AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Softball, the nation’s No. 2 seed at the 2026 NCAA Tournament, opens the Austin Regional vs. NEC Tournament Champion Wagner at 3 p.m. CT Friday, May 15, at McCombs Field. The game will stream on ESPN+ with Cat Osterman (analyst) and Alex Loeb (play-by-play) on the call. Fans can also tune into Andrew Haynes on Texas’ radio broadcast on https://texas.leanplayer.com/ or the iHeart Radio app.

Notes

• Wagner, Baylor and Wisconsin are joining Texas at the Austin Regional. Prior to Texas’ game vs. Wagner on Friday, Baylor (28-26) and Wisconsin (32-19) will clash at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+. The winner of the Austin Regional will advance to play the winner of the College Station Regional.
• Texas is making its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance, including its 21st-consecutive tournament. The Longhorns are 57-30 all-time during NCAA regionals.
• Texas has made the NCAA Tournament in every year under head coach Mike White. Under White, Texas has clinched six top-13 national seeds at the tournament.
• It marks the fourth-straight year in which Texas has earned a national seed (1 through 16). Texas’ four-consecutive national seeds ties for the longest streak in program history. It last happened from 2010 to 2013. Additionally, Texas has collected three-consecutive top-six national seeds.
• Texas’ No. 2 national seed is the second-highest national seed in program history, behind the 2024 team’s No. 1 overall seed. Last season, Texas was selected as the No. 6 overall seed and went on to win the program’s first Women’s College World Series with a 10-2 postseason run.
• Texas won the program’s first SEC Tournament title and fifth overall conference tournament crown on May 9.
• Junior first baseman Katie Stewart became the program’s first SEC Player of the Year after earning the award on May 8. Stewart is the fourth Longhorn to garner conference player of the year, joining Reese Atwood (2024), Taylor Thom (2014) and Amy Hooks (2011).
• Freshman RHP/DP Hannah Wells tied the program’s freshman home run record of 13, which was set by Katie Stewart in 2024.
• Against Oklahoma on April 10, junior RHP Teagan Kavan became the sixth player in program history to eclipse 500 career strikeouts. Kavan, who currently has 572 career strikeouts,  joins Cat Osterman (2,265), Blaire Luna (1,428), Meagan Denny (988), Christa Williams (678) and Tiarra Davis (508) as the only players in program history to reach 500 career Ks. Kavan’s 572 career strikeouts rank fifth in program history.

All Eyes on the Longhorns

• Texas’ SEC Tournament Championship game vs. Alabama on May 9 was the most-watched college softball game this season, bringing in 847,000 viewers.
• Texas also had the top two most-watched regular season game this season vs. Georgia on April 19 with 725,000 viewers watching. The second-most watched college softball game this year was between the Longhorns and Oklahoma on April 11 when 700,000 tuned in.
• Three of Texas’ games were in the top 5 of college softball’s most viewed games during the regular season.
• Texas vs. Oklahoma on April 12 brought in 581,000 viewers, making it the third-most watched college softball game of the regular season.

Series History

• Texas and Wagner will be playing each other for the first time in history on Friday.
• Both Texas and Wagner received automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament after winning their conference tournament titles.
• Former Big 12 conference foes, Texas and Baylor have played 70 times with Texas leading the all-time series, 44-26.
• The Longhorns have won seven-straight games vs. the Bears.
• Texas and Wisconsin have played each other 11 times with Texas leading the all-time series, 8-3. The Horns and Badgers last played each other in 2023 with Texas winning two games, 7-4 and 5-1, in Austin.

SEC Tournament Champs!

• Texas won the program’s first SEC Tournament Championship on May 9 with a 7-1 victory over second-seed Alabama.
• Teagan Kavan was named the tournament’s MVP. Kavan, Viviana Martinez, Leighann Goode and Jaycie Nichols were selected to the All-Tournament Team.
• It was Texas’ fifth overall conference tournament title and the first conference tournament crown since 2005.
• The Longhorns have won five conference tournament championships (1999, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2026) in seven of their championship game appearances (1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2023, 2024 and 2026). Texas earns its first conference tournament title under head coach Mike White. Under White, Texas has played in a conference tournament championship in three of the last four seasons. The Big 12 Conference did not host a conference tournament from 2011-2016.

NCAA Austin Regional Schedule (all game times listed in Central)

*More information about broadcast designations will be communicated throughout the week

Friday, May 15

12:30 p.m. – Game 1: Baylor vs. Wisconsin (ESPN+)

3 p.m. – Game 2: Texas vs. Wagner (ESPN+)

Saturday, May 16

12 p.m. – Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

2:30 p.m. – Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

5 p.m. – Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3

Sunday, May 17

12 p.m. – Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5

Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3 (if necessary)

Please note that game times are subject to change due to game length and a mandatory 35-minute break between each game.

After ranking as the third-best large U.S. city for starting a business last year, Austin took a surprising tumble into the 24th spot nationally for 2026.

WalletHub’s annual report, “Best Large Cities to Start a Business (2026)” compared 100 U.S. cities based on 19 relevant metrics across three key dimensions: business environment, access to resources, and costs. Factors that were analyzed include five-year business survival rates, job growth comparisons from 2020 and 2024, population growth of working-age individuals aged 16-64, office space affordability, and more.

Florida cities locked other states out of the top five best places in America for starting a new business: Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Hialeah, and St. Petersburg.

Austin’s business environment ranked 11th best in the country, and the city ranked ninth in the “access to resources” category. The city also tied with Boise, Idaho, and Fresno, California, for the highest average growth in the number of small businesses nationally.

Austin lagged behind in the “business costs” ranking, coming in at No. 80 overall. This category examined metrics such as the city’s working-age population growth, the share of college-educated individuals, financing accessibility, the prevalence of investors, venture investment amounts per capita, and more.

Earlier this year, WalletHub declared Texas the third-best state for starting a business in 2026, and several Houston-area cities have seen robust growth after being recognized among the best career hotspots in the U.S. WalletHub also ranked Austin on its top-10 list of the best U.S. cities to find a job. Entrepreneurial praise has also been extended to 15 Austin-based innovators that made Inc Magazine’s 2026 Female Founders 500 list.

Texas cities with strong environments for new businesses
Multiple cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex can claim bragging rights as the best Texas locales for starting a new business. Dallas ranked highest overall — appearing 11th nationally — and Irving landed a few spots behind in the 16th spot. Arlington (No. 23), Fort Worth (No. 30), Plano, (No. 35), and Garland (No. 65) followed behind.

Only six other Texas cities earned spots in the report: Houston (No. 26), Lubbock (No. 36), Corpus Christi (No. 39), San Antonio (No. 64), El Paso (No. 67), and Laredo (No. 76). Corpus Christi and Laredo also topped WalletHub’s list of the U.S. cities with the most accessible financing.

“From the Gold Rush and the Industrial Revolution to the Internet Age, periods of innovation have shaped our economy and driven major societal progress,” the report’s author wrote. “However, the past few years have been particularly challenging for business owners in the U.S., due to factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Great Resignation and high inflation.”