Texas Football: Ranking the 10 greatest teams in program history

8. 1968 (9-1-1, 6-1 SWC)

The first season up on the list for the Texas football program where legendary head coach Darrell Royal and quarterback James Street starred to help them reach national prominence was in 1968. Texas was surprisingly upset by the Texas Tech Red Raiders early in the regular season, but the Longhorns really got off and running after that point.

Texas cleared Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas A&M, and SMU for the rest of the regular season. And they took down No. 8 ranked Tennessee by the final score of 36-13 in the Cotton Bowl to rake in their ninth straight win to cap off the season. That helped them get a top three ranking in the final AP Poll after that bowl win over Tennessee.

7. 1961 (10-1, 6-1 SWC)

Unfortunately getting upset by TCU was a hard problem to work past for Texas for a good portion of the program’s history. TCU wasn’t just a weird monkey that the Longhorns couldn’t get off their back throughout the 2010’s. TCU was the lone loss for the Longhorns during the 1961 season, that could’ve landed them another national title if things were to fall Texas’ way.

Texas did bounce back in solid fashion in the final two games of the season, when they beat rival Texas A&M in the regular season finale and the No. 5 ranked Ole Miss Rebels in the Cotton Bowl. Texas held the No. 1 ranking for two weeks in the AP Poll, and finished up the 1961 with a No. 3 ranking.