Texas AD Chris Del Conte says AI did not make the failed fourth-down call in the loss to Florida

Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte moved to clear up a report that an artificial intelligence platform drove the key fourth-and-2 call the Longhorns missed in last weekend's 27-24 loss to Florida.

A newspaper report Friday said Del Conte held up the fourth-down try as an example of the football team using Bevo Lab, the school's new AI-driven data analytics platform. Texas trailed 20-17 at the time and Arch Manning lost 3 yards on the play.

The report stirred up Texas fans. Del Conte later clarified that the play was an example of what the platform "could suggest, not what it actually did."

What Bevo Lab is

Texas officially announced Bevo Lab on Friday and called it "higher education's premier sports intelligence platform and living laboratory." All 21 Texas sports programs and their 500 athletes will take part.

The school is leaning on its ties to Dell and Google Cloud, both led by Texas alumni. A central data warehouse called the Bevo Lakehouse will bring game film and wearable technology data together across sports, starting with football. A "transfer AI" system is meant to help coaches with roster evaluation, game strategy, scouting and player development.

"Bevo Lab will become the global benchmark for innovation in sports AI and data analytics, making Texas Athletics the most data-driven athletic program in the country," Del Conte said.

Familiar names on board

About 40 student researchers will run modeling and data projects under Kirk Goldsberry, the data analyst and author who worked as the San Antonio Spurs' vice president for strategic research. Goldsberry now runs the school's Business of Sports Institute.

Goldsberry said former NBA star Chris Bosh, a Tower Fellow in a nine-month learning program, will join the lab's staff. Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant, a Texas alum on the institute's advisory board, will be more involved once he retires.

Del Conte spoke Friday at the university's Business of College Sports Summit. He said the lab will be open to coaches, players, trainers, nutritionists and analysts in every Longhorns program.