The University of Texas has a total of 47 national championships between the 18 varsity sports teams that the school fields. Located in Austin, Texas, the University of Austin Texas (commonly referred to as UT) uses the nickname the Longhorns for all of their sports teams. The Longhorns name is inspired by a specific breed of cattle indigenous to the area with distinct horns that can reach sizes of around seven feet from one tip to the other. The 18 teams that play under the Longhorns name include ten women's sports and eight men's sports.
The UT sports teams with their accompanying number of championships are listed below:
Men's Sports (eight teams)
1. Swimming and Diving - nine national championships
2. Baseball - six national championships
3. Football - four national championships
4. Golf - two national championships
5. Basketball
6. Cross Country
7. Tennis
8. Track and field
Women's Sports (ten teams)
1. Track and Field - eleven national championships (six indoor and five outdoor)
2. Swimming and Diving - nine national championships
3. Tennis - two national championships
4. Volleyball - two national championships
5. Basketball - one national championship
6. Cross Country - one national championship
7. Golf
8. Rowing
9. Soccer
10. Softball
In addition to 47 championships the University of Texas literally has hundreds of conference championships. Longhorn athletes have gone on to proudly represent their alma mater on the world stage having won 117 Summer Olympic medals ( 68 gold, 31 silver, and 18 bronze) during the stretch from 1948 through 2008.
For fans of the University of Texas athletic program the only matter that comes a close second to being named the best team in the country is to have strong showings against their top rivals. Rivalries are developed over decades of competition and shaped by a combination of proximity and traditionally competitive contests.
Chief amongst the rivals for the University of Texas are neighboring Texas A&M (greatest in state rival), the University of Oklahoma (due largely to the prominence of each school's football program), and several other schools that consider UT to be their main rival including Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, University of Arkansas and a few others. In numerous instances due to the tradition of excellence at the University of Texas a win for a less established school against the Longhorns can make their season. When an area college capitalizes on an opportunity to beat the mighty UT Longhorns in front of a national television audience in men's football, basketball, or baseball it provides enough civic pride to keep neighboring communities excited for an entire off season, even when the season as a whole is an otherwise disappointing one.
The University of Texas took on the nickname the Longhorns way back in 1900 and has been winning NCAA championships in a variety of high profile sports ever since. In many respects the UT program seems to only get stronger every year as the university has built an athletic program poised for future success that should at least meet if not exceed their rich past.
