Texas Longhorns - College football’s national champions
The Texas Longhorns sports teams have enjoyed their share of success. The Texas Longhorns take their name from the Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of the state. UT in Austin is the home of a wide variety of varsity sports programs for both men and women.
The official colors of the Texas Longhorns are orange and white and they compete in the Big Twelve Conference. The Texas Longhorns football team has long been considered a college football powerhouse, with four national titles, including the 2005-2006 season. From 1936 to 2004, the team finished the season in the top ten 23 times, or one-third of the time, according to the Associated Press. Two Longhorn running backs have won college football’s highest honor, the Heisman Trophy–Earl Campbell in 1977 and Ricky Williams in 1998. The Texas Longhorns have a long tradition of winning football games. Only two college football programs, Notre Dame and the University of Michigan, have won more. During the late 1980s and 1990s, the team was somewhat less successful, but has recently returned to prominence, finishing in the top ten in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006.
In the 2006 Rose Bowl, Vince Young led the Texas Longhorns to a fourth National Championship.
The Texas Longhorns were given a pre-season Number two ranking (behind defending National Champions University of Southern California), by Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and the Associated Press coaches polls. They maintained that rank throughout the entire 2005-2006 season.
On October 24, 2005, they passed USC in the Bowl Championship Series rankings due to a strong showing in the computer rankings, which favored the Texas Longhorns because of the overall strength of their opponents as well as the previous week’s win. The first place ranking was the first ever for UT in the BCS era, and the first top ranking in any major football poll since October 8, 1984 when they were ranked Number one by the Associated Press and Coaches polls. However, by the next week, they dropped again to Number two behind USC. The Texas Longhorns and USC met in the national championship game in which the Longhorn team won by a score of 41-38.
Although best know for football, the Texas Longhorns also have great basketball and baseball teams.
In recent years, the men’s basketball team has gained prominence. In 2003, the basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four, and in 2004 made it to the Sweet Sixteen. In 2005, they tied for the Big 12 Conference regular season championship, but lost to the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 Conference tournament championship game. In the 2006 NCAA Tournament, they would advance to the Elite Eight, but lost to Louisiana State University in overtime.
The University’s baseball team is considered one of the best in the nation with more trips to the College World Series than any other school with a record 32 appearances. They have also won more individual games in the CWS than any other school, though they do not have the most championships. They have won six times, most recently in 2005. In January of 2006, the Texas Longhorns were listed at Number one in both major pre-season polls.
For more information about the Longhorn sports programs, search online.