The Longhorns have won 28 total conference titles in men's basketball and have made 35 total NCAA Tournament appearances (11th most all time, with a 35-38 overall record), reaching the NCAA Final Four three times (1943, 1947, 2003) and the NCAA Regional Finals (Elite Eight) seven times. They have never advanced past the Elite Eight.
However, they have never won the National Championship. The Longhorns were national champions in 1939 and 1940 before World War II halted all college basketball activity for several years. Texas returned to the court in 1946 and has been playing competitively ever since.
In 1997, Texas went undefeated in regular season play for the first time in school history. The streak ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when Florida State beat the Horns by one point. In 1998, Texas again went unbeaten in regular season play before losing to Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In 1999, Texas lost its only game during the season against Oklahoma but still managed to win the Big 12 Conference title. The Longhorns played their first-round game against Georgia Tech in New York City because of problems with attendance at Madison Square Garden where most Big 12 games are played. Texas was eliminated from the tournament after falling 87-76 to the Yellow Jackets.
In 2003, Texas was ranked No. 1 in both major polls going into the season and remained there throughout most of the year before being overtaken by North Carolina.
The Longhorns have won six College World Series titles, tying them for second most in the country, and have advanced to the championship game an astounding 37 times, more than any other institution. They have appeared in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament the most times of any program, with 60 appearances. Texas has never gone home early from the tournament.
The Horns' last CWS loss came in 2007. It was also their last regular season title until 2015. The previous year, Texas went 16-1 to win its 26th national championship.
Overall, the Longhorns are 160-38 over the last four seasons. They have won at least 30 games each year since their 34-win campaign in 2005.
They have been ranked No. 1 in the nation every year since the beginning of the 2004 season, except for when they were banned from postseason play because of what was then known as "The Baylor Incident". That happened back in 2001 when students at the university kidnapped and murdered student Christine Blackwell, then stabbed another student 23 times in an attempted murder-for-hire scheme. The players were charged with criminal negligence but only two were convicted and neither received any jail time. Texas resumed its place at the top of the polls after the case was resolved, although it was not allowed to participate in any post-season activities.
Seven groups Only seven teams in college basketball history have won an NCAA tournament title with an undefeated record. The first occurred in 1956, when Bill Russell averaged 20.6 points and 21 rebounds to lead San Francisco to its second consecutive title, improving on their 28-1 record from the previous year. The Celtics went on to win the NBA championship as well.
The next season saw UCLA repeat as national champions despite losing top player Lew Alcindor to the NBA. The Bruins finished the season with a perfect 40-0 record. They also defeated Louisville by more than 30 points in the NCAA final game that year. Alcindor would go on to become known as Michael Jordan's idol and mentor when he was coming up through the Chicago Bulls' organization.
In 1962, John Wooden's Pacific Coast Conference (which at the time had no football members) fielded a team that went 39-0 and earned a third consecutive title. The last undefeated team until this year's Virginia squad was North Carolina, which beat Virginia by only one point in the 1958 National Championship game.
In 1969, Ohio State won its ninth straight game before losing to Michigan State in the finals of the East Regional Final Four. The Buckeyes finished the season 32-0.
In 1973, Louisiana State University claimed its fourth national title in five years by defeating California in the Finals.