{"id":252497,"date":"2026-04-16T12:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T12:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/252497\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T12:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T12:14:09","slug":"why-texas-baseball-is-still-built-to-win-a-national-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/252497\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Texas Baseball is Still Built to Win a National Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5i\">After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/texas\/baseball\/no-4-texas-drops-disappointing-series-against-no-10-texas-a-m-longhorns-notebook-01kp3ddks86b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">last weekend\u2019s result in College Station,<\/a> the narrative around the Texas Longhorns has been relatively grim since that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/texas\/baseball\/big-first-inning-sinks-longhorns-as-texas-am-clinches-lone-star-showdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dismal Saturday loss.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5l\">The Longhorns<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/texas\/baseball\/no-2-texas-drops-series-opener-in-jim-schlossnagle-s-return-to-texas-am\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> dropped the first game 9-8 <\/a>after yet another late-inning collapse by the bullpen, then suffered an 11-4 blowout loss Saturday to secure the series for the Aggies. A 98-minute rain delay in the middle of the first inning Saturday and an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/texas\/baseball\/lone-star-showdown-finale-canceled-after-daylong-delay-in-college-station\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">outright cancellation of the finale Sunda<\/a>y only added to the misery.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5o\">It marked the first series loss for the Longhorns all season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5r\">But contrary to what many angry Longhorn fans might believe, this team is still elite. And according to a recent championship formula shared by <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mgrissom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Matt Grissom via X<\/a>, the Longhorns still check every box of a title contender.<\/p>\n<p>Texas Baseball looks champion caliber\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776341648_465_01kjs5c8h75d3tqmgq9m.jpg\" alt=\"Aiden Robbins\" title=\"Aiden Robbins\" width=\"807\" height=\"1076\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"64\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Texas center fielder Aiden Robbins celebrates after a hit | University of Texas Athletics<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"68\">Grissom\u2019s formula is a simple four-part blueprint for building a national championship contender in college baseball. And according to that formula, only a handful of teams in the country currently check every box.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6b\">Among them: the Longhorns.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6e\">The blueprint requires a top-20 pitching staff by SIERA, above-average offense (wRC+ over 100), a top-25 strength of schedule and a winning record on the road.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6h\">Check, check, check and check.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6k\">The Longhorns currently rank sixth in ERA at 3.46, a number that ballooned from 3.07 after the A&amp;M series. Still, the jump is likely just a reflection of the chaos that ensued in Blue Bell Park more than any long-term concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6n\">At its best, Texas boasts one of the top starting trios in the country in Ruger Riojas, Luke Harrison and Dylan Volantis. Even with some shaky bullpen play recently, the staff remains deep enoug to hold strong against elite talent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6q\">On top of that, Texas is fully capable of producing enough offense to stay competitive in high-level matchups \u2014 especially when the pitching is as good as it is.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6t\">Texas also ranks seventh nationally in strength of schedule and, despite recent turbulence, holds a .500 road record at 5-5. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6w\">Joining Texas on the list are UCLA, Florida, Florida State, Southern Miss and Arkansas. Texas is in good company, as each program boasts some of the most complete resumes in the sport this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6z\">Of course, Texas\u2019 inclusion in this \u201cchampionship caliber\u201d tier isn\u2019t a guarantee of anything (the Longhorns know that all too well after their early exit in their own regional last season), but it&#8217;s a promising benchmark for a team that has produced some less-than-stellar results these past few weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"72\">Texas certainly needs to clean up some issues that have plagued it all year, but luckily for the Longhorns, the foundation is there \u2014 and history is on their side.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"75\">Sign up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/texas\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">our free newsletter<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TexasLonghornsOnSI\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LonghornsOnSI\" rel=\"nofollow\">X<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/texaslonghornsonsi\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a> for the latest news.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After last weekend\u2019s result in College Station, the narrative around the Texas Longhorns has been relatively grim since&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-252497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-texas","9":"tag-texas-headlines","10":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}