Texas coach Vic Schaefer is chasing an elusive national title in his fourth women's Final Four

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas coach Vic Schaefer has come agonizingly close to winning a national championship.

Close as in three previous trips to the Final Four. And two title game appearances, including one lost on a last-second 3-pointer.

The 65-year-old Schaefer is close again. Only he's over being close in March Madness. He wants to win one. And the Longhorns just may have the team to do it this year.

Texas returns to the Final Four for the second consecutive year behind dominant three-time All-American forward Madison Booker and dynamic fifth-year point guard Rori Harmon. The Longhorns are chasing the program's first national championship since 1986, when Texas and Hall of Fame coach Jody Conradt barnstormed through a 34-0 season to become the first undefeated title winners.

And for Schaefer, it's a chance to exorcise some “close” ghosts from the past. The Longhorns (35-3) play UCLA (35-1) on Friday night. Texas handed the Bruins their only loss, 76-65, back on Nov. 26. Win again and they'll play either South Carolina (35-3) or UConn (38-0) in the final.

"With this team, how special they are, they’re good enough” to win the championship, Schaefer said. “I keep telling ’em, they’re good enough.”

Schaefer is leading his fourth team at two different schools to the Final Four. He won a national title as an assistant at Texas A&M in 2011, but the trophy has been elusive for Schaefer in 21 seasons as a head coach.

His Mississippi State Bulldogs played in the championship game in 2017 and 2018. The 2018 nail-biter against Notre Dame still leaves a bitter taste after the last-second defeat.

And before Texas advanced to the Sweet 16 this year, Schaefer said the best team he ever had was his 2019 Mississippi State team that lost to Oregon in the Elite Eight, a matchup in Portland that effectively was a home game for the Ducks.

“That team was better than the two previous teams that played in the national championship game," Schaefer said. “If we’d have beat (Oregon), we’d have won the national championship, no question.”

After Texas dismantled Michigan 77-41 on Monday night, Schaefer came around to saying his current team might be that good.

“Right now," Schaefer said, “they're playing as good as any team I've ever had."

Schaefer left the power program he'd built at Mississippi State for Texas in 2020. A Texas native, he loves to note how he was born in an Austin hospital right next to campus. The hospital has since been torn down, but the Longhorns' arena is just a short walk from the vacant lot.

Schaefer's impact in rebuilding Texas was immediate.

In his first season, the Longhorns made a surprising run to the Elite Eight. They have made it to at least the Sweet 16 in five of his six seasons. Last season's run to the Final Four was the program's first since 2003, when Conradt was still at the helm.

Along the way, he has recruited players like Harmon, the only player in Division I history with more than 1,500 points, 900 assists, 600 rebounds and 350 steals, and Booker, whose all-around skills and playmaking lead Schaefer to call her “a generational talent.”

After Texas beat Michigan, he and Harmon shared a long hug.

“We’ve been together for five years,” Harmon said. “There’s so much hard work, tears, blood, sweat, adversity that we go through together.”

Schaefer believes he must win a national championship at Texas, not just compete for one. If he can get to Sunday's final, he'll face either UConn's Geno Auriemma, who has won 12 championships, or South Carolina's Dawn Staley, who has won three.

Schaefer recently recalled a meeting of Longhorns coaches across all sports a few years ago. He noted the success that was in the room.

"(Texas) is a place of elite. It’s a place of greatness," Schaefer said. “There’s 20 head coaches at the table. As I’m sitting at the table, I look around, and there’s ten head coaches that played for the national championship. Ten. Four of them won it. Six of them finished second. I finished fifth in the country and went to the Elite Eight, and I’m not even in the top half in the room."

Schaefer is not easy on his teams. Even this one. At times, he can be downright harsh.

Schaefer benched Harmon for most the fourth quarter in regular-season losses at LSU and Vanderbilt. After an 18-point loss in Nashville on Feb. 12, he went on a postgame rant that questioned his team’s heart and called the Longhorns “probably the softest team I’ve had in years.”

Booker said the team responded to the scolding. Texas hasn't lost since, and the Longhorns have been in another gear in the postseason. They have won four NCAA Tournament games by an average of 36 points. Booker scored a career-high 40 in a second-round win over Oregon.

“For me and my teammates, we never want to hear our coach say that about us, especially because he does so much for us,” Booker said. “We say we have heart, and I think after that game we kind of turned it around. You know, I hope he sees we have heart now. Yeah, like, that will never happen again.”

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Texas head coach Vic Schaefer watches against Michigan during the first half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Texas guard Rori Harmon (3) hugs head coach Vic Schaefer against Michigan during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Texas head coach Vic Schaefer celebrates after beating Michigan during the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

The systems that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel are convenient but don't improve safety because people who use them often pay less attention to the road, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

Drivers with automated systems engaged are much more likely than other drivers to focus on their cellphones or infotainment screens, Chair Jennifer Homendy said at the outset of a hearing on the NTSB's investigation of two fatal crashes involving Ford’s Blue Cruise system. The 2024 crashes in Texas and Pennsylvania killed three people when Ford Mustang Mach-E cars slammed into stopped vehicles.

“These systems function primarily as convenience features rather than safety enhancements,” she said.

Ford and other automakers emphasize that partially automated driving systems are not designed to replace the human drivers sitting behind the wheel, who have to be ready to take control at any time.

But Homendy said automakers are marketing these systems as safety improvements that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel and focus elsewhere. To illustrate her point, she showed a Ford commercial that depicted a mother in a driver's seat pretending to conduct a symphony with her eyes closed while talking to kids in the backseat.

One of the auto industry's challenges in developing systems that take on more driving functions has been how to ensure that drivers stay alert. NTSB members said the evidence is clear that drivers using these systems are more likely to shift their focus away from the road.

Currently, there are no clear U.S. government standards for the systems, so each automaker’s version of this technology can vary greatly, said Michael Graham, NTSB vice chair.

The NTSB, which previously investigated a number crashes involving similar systems, including Tesla’s autopilot system, is examining the effectiveness of these systems and how well they monitor driver engagement.

Missy Cummings, a professor of engineering and computing at George Mason University, told The Associated Press on Monday that these crashes highlight some of the dangers of partially autonomous driving systems that allow people to disengage.

"Allowing people to take their hands off the wheel will also mean they will likely take their minds off the driving task,” Cummings said.

Ford’s Blue Cruise system allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel while it handles steering, braking and acceleration on highways. The company says the system isn’t fully autonomous and that it monitors drivers to make sure they pay attention to the road.

There are no fully autonomous vehicles for sale to the public in the U.S., but robotaxis that operate without a driver are being used in several major cities.

Graham said he’s concerned that some of these systems have a hard time detecting stationary objects or vehicles in the roar, but the only way automakers communicate that with drivers is in the owner's manual that many people don’t read cover-to-cover.

One of the deadly Ford crashes, which killed one person, occurred in San Antonio, Texas. The other happened in Philadelphia, killing two. The driver in the Philadelphia crash was later charged with DUI homicide. That case is pending, with no trial date set.

The Texas crash occurred on Interstate 10 in San Antonio. The Mach E, going nearly 75 mph, struck the rear of a Honda CR-V that was stopped in the middle of three lanes at night. Investigators said the Ford driver was looking for a nearby charging station, and there was no evidence that either he or the Ford's automated systems tried to slow the car or swerve.

Another driver who avoided the CR-V told investigators that neither its taillights nor hazards were working at the time. But NTSB investigators said body camera footage shot after the crash showed that some of the CR-V's lights were on, and that evidence showed that at least one of the taillights was lit up before the crash.

The other crash involving a Mach E killed two people at night on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania State Police said the Ford was in the left lane when it struck a stationary Hyundai Elantra that earlier had collided with a Toyota Prius. The Ford was going 72 mph even though the speed limit in the area had decreased to 45 mph because it was a construction zone.

During the crash, the Prius driver, who was outside of his vehicle, also was struck and thrown into the southbound lanes. A person from the Hyundai also was on the roadway and was hit. Both young men died.

NTSB members expressed concerns Tuesday that drivers who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs seem to believe that using a driver assistance system can help them drive while impaired.

Homendy said that in contrast to the hands-free driving systems, systems that can automatically stop a car when they detect an impending collision have proven effective at reducing traffic deaths.

FILE - The Ford logo is seen on the grill of a Ford Explorer on display at the Pittsburgh International Auto Show, in Pittsburgh, on Feb. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Jennifer Homendy, the NTSB chair, speaks during a press conference, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)