Texas

Article 7, Section 10 of the Constitution of the State of Texas provides that "{t}he legislature shall . . . establish, organize, and provide for the maintenance, support, and direction of a Univerisity of the first class, to be located by a vote of the people of this State, and styled, "The University of Texas."

That provision was adopted with the rest of the Texas Constitution in 1876, and the University opened its doors in Austin on September 15, 1883.  Texans -- at least those who did not attend Texas A & M -- generally love their State University, and are convinced that it is "a University of the first class."  During the recent controversies over conference re-alignment, Texas fans made clear that they had no interest in joining the Southeastern Conference, in part because they considered the SEC schools to be far below You-Tee academically.  SEC fans retorted that U.S. News and World Report ranks Texas in a tie for 46th among national universities -- well behind Vanderbilt (17th), and only slightly ahead of Florida (T-54) and Georgia (T-63).  But the Texans were unmoved.

But however you feel about Texas academically, no one could deny that UT has one of the nation's greatest football programs.  Their all-time record after the 2011 season was 861-329-33, which placed them second only to Michigan in terms of all-time wins.  And if their three AP national titles (1963, 1969, 2005) leave them far behind schools like Oklahoma and Alabama, no one can deny that they are dominant in their region (they have 32 conference titles) and they are usually a part of the national conversation.

In recent years, they have also played a critical role in conference re-alignment.  They were a major force in the break-up of the old Southwest Conference in the early 1990's, and their threats to bolt the Big XII for the Pac-10 did a lot to drive schools like Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, and Texas A & M into new leagues.  But it all worked out for UT, which was left with a rump version of the Big XII that should make it much easier for the Longhorns to play for National Championships.

The Longhorns are also one of only seven schools to have won 40 or more Unofficial College Football Championship games.  Their total of 40 UCFC wins is exceeded only by Yale (109), Princeton (101), Southern Cal (90), Harvard (88), Penn (56), and Ohio State (52).  Their all-time record in UCFC play is 40-21-3.

It would take too long to go through all UT's games in the UCFC, so we will simply hit some highlights.  On January 1, 1960, they lost the Cotton Bowl to Syracuse, who not only retained the UCFC but also captured the 1959 National Championship.  On October 12, 1963, the Longhorns took the UCFC from Oklahoma with a 28-7 thumping, and went on to capture their first National Title.  In fact, they held the UCFC until October 17, 1964, when they finally lost to Arkansas by a score of 14-13.  They didn't regain the title until the last game of the 1998 regular season, when they beat A&M 26-24.  They lost it again in the first game of the 1999 season to North Carolina State, but won it back on January 4, 2006, when Vince Young led them to a pulsating 41-38 victory in the Rose Bowl over Southern Cal that signified their third National Crown.  Finally, they played for the UCFC on January 7, 2010 when they battled Alabama for the 2009 National Championship, but they lost by a score of 37-21.  This will be their first UCFC game since that one.