - A special shout out ...
I don't even know what to say about Texas star third baseman Mia Scott after watching her performance in Oklahoma City the last few weeks other than to say she might be the most gangsta athlete in school history.
I'm not saying she's the best because Texas is a school that has produced some monster athletes (I see you Julien Alfred, among others). I'm not saying she's the most dominant ... or the most clutch.
Just the most gangsta.
Playing in her last games as a Texas Softball legend, Scott has been playing down the stretch this season with a torn ACL. Yes, a torn freaking ACL. She wasn't going to let a thing like playing on one good ACL keep her from dominating on the biggest stage of her life in the final college competition of her life.
Of course, she did this on Friday night to all but clinch the school's first national title in softball, if it hadn't already been clinched.
What's left to say?
In the three-game series that will define her entire college career, she went 5-for-8 with a pair of home runs, 5 RBI and she scored 4 runs. Oh, and she handled the hot corner like she was Mike Schmidt in his prime.
Yes, she is, Pat. Yes, she is.
No. 7 - Scattershoooting on the champs ...
... He needed the national championship to rightfully cement himself as an elite of the elite master of his craft, but now that he has a natty .... man, let's give Mike White his flowers. He's built a team that has emerged as a legit threat to Oklahoma for the sport's top perch after three WCWS championship appearances and six Super Regional appearances in all six of his seasons in Austin. His product on the field has continued to evolve over the last half-decade, but the thing that stands out about the last month is that his team really turned the afterburners on at the exact moment when it looked like they were running out of steam. There was a stretch from 4/12 through 4/27 when the Longhorns went 3-6 in nine games against Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. That was followed less than two weeks later by a 14-2 mauling at the hands of Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament. And then it scraped by against Clemson in the Super Regionals by the hair on White's chinny chin chin. And then it did the damn thing in Oklahoma City, cutting through Florida, Oklahoma and twice through Nija Canady. White deserves all the flowers. Big boy program stuff.
... Attaboy, Chris Del Conte. His hire of White changed the direction of a program that has been lost in the forest for a long time. The streets remember.
... When Connie Clark took over as coach of the program in 1997 in its inception, I was a third-year UT student, whose 18-year-old girlfriend tried out for team in its first year as a program. Julie was one of the last cuts Clark made to the team that year and one of the things I remembered most about the disappointment that existed for Julie was the compassion and true consideration Clark had for an out-of-state student who had just barely missed her dream of playing college softball. Years later when I would occasionally pass Clark, she always seemed to treat me as if I was someone she still remembered from that moment (we had exchanged messages the summer before tryouts). Anyway, I bring this up to say I have a little bit of a special relationship with the program because I've been able to watch it grow up from a program that was a club team to one that is now a national champion. I've watched everything and everyone ... from Connie to Mike White and from Christa Williams to Cat Osterman to Blair Luna to Taylor Thom to Janae Jeffferson to Mia Scott and Teagan Kavan. Watching them finally get over the hump was incredibly satisfying. I hope Clark was somewhere where she was able to enjoy the moment.
... Texas committed eight errors in three championship series games and it didn't matter. YOLO!!
... Watch out Cat Osterman, Teagan Kavan is coming for your legacy! Just kidding. Kind of.
... Kavan in the WCWS: 31 2/3 IP and zero earned runs. That's against the best the sport has to offer other than having to play against her own team. In 14 1/3 innings pitched against Clemson in the Super Regional, she allowed 7 earned runs. Marinate on that a little.
... ICYMI ... the moment.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) The second is always easier than the first.
(Sell) All bets are off after Bell IMO.
(Sell) I might be one of the few that doesn't have Brooks in his top 10.
(Buy) That is not a high bar.
(Buy) D.J. Campbell, Ethan Burke, Cole Brevard, Trey Moore, Jaylon Guilbeau, Michael Taaffe and Anthony Hill make seven. Someone else from the junior class will play well enough to justify leaving for the draft.
(Sell) Put some respect on Richard's name (you did, I know). I don't know that Taaffe wanted any piece of that 1990 Miami team, either.
(Buy) No one is better going into 2025 IMO, but you're not wrong.
(Sell) I did that list 9 month ago.
(Buy) Absolutely.
(Sell) Did you mean to send that to the publisher of Aggieyell.com?
(Sell) I think it has to do with the fact that Kavian Bryant is the kind of guy you don't sit around waiting to offer.
(Buy) Rings matter. That comes from someone who loves Cat Osterman.
(Sell) A win in Athens would mean more, partially because it would happen later in the season. I don't hate the Buckeyes enough to ignore the conference/post-season implications. But, it's close.
(Buy) I love the way women's teams support each other. I wish I had as much positivity. Watch a volleyball team the next time someone makes an error because everyone will clap for their teammate in an effort to lift them up.
(Buy) Didn't even have to think about it.
(Buy) As in the words of the great Andy Bernard ...
(Sell) Maybe, but I'm not going to say that just yet.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... There's a part of me that thinks that the 2025 NBA Finals will end up reminding us of the 2001 NBA Finals. Yes, we had the game one steal on the road with a great shot late made by a great player (Tyrese Haliburton), but it feels like the next four games could all be OKC wins.
... 2025 NHL Finals >>> 2025 NBA Finals? Maybe, just maybe.
... Way to go, Coco Gauff! An American did the damn thing in Paris.
... Rest in peace, Tom Rafferty ... the first Cowboys center of my lifetime that I was aware of and a fan of.
... Genuinely ... WTF?
... I just can't right now with the US Men's National Team. This group just can't be inspiring ... at all.
... That was some kind of French Open men's Final. Consider me all-in on future Alcaraz/Sinner finals. Major props to Alcaraz.
... And then there was Arkansas and maybe Arkansas... the last SEC teams left standing in college baseball. It feels like Texas has missed a real opportunity to win a championship with only Top 8 seeds remaining (if Oregon State beats FSU) in the Tournament.
... Come on, Liverpool Get this Florian Wirtz deal done. Sell a kidney if you need to.
... Attaboy, Austin FC. I'm not sure I saw that 2-0 road performance win at Colorado coming, but it was a nice thing to see on Saturday.
... Nuno Mendes for Ballon d'or? I mean if we're going to live in the moment and ignore the greatest season of scoring output in the history of the Premier League... why not?
... How have I not seen the new Mission: Impossible yet?
... I've never watched an episode of Love Island ... am I missing out?
No. 10 - The List: Top 10 Cop Movies ...
Pretty randomly, I found myself watching Beverly Hills Cop this weekend.
Actually, truth be told, I found myself watching my favorite YouTube reaction videos of people watching Beverly Hills Cop this weekend.
Honestly, it's a pretty perfect film. It's Eddie Murphy at his absolute all-time peak. The supporting cast is beyond the scope of incredible. It's easy to focus on Judge Reinhold (Billy) and John Aston (Taggart), but Paul Reiser, Bronson Pinchot, Gilbert Hill, Jonathan Banks and Damon Wayans all play the role of Dion Waiters (IYKYK) in supporting roles. It's maybe the most Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer of all the Simpson/Bruckheimer collabs if it weren't for the original Top Gun.
It got me to thinking about the best cop movies of all-time. As much as I love Cop I (and Cop II for that matter), it can't truly make a Top 10 list of the best cop movies of all-time, can it? Because now the likes of The French Connection and Chinatown have entered the chat.
Therefore, I have decided to make two different Top 10 lists this week ... Top 10 Cop movies and Top 10 comedy Cop movies.
A couple of rules ...
a. In order for a movie to be considered a "cop movie" for the purposes of this discussion, a movie's central character has to be a cop. For instance, The Fugitive doesn't qualify as a cop movie because it's a movie about Dr. Richard Kimble, which merely involves the FBI and police as key supporting characters. I would argue that Heat isn't a cop movie, but instead it's a heist movie with Al Pacino starring in a key supporting role. Same with Reservoir Dogs. There's a fine line between some of these, but I will attempt to stand on the table for all of my decisions, while acknowledging that there is going to be some gray area.
b. Some action movies have great comedic moments, but weren't really considered the Top 10 comedy cop movies (See Die Hard).
Let's get to it...
Top 10 Cop Comedy Movies
Honorable Mention: The Heat, Running Scared, The Last Boy Scout, Rush Hour and Police Academy
10. The Nice Guys
9. 21 Jump Street
8. The Other Guys
7. Lethal Weapon II
6. Beverly Hills Cop II
5. Bad Boys
4. Super Troopers
3. 48 Hours
2. Lethal Weapon
1. Beverly Hills Cop
Top 10 All-Time Cop Movies
Honorable Mention: L.A. Confidential, Inside Man, Speed, Training Day, The Maltese Falcon, Mystic River and Serpico
10. Se7en
9. In The Heat of the Night
8. Fargo
7. Dirty Harry
6. The Departed
5. Chinatown
4. The Silence of the Lambs
3. No Country For Old Men
2. The French Connection
1. Die Hard
#9 - That was easily in the top 10 in Grand Slam tennis finals. One cannot appreciate how hard and with what speed and spin they hit the ball with now unless you are there, not to mention how fast they are (and that they can do it for 5+ HOURS). Alcaraz would be an amazing linebacker or safety.
If the Pigs can catch a fly ball, it may be their year.
#1 and most importantly - CDC is great at his job, but if there’s no Eltife (and a super-supportive President of UT-Austin), CDC wouldn’t be able to get us to this place. And believe me, I was not a fan of the BoR Chair as a politician for good reason.
The Other Guys is a top 5 all time comedy. Comically underrated.
I would posit that Lethal Weapon 1 is not really comedic at all outside of a couple non-slapstick one-offs, and didnt't really turn comedic till Lethal Weapon 2. And even then LW 2 has some pretty dark parts, but bringing in Pesci balances that out I guess.
Also, no RoboCop anywhere???
Also, no RoboCop anywhere???
Now I've got the Styx song The Best of Times stuck in my head.
He does indeed. My only real problem with the list is this omission.
(Sell) I might be one of the few that doesn't have Brooks in his top 10.
I’d like to see a “top 10 true freshman I’m most excited to see on the field” list from you, @Ketchum
They do, but context also matters. Cat played on a team that was offensively inept every year. Kavan is great, especially in big moments, but her ERA is 2.20 for her career and Cat's was an incredible 0.56. In her first two seasons, Cat had 1046 strikeouts compared to Kavan's 365. Heck, Cat gave up fewer earned runs in her entire 4 year career (80) than Kavan has in 2 years (83). If Kavan were on the 2003, 2005, or 2006 teams, she would never have pitched in the WCWS.
Folks, these are the best of times.
In the aftermath of Texas winning its first national championship in softball, Chris Del Conte's baby ... the Texas athletic department ... is on the verge of winning its fourth Director's Cup trophy in the last five seasons after having never finished higher than second in its history (three times between 2001-02 through 2004-05.).
Let's just take stock of what's happening right now under CDC's watch:
* Texas Football is the only CFB program in the country to play in the semifinals of the last two years of the playoffs and is a possible pre-season No. 1.
* Texas Women's Basketball just completed a 35-4 season and earned a Final Four bid for the first time in 22 years.
* Texas Baseball, in year one under Jim Schlossnagle, spent parts of this season ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, despite an unsatisfying conclusion to the season.
* Texas Volleyball has won two of the last three national championships.
* Texas Men's Swimming won the program's 16th NCAA title a few months ago under first-year head coach Bob Bowman.
* Texas Women's swimming won the SEC championship in year one, has won 13 consecutive conference titles and has enjoyed a top-3 finish in the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1992-1995.
* Texas Men's Tennis was the national runner-up in 2024, a national semi-finalist in 2025 and won a national championship in 2019.
* Texas Women's Tennis only finished 13th nationally this season, but has won a national championship as recently as 2022.
* Texas Men's Track won an indoor national championship in 2022, while Texas Women's Track won the outdoor national championship in 2023.
* Texas Men's Golf lost in the NCAA quarterfinals this year, but won a national title three years ago and has finished No. 1 or No. 2 in three of the last seven seasons.
* Texas Rowing has won three national titles under Dave O'Neil and has finished no lower than third nationally in six of the last seven seasons.
Now the softball program has joined the party with its first national title. Only women's golf (2025 NCAA quarterfinals), men's basketball (mostly irrelevant for the last decade-plus), women's soccer (2024 SEC champions) and women's beach volleyball (NCAA quarterfinals in its first year as a program) are failing to compete as true national championship-level contending programs at the moment and there's nuance with each of those four programs outside of men's basketball, which happens to be in year one under Sean Miller.
(courtesy of @Direct_Cupdates)
Ladies and gentlemen, take a moment to stop and smell the roses. Break out that incredibly valuable bottle of wine that you've been saving. Pass the blunts made of the good stuff!
This is what the best of times looks like.
We're living in them right now.
There's not enough credit in the world right now that can be given to Del Conte, who is known as a master fundraiser and front-man for the program, but deserves an immense amount of credit for his hires since taking over as athletic director on December 9, 2017.
Check out all of his hires:
2018: Edrick Floreal (Track)
2018: Mike White (Softball)
2019: Bruce Berque (Men's Tennis)
2020: Vic Schaefer (Women's Basketball)
2020: Steve Sarkisian (Football)
2021: Chris Beard (Men's Basketball)
2023: Rodney Terry (Men's Basketball)
2023: Stein Metzger (Beach Volleyball)
2024: Bob Bowman (Men's swimming and diving)
2024: Jim Schlossnagel (Baseball)
2024: Laura Ianello (Women's Golf)
2025: Sean Miller (Men's Basketball)
(Bolded names have either won a national title at Texas, have their teams ranked in the top 5 nationally last season or won a national title within the last decade at another university.
Holy moly! When CDC hasn't been trying to fix the men's basketball program (let's just not re-litigate that one today), he's basically been the Daniel Day-Lewis of college athletic directors ... he mostly always knocks it out of the park and when there's a miss, there's almost always some nuance behind it. For instance, he shouldn't have needed to make three men's basketball hires ...
His first three hires have all won nattys at Texas. His next two hires (yes, there's a conversation to be had about how much credit he deserves for Sarkisian) are knocking on the door of a natty. His last four non-men's basketball hires have won a national title at Texas, had Texas ranked No. 1 this season or are in the first couple of seasons in Austin after winning titles elsewhere.
It's pretty freaking stunning.
CDC is the best athletic director in the history of Texas Athletics and at this point you really have to treat him as the most valuable commodity on the 40 Acres. He's led Texas Athletics to the best stretch of combined success that any Orangebloods has ever known.
Don't take this for granted. Marinate in it. Soak yourself in it.
There will be a day when the dominance comes to an end, as all great empires eventually die, but it doesn't seem like the decline is in the near future, not with so many of these programs at the top or near the top of the summits.
More titles are there to be won. It's CDC's world and we're all just happily living in it.
Well, everyone but those that live in College Station or the state of Oklahoma or in UT's new conference ... the big bad SEC.
Those folks are just going to have to learn to live with it.
No. 2 – Ryan Wingo ... the X-Factor
I spent time this weekend thinking about the emergence of sophomore wide receiver Ryan Wingo, who is either expected to emerge as a superstar this season at wide receiver for Arch Manning or something that lives in a neighboring zip code.
Is it too much to ask for a guy that hasn't yet carried a passing game with his ability? What are the realistic statistical goals for him in year two, with 238 receptions for 3,172 yards and 30 touchdowns worth of production needing to be replaced and upgraded from last season's passing offense?
As I reported back in February, while Wingo didn't break 50 yards receiving or score a touchdown after the month of September in 2024, he still finished with the sixth most receiving yards of any Texas freshman receiver in the history of the program. Only Xavier Worthy (981), Roy Williams (809), BJ Johnson (698), Jaxon Shipley (607) and Mike Davis (478) ever had more.
I found myself wondering what those six players that performed better than Wingo as freshmen ended up doing as sophomores. Let's take a look.
* Mike Davis: From 47 catches for 478 yards and 2 TD in 2010 to 45 receptions for 609 yards and 1 TD in 2011.
* BJ Johnson: From 41 catches for 698 yards and 3 TD in 2001 to 41 receptions for 539 yards and 4 TD in 2002.
* Jaxon Shipley: From 44 catches for 607 yards and 3 TD in 2011 to 59 receptions for 737 yards and 6 TD in 2012.
* Roy Williams: From 40 catches for 809 yards and 8 TD in 2001 to 67 receptions for 836 yards and 7 TD in 2002.
* Xavier Worthy: From 62 catches for 981 yards and 12 TD in 2021 to 60 receptions for 760 yards and 9 TD in 2022.
Honestly, there wasn't a damn thing to learn from the walk down those memory lanes, except that making a big jump from freshman to sophomore isn't the slam dunk that everyone might assume it to be, as only Shipley catching 15 more passes for 130 yards and 3 touchdowns from 2011 to 2012 made jumps in receptions, yards and touchdowns from one season to the next. Davis had fewer catches and touchdowns. Johnson had 159 fewer yards. Williams had fewer touchdowns and a much lower YPC. Worthy was down in every category, despite going from Hudson Card/Casey Thompson to Quinn Ewers.
Call it confirmation bias because I'm ignoring history and clinging to the notion that Wingo will improve across the board in every category from last season. There's simply too great of a need for him to produce in an offense begging for someone to emerge as Arch Manning's go-to guy. Put this in pencil ... not in ink ... but, I'm softly and carefully projecting him for 48 catches for 816 yards and 8 touchdowns in 12 regular season games. That's an average of 4 catches, 68 yards and 0.67 touchdowns per game.
If Texas plays in an SEC Championship and/or multiple playoff games, it would mean he'll become only the 10th receiver in school history to break 1,000 yards in a season. If I'm wrong in a bad way, what does it mean for the Texas football team? It feels rather ominous to think about in the moment.
Also, if I'm wrong, none of us can say that we weren't somewhat warned about the historical trends that existed.
No. 3 - A 2025 college football theory ...
Impossible is such a strong word that I want to say from the jump in this section that what I'm about to suggest isn't that.
More like improbable than impossible.
As we have had conversations all off-season about the transitioning taking place along the offensive line, there are a handful of critical points that all seem to exist at the same time, making them the opposite of mutually exclusive.
a. The Texas 2024 offensive line was the best collective group of offensive linemen that the Longhorns have produced since the 2006 team, which returned a big chunk of the 2005 national championship line and was able to replace All-American Jonathan Scott with another future All-American in Tony Hills. The clout of this group is reinforced with a semi-final run in the playoffs and the fact that it was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation's top offensive line. There were times this season against the likes of Michigan and Texas A&M on the road when this group seriously imposed its will on quality opponents.
b. Against the likes of Georgia and Ohio State, the Texas offensive line got treated like it was the pride of the worst Texas teams of the last decade, unable to control the line of scrimmage in any kind of way against opposing players on those teams that were significantly better than them. Thus, the Texas offense didn't score more than 16 points in the three games it played against the Dawgs and Buckeyes.
c. This year's Texas offensive line will largely rely on players in 2025 that weren't good enough to be full-time players in 2024 or even good enough to see much meaningful action at all in a couple of cases.
Now there's confidence behind the scenes that this unit will be fine. Hell, there's even some confidence that this group might be better than last year's group, which I find to be borderline insane, but the feelings do exist for some.
Ultimately, I'm not sure what to think other than I'm starting to wonder if it's practically almost impossible to build a dominant offensive line in college football that can be better than the best defensive lines that the sport has to offer.
There will be better defensive lines/fronts than the one Georgia brought to the table last January, but it included first-rounders Jalen Walker and Mykelle Williams, fifth-round picks Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins and Smael Mondon, sixth-round pick Warren Brinson and undrafted free agent Nazir Stackhouse. Same with the Ohio State defense that dominated Texas up front. The Buckeyes had a first-rounder in Tyleik Williams, a second-rounder in JT Tuimoloau, two fourth-rounders in Cody Simon and Jack Sawyer, and a fifth-rounder in Ty Hamilton.
Those were excellent, but not dominant groups that aren't on the level of some of the best units that Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State have produced over the course of continued excellence for the last decade-plus. Yet, those two excellent defensive lines dominated what was a ... uh ... historically good Texas offensive line, which featured one first-round draft pick and no one that will likely be drafted higher than mid to late day three.
I'm just not sure what the hell anyone in the sport is supposed to do. The only Joe Moore Award winners in the history of the award to win national championships are 2015 Alabama, 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama.
That 2015 Tide team had one seriously good player in Cam Robinson on its line, but it had Derrick Henry, Calvin Ridley and O.J. Howard among the skill players on offense, not to mention a hellacious defense.
The 2019 LSU line had four players drafted, but none before the third round. You know what it did have? Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Terrace Marshall Jr. and Clyde Edwards-Helaire at the skill positions.
Of course, the 2020 Alabama team was coached by Texas' Kyle Flood and featured two first-round tackles and a second rounder at center, but it also had Mac Jones, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, John Metchie and Najee Harris at the skill positions.
Maybe, just maybe, the offensive line that Texas fans pray can be built isn't actually a possibility. Maybe, just maybe, the trick is to have so much offensive talent around an offensive line that having a bunch of elite skill players matters infinitely more than the quality of the line. Maybe, just maybe, there's too much wasted conversation about the offensive line because if Texas had been better or even healthy at the skill positions in 2024, it would have won a national championship with an offensive line that no one seems to want to believe was good enough.
Discuss.
No. 4 – The missing Instant Analysis ...
What can I say? After working all day on Saturday and not getting much sleep on Friday night, I crashed a little early on Saturday night after leaving work at 9 p.m. to load up on a big day today.
The Longhorns picked up a commitment from DT (and staff favorite) Dylan Beryman after I decided it was safe to walk away for the night.
Oops.
Here's what it should have looked like...
Rankings: Here's the industry breakdown...
Rivals: (5.9) Mid 4-star, No.172 nationally, No. 8 in Louisiana
On3: (88) High 3-stars, NR nationally, No. 15 in Louisiana
On3 Industry Ranking: (91.61) Low 4 stars, No. 172 nationally, No.8 in Louisiana
247: (93) Low 4-stars, No.95 nationally, No. 4 in Louisiana
ESPN: (81) Low 4-star, No.173 nationally, No. 7 in Louisiana
Notable offers: Purdue (5/9 OV), LSU, Miami, Ole Miss, Mississippi State (OV 5/29), Missouri, Oregon, Texas A&M and USC
Evaluation: The 6-2, 294-pound Beryman is a pretty easy evaluation. He's not the biggest guy or the most athletic guy, but he is big, athletic and plays like a bull in a china closet as a high school player. He's got good suddenness off the snap and does a good job of creating separation with his hands. When he gets moving north/south, he's not the most explosive and athletic big man you'll set your eyes on, but his nose for the ball gets him in really good playmaking situations. Plays with real physicality, even if he needs to continue to gain power in his core and upper body. Looks like a future one-tech in time. He's not a player that projects as an early impact player, but you can see him being a key contributor in a few seasons towards the back end of the decade.
Why it matters: The Longhorns are finally in a position where the coaching staff doesn't have to feel desperate in rebuilding the position because while the program will lose the likes of Cole Brevard and Travis Shaw following the 2025 season, it will return the likes of Hero Kanu, Lavon Johnson, Maarad Watson, Alex January and Justus Terry in 2026. Therefore, the staff can feel good about taking a player in Berymon, who will need a few seasons of development before an impact can reasonably be expected. That's ok.
Expectations: The near best-case probably has Berymon redshirting in 2026, receiving around 100-200 snaps as a redshirt freshman in 2027 and emerging as a candidate to be a multi-year level starter in 2028. He'll need to be patient, but if he is and can stay healthy, the makings of a really good college player are there.
No. 5 – Updated Texas Scholarship Board ...
The first update since the Longhorns moved to a full 85-man scholarship roster with the late addition of kicker Gehrig Heil and 2 fresh 2026 commitments from the weekend.
No. 6 - A special shout out ...
I don't even know what to say about Texas star third baseman Mia Scott after watching her performance in Oklahoma City the last few weeks other than to say she might be the most gangsta athlete in school history.
I'm not saying she's the best because Texas is a school that has produced some monster athletes (I see you Julien Alfred, among others). I'm not saying she's the most dominant ... or the most clutch.
Just the most gangsta.
Playing in her last games as a Texas Softball legend, Scott has been playing down the stretch this season with a torn ACL. Yes, a torn freaking ACL. She wasn't going to let a thing like playing on one good ACL keep her from dominating on the biggest stage of her life in the final college competition of her life.
Of course, she did this on Friday night to all but clinch the school's first national title in softball, if it hadn't already been clinched.
What's left to say?
In the three-game series that will define her entire college career, she went 5-for-8 with a pair of home runs, 5 RBI and she scored 4 runs. Oh, and she handled the hot corner like she was Mike Schmidt in his prime.
Yes, she is, Pat. Yes, she is.
No. 7 - Scattershoooting on the champs ...
... He needed the national championship to rightfully cement himself as an elite of the elite master of his craft, but now that he has a natty .... man, let's give Mike White his flowers. He's built a team that has emerged as a legit threat to Oklahoma for the sport's top perch after three WCWS championship appearances and six Super Regional appearances in all six of his seasons in Austin. His product on the field has continued to evolve over the last half-decade, but the thing that stands out about the last month is that his team really turned the afterburners on at the exact moment when it looked like they were running out of steam. There was a stretch from 4/12 through 4/27 when the Longhorns went 3-6 in nine games against Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. That was followed less than two weeks later by a 14-2 mauling at the hands of Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament. And then it scraped by against Clemson in the Super Regionals by the hair on White's chinny chin chin. And then it did the damn thing in Oklahoma City, cutting through Florida, Oklahoma and twice through Nija Canady. White deserves all the flowers. Big boy program stuff.
... Attaboy, Chris Del Conte. His hire of White changed the direction of a program that has been lost in the forest for a long time. The streets remember.
... When Connie Clark took over as coach of the program in 1997 in its inception, I was a third-year UT student, whose 18-year-old girlfriend tried out for team in its first year as a program. Julie was one of the last cuts Clark made to the team that year and one of the things I remembered most about the disappointment that existed for Julie was the compassion and true consideration Clark had for an out-of-state student who had just barely missed her dream of playing college softball. Years later when I would occasionally pass Clark, she always seemed to treat me as if I was someone she still remembered from that moment (we had exchanged messages the summer before tryouts). Anyway, I bring this up to say I have a little bit of a special relationship with the program because I've been able to watch it grow up from a program that was a club team to one that is now a national champion. I've watched everything and everyone ... from Connie to Mike White and from Christa Williams to Cat Osterman to Blair Luna to Taylor Thom to Janae Jeffferson to Mia Scott and Teagan Kavan. Watching them finally get over the hump was incredibly satisfying. I hope Clark was somewhere where she was able to enjoy the moment.
... Texas committed eight errors in three championship series games and it didn't matter. YOLO!!
... Watch out Cat Osterman, Teagan Kavan is coming for your legacy! Just kidding. Kind of.
... Kavan in the WCWS: 31 2/3 IP and zero earned runs. That's against the best the sport has to offer other than having to play against her own team. In 14 1/3 innings pitched against Clemson in the Super Regional, she allowed 7 earned runs. Marinate on that a little.
... ICYMI ... the moment.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) The second is always easier than the first.
(Sell) All bets are off after Bell IMO.
(Sell) I might be one of the few that doesn't have Brooks in his top 10.
(Buy) That is not a high bar.
(Buy) D.J. Campbell, Ethan Burke, Cole Brevard, Trey Moore, Jaylon Guilbeau, Michael Taaffe and Anthony Hill make seven. Someone else from the junior class will play well enough to justify leaving for the draft.
(Sell) Put some respect on Richard's name (you did, I know). I don't know that Taaffe wanted any piece of that 1990 Miami team, either.
(Buy) No one is better going into 2025 IMO, but you're not wrong.
(Sell) I did that list 9 month ago.
(Buy) Absolutely.
(Sell) Did you mean to send that to the publisher of Aggieyell.com?
(Sell) I think it has to do with the fact that Kavian Bryant is the kind of guy you don't sit around waiting to offer.
(Buy) Rings matter. That comes from someone who loves Cat Osterman.
(Sell) A win in Athens would mean more, partially because it would happen later in the season. I don't hate the Buckeyes enough to ignore the conference/post-season implications. But, it's close.
(Buy) I love the way women's teams support each other. I wish I had as much positivity. Watch a volleyball team the next time someone makes an error because everyone will clap for their teammate in an effort to lift them up.
(Buy) Didn't even have to think about it.
(Buy) As in the words of the great Andy Bernard ...
(Sell) Maybe, but I'm not going to say that just yet.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... There's a part of me that thinks that the 2025 NBA Finals will end up reminding us of the 2001 NBA Finals. Yes, we had the game one steal on the road with a great shot late made by a great player (Tyrese Haliburton), but it feels like the next four games could all be OKC wins.
... 2025 NHL Finals >>> 2025 NBA Finals? Maybe, just maybe.
... Way to go, Coco Gauff! An American did the damn thing in Paris.
... Rest in peace, Tom Rafferty ... the first Cowboys center of my lifetime that I was aware of and a fan of.
... Genuinely ... WTF?
... I just can't right now with the US Men's National Team. This group just can't be inspiring ... at all.
... That was some kind of French Open men's Final. Consider me all-in on future Alcaraz/Sinner finals. Major props to Alcaraz.
... And then there was Arkansas and maybe Arkansas... the last SEC teams left standing in college baseball. It feels like Texas has missed a real opportunity to win a championship with only Top 8 seeds remaining (if Oregon State beats FSU) in the Tournament.
... Come on, Liverpool Get this Florian Wirtz deal done. Sell a kidney if you need to.
... Attaboy, Austin FC. I'm not sure I saw that 2-0 road performance win at Colorado coming, but it was a nice thing to see on Saturday.
... Nuno Mendes for Ballon d'or? I mean if we're going to live in the moment and ignore the greatest season of scoring output in the history of the Premier League... why not?
... How have I not seen the new Mission: Impossible yet?
... I've never watched an episode of Love Island ... am I missing out?
No. 10 - The List: Top 10 Cop Movies ...
Pretty randomly, I found myself watching Beverly Hills Cop this weekend.
Actually, truth be told, I found myself watching my favorite YouTube reaction videos of people watching Beverly Hills Cop this weekend.
Honestly, it's a pretty perfect film. It's Eddie Murphy at his absolute all-time peak. The supporting cast is beyond the scope of incredible. It's easy to focus on Judge Reinhold (Billy) and John Aston (Taggart), but Paul Reiser, Bronson Pinchot, Gilbert Hill, Jonathan Banks and Damon Wayans all play the role of Dion Waiters (IYKYK) in supporting roles. It's maybe the most Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer of all the Simpson/Bruckheimer collabs if it weren't for the original Top Gun.
It got me to thinking about the best cop movies of all-time. As much as I love Cop I (and Cop II for that matter), it can't truly make a Top 10 list of the best cop movies of all-time, can it? Because now the likes of The French Connection and Chinatown have entered the chat.
Therefore, I have decided to make two different Top 10 lists this week ... Top 10 Cop movies and Top 10 comedy Cop movies.
A couple of rules ...
a. In order for a movie to be considered a "cop movie" for the purposes of this discussion, a movie's central character has to be a cop. For instance, The Fugitive doesn't qualify as a cop movie because it's a movie about Dr. Richard Kimble, which merely involves the FBI and police as key supporting characters. I would argue that Heat isn't a cop movie, but instead it's a heist movie with Al Pacino starring in a key supporting role. Same with Reservoir Dogs. There's a fine line between some of these, but I will attempt to stand on the table for all of my decisions, while acknowledging that there is going to be some gray area.
b. Some action movies have great comedic moments, but weren't really considered the Top 10 comedy cop movies (See Die Hard).
Let's get to it...
Top 10 Cop Comedy Movies
Honorable Mention: The Heat, Running Scared, The Last Boy Scout, Rush Hour and Police Academy
10. The Nice Guys
9. 21 Jump Street
8. The Other Guys
7. Lethal Weapon II
6. Beverly Hills Cop II
5. Bad Boys
4. Super Troopers
3. 48 Hours
2. Lethal Weapon
1. Beverly Hills Cop
Top 10 All-Time Cop Movies
Honorable Mention: L.A. Confidential, Inside Man, Speed, Training Day, The Maltese Falcon, Mystic River and Serpico
10. Se7en
9. In The Heat of the Night
8. Fargo
7. Dirty Harry
6. The Departed
5. Chinatown
4. The Silence of the Lambs
3. No Country For Old Men
2. The French Connection
1. Die Hard
Die hard is a cop movie but lethal weapon is a comedy cop movie?
Huh? Are you thinking of the movies once Joe Pesci got involved? Cause lethal weapon 1 most certainly wasn’t a comedy cop movie. Neither glover nor Gibson are comedy guys.
Yeah that's what I was thinking, too. I don't think the first one was meant to be funny at all.
IMHO, making any predictions whatsoever these days about college football more than 9-12 months out is a fool’s errand. Nothing is certain anymore. By the way, here’s the Q that prompted Ketch’s response 👇🏻
The Q to Ketch was: “This will be a very good football team but elite is not seen until '26. (although very good may take you a long way next year)”
Sort of burying the lede here, Ketch. 🎾 For those who did not watch, Sinner (world #1) was up 2 sets to 1, and cruising in the fourth set, up 5 games to 2, with 3 match points in hand at 0-40, before Alcaraz (world #2) stormed back by winning 6 straight points—and, well, the rest is history. With the win, Alcaraz secured his 5th grand slam title (same age as his childhood hero, Rafa, when he secured his 5th GS title). Pretty amazing stuff to watch on replay if you’re any kind of sports fan. Tennis will be talking about this match for the next 15-20 years.
When the Rock and Samuel L Jackson jumped off that building, I thought this is just ****ing dumb assuming they were going to survive and then I lost it. So good .
Ketch you forgot to mention that the baseball team won the SEC in year 1. That's a huge accomplishment.
There's only one best cop movie.
Ketch just did the equivalent of listing the best running backs from Tyler, Texas, and left off Earl Campbell.
Ketch just did the equivalent of listing the best running backs from Tyler, Texas, and left off Earl Campbell.
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This is a completely random poll: pick one from the 1995 team- Latest: TouchdownTexas
