A nice ring to it: Texas athletics on pace for a Directors' Cup threepeat

During his virtual town hall with the Longhorns’ fan base this week, Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte slipped a hefty piece of hardware on his finger. A handful of fans posted comments and questions about the ring, which prompted him to reveal just how much winning a Directors’ Cup means to him and his peers across the country.

Texas has won back-to-back Directors’ Cups, an award given annually to the nation’s most successful collegiate athletic program. With the cup, Del Conte said, come plenty of accolades — and plenty of pride.

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“I’m not a big jewelry guy,” Del Conte said. “But a Directors' Cup win is really an athletic director’s national championship — that’s the way I look at it. If you’re an athletic director, and a coach wins the basketball national championship — boy, that coach and the student-athletes did that. When you win a Directors’ Cup, this one is yours. Credit our student-athletes and all our coaches; they’ve been amazing.”

But can UT threepeat?

Texas ahead of last year's pace

Del Conte had better clear some more space on his hand, a shelf in his office or wherever he keeps such prizes, because Texas looks as if it’s on pace to push for a third straight Cup. UT ended the fall standings with 298 points, which placed it No. 8 overall, fewer than 90 points behind first-place North Carolina (382.5 points). The Texas volleyball team earned the maximum 100 points after winning the national championship, and the men's and women's cross-country, women's soccer and football teams all garnered points.

The Longhorns scored more points last fall than they did in autumn of the 2021-22 school year, when they finished the year with 1,449.50 total points, well ahead of second-place Stanford's 1,352.25. Considering that Texas traditionally thrives in winter and spring sports such as basketball, swimming, golf, track and field, softball and baseball, Del Conte is optimistic that the Longhorns can win a third straight trophy.

“We’re ahead of last year, but boy, spring for us is a great time,” Del Conte said. “All of our fall sports scored, unlike last year. I believe every single one of our (winter and spring) sports, we have a chance to compete for a championship. The future’s pretty bright on that endeavor.”

Texas athletics 'obnoxiously good' over the years

It seems the future’s been bright for the UT athletic program since the Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and USA Today three decades ago. Texas has finished in the top 10 of the final standings 22 times since the competition began with the 1993-94 school year. Two years ago, Texas snapped a string of 25 consecutive Directors’ Cups won by Stanford.

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Swimming coach Eddie Reese, who has won 15 national championships in his 45 years at Texas, says UT “has been obnoxiously good” in almost every sport for most his time on campus. That success regardless of the season buoys all the programs, which accounts for the cumulative accomplishments, he said.

“It just raises your level,” Reese said during a media availability before this week’s Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center. “Everyone (in all sports) has done a phenomenal job, and they’re always encouraging of the other sports.”

That mutual support stood out to Del Conte when he took over as athletic director in 2017 and combined the men’s and women’s athletic programs. He credited senior associate athletic director Chris Plonsky as well as past campus athletic leaders such as former women’s basketball coach Jody Conradt, longtime athletic director DeLoss Dodds and previous athletic directors Mike Perrin and Steve Patterson for establishing and expanding on that sense of community in the athletic department.

“This speaks volumes to the legacy of all the people that came before me,” Del Conte said, motioning to the Directors’ Cup ring. “They all had something to do with the idea of what this could look like. The leadership of those men and women put all of this in place.”

Directors' Cup current standings

1. North Carolina

2. Stanford

3. BYU

4. Ohio State

5. Syracuse

6. Penn State

7. Pittsburgh

8. Texas

9. Virginia

10. Alabama

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas athletics is on pace to win a third straight Directors' Cup