The 2008 Texas Longhorns will be considered one of the teams in the nation that had as much right as the Florida Gators to receive the national championship trophy. The Longhorns were a victim of the Bowl Championship Series and Big 12 rules. Despite defeating the Oklahoma Sooners on a neutral field and being in a tie for the Big 12 North division, the Longhorns didn’t win the tie-breakers to advance to the Big 12 championship and receive an invitation to the national title game. Their loss at Texas Tech on a last second play was the dagger to their national title hopes.
The Longhorns led the Big 12 in defensive yards and points allowed. They also had a high power offense led by Colt McCoy at quarterback.
| 2008 Record | 12-1 |
| Florida Atlantic | 52-10 |
| at UTEP | 42-13 |
| Rice | 52-10 |
| Arkansas | 52-10 |
| at Colorado | 38-14 |
| vs. Oklahoma | 45-35 |
| Missouri | 56-31 |
| Oklahoma State | 28-24 |
| at Texas Tech | 33-39(Loss) |
| Baylor | 45-21 |
| at Kansas | 35-7 |
| Texas A&M | 49-9 |
| vs. Ohio State | 24-21 |
The 2009 Texas Longhorns schedule has two major dates to circle on your calendar. October 17th the Longhorns renew their rivalry in Dallas against the Oklahoma Sooners. This game may determine if one of these teams will play for the national championship game at the end of the season(although this wasn’t the case last year).
October 31st the Longhorns travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Cowboys will be ready to avenge their 28-24 loss at Texas last year. The Cowboys have most their key players returning in 2009 and will be one of the top teams competing for the Big 12 title.
The out of conference schedule is once again weak this season. The lack of good opponents out of conference in 2008 was another factor why the Longhorns were below the Sooners in the BCS rankings. They didn’t help their case with the computers by scheduling another four lousy games this year.
| September 5 | Louisiana-Monroe |
| September 12 | at Wyoming |
| September 19 | Central Florida |
| September 26 | UTEP |
| October 10 | Colorado |
| October 17 | Oklahoma (at Dallas,Texas) |
| October 24 | at Missouri |
| October 31 | at Oklahoma State |
| November 7 | Texas Tech |
| November 14 | at Baylor |
| November 21 | Kansas |
| November 26 | at Texas A&M |
Popularity: 29% [?]
Most college football fans would argue the Big 12 was the best conference this season. With three one-loss teams (Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech) the conference appeared to be the cream of the crop. Those teams haven’t played their bowl games yet and we’ll see how they fair against the other best teams in the nation but the Big 12 is on a rocky start this bowl season.