Longhorns

Every autumn the Longhorns' season turns on a single date against Texas A&M — the Lone Star Showdown.

The program traces back to 1893, when the first game ended against the University of Denver, but the name came later: students noticed the Texas Longhorn cattle grazing near campus around 1895, and by 1900 newspapers had picked up the nickname for good. Burnt orange followed the same slow path from habit into identity.

Four national championships anchor the football record — 1963 and 1969 settled in the Cotton Bowl, 1970 awarded by the polls after a Cotton Bowl loss to Oklahoma, and 2005 sealed against USC in the Rose Bowl. That 2005 team ran through Vince Young.

Football is only one thread. Texas baseball has taken six national titles since 1949, and the athletic department overall has climbed to 47 NCAA championships across its sports.