Texas Football: Ranking the 10 greatest teams in program history

Honorable mentions

2009 (13-1, 8-0 Big 12)

The fifth claimed national title might be added to the trophy case for the Texas football program if they were able to win the 2009-10 BCS National Championship Game over head coach Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide. But former star Texas quarterback Colt McCoy was knocked out early in that national title game and Bama rolled to a comfortable victory.

Texas still was able to get a Big 12 Championship Game win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers and beat their two biggest rivals, the Texas A&M Aggies and Oklahoma Sooners, in this solid 2009 run.

1941 (8-1-1, 4-1-1 SWC)

One of the unclaimed national titles that the Longhorns have at this point comes from the 1941 season under former head coach Dana X. Bible. This 1941 Longhorns team is a story of what could’ve been. They held the No. 1 ranking in the country for much of the season until a rough two game stretch that saw them tie the Baylor Bears and fall short against the TCU Horned Frogs.

Texas did respond in resounding fashion to cap this 1941 season, that saw them dominate No. 2 ranked Texas A&M and the Oregon Ducks in their final two games. They finished up with the No. 4 ranking in the AP Poll.

1952 (9-2, 6-0 SWC)

Similar to that of the 1941 Texas team, the 1952 squad is largely a story of what could’ve been. This 1952 team was one of the rare big time success stories for then Texas head coach Ed Price, where he raked in a Southwest Conference Championship and knocked on the door for a national title.

Texas beat Texas A&M and the No. 8 ranked Tennessee Volunteers (in the Cotton Bowl) to cap the 1952 campaign with a No. 10 ranking. James “T.” Jones had a solid end to the season which helped the Longhorns recover from bad losses to Oklahoma and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.