The Longhorns have consistently been ranked as the biggest brand in collegiate athletics, in both department size and breadth of appeal.

Texas was also listed as the number one Collegiate Licensing Company client from 2005 to 2013 in regards to the amount of annual trademark royalties received from the sales of its fan merchandise.

The Texas Longhorns joined the Southeastern Conference for the 2024–2025 season with the University of Oklahoma for a reported $100 million,[8] as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

[14] Two Texas Longhorn running backs have won college football's most prestigious individual award, the Heisman Trophy: Earl Campbell (1977) and Ricky Williams (1998).

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the program was somewhat less successful, but the Longhorns have since returned to prominence in college football, finishing in the top six of the AP and coaches' polls in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009.

The University of Texas team plays home games in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium which has a seating capacity of 100,119.

The improvements were completed before the 2008 football season, and included additional seating[19] and the nation's first high definition video display in a collegiate facility nicknamed "Godzillatron".

[20] The university completed a $27 million expansion and renovation to the south end zone facilities in August 2009 which added 4,525 permanent bleacher seats and changed the playing surface to FieldTurf.

The adjacent Denton A. Cooley Pavilion serves as the training and practice facility for both the men's and women's teams.

[citation needed] Texas holds the records for most appearances in the College World Series (35) and most individual CWS games won.

Former Longhorns who have gone on to success in Major League Baseball include Roger Clemens, Bibb Falk, Ron Gardenhire, Calvin Schiraldi, Burt Hooton, Keith Moreland, Spike Owen, Greg Swindell, Huston Street, Omar Quintanilla, Taylor Teagarden, Sam LeCure and Drew Stubbs.

Texas has made 20 total appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 23 seasons of varsity competition, reaching the Women's College World Series (WCWS) five times (1998, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2013) and finishing as high as 3rd on three occasions (2003, 2005 and 2013).

Individual national champions were Ed White (1935), Ben Crenshaw (1971, 1972, and 1973), Tom Kite (1972), and Justin Leonard (1994).

Junior Amateur champion and three-time major winner Jordan Spieth played for the Longhorns golf team in 2011 and 2012.

Besides Majors-winners Kite, Crenshaw, Leonard and Spieth, a number of other former Longhorn players have gone on to win on the PGA Tour, including: Phil Blackmar, Mark Brooks, Jhonattan Vegas, Bob Estes, Wes Ellis, Harrison Frazar, Cody Gribble, Rik Massengale, Wes Short Jr., and Brandel Chamblee.

[34] In March 2019 tennis head coach Michael Center was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud as part of the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal.

Courtney Okolo became the first Longhorn to win The Bowerman,[38] an award that honors collegiate track & field's most outstanding athlete of the year.

Reese has coached numerous former and current world record holders while at Texas, including many competing in the Summer Olympic Games for the United States and other home nations.

[42] Under his coaching, the women's rowing team placed fourth in the 2017 NCAA Championship, third in 2018, second in 2019, and first in 2021, marking the program's best four finishes.

[48] The Longhorns' improvement led to Texas winning the Southwest Conference in the 2011–12 season to qualify for the sweet sixteen of the 2012 national championship playoffs.

[49] Texas won the 2012 Southwest 7s tournament to qualify for the 2012 USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships.

[69] Texas is also one of the biggest rivals of the University of Arkansas,[70] which may be attributed to their long tenure as the two eponymous state schools of the former Southwest Conference, or to the 1969 game between the two, which decided the national championship in favor of the Longhorns.

In an attempt to generate more attention for the rivalry in sports other than football, in 2004 the two schools started the Lone Star Showdown,[77] which began as a two-year trial program and has continued ever since.

Aspects of the rivalry include: With Texas A&M's move to the Southeastern Conference, the Lone Star Showdown's final game was played on November 24, 2011, at Kyle Field.

The Longhorns and Red Raiders football teams compete annually for a traveling trophy called the Chancellor's Spurs.

The Owls most recent victory in the rivalry came in 1994 when they won 19–17 at Rice Stadium, they would also go on to win the Southwest Conference that year.

Some Longhorn traditions include: For nine straight years (2005–2013), Texas was listed as the number one Collegiate Licensing Company client in regards to the amount of annual trademark royalties received from the sales of its fan merchandise.

Before its launch, the network had controversial plans to air high school football games, an institution throughout the state of Texas.

Currently, the state's governing body for public high school sports, the University Interscholastic League, prohibits live game telecasts on Friday nights.

[96] This was especially an issue for Texas A&M; in fact, the plans for the network to air high school games directly led to A&M's decision in July 2011 to leave the Big 12 for the SEC.