The Top Ten Teams in the History of UT football, as voted on by Inside Texas subscribers:
1. 2005: 13-0, No. 1 AP, No. 1 Coaches’
2. 1969: 11-0, No. 1/1
3. 1963: 11-0, No. 1/1
4. 1970: 10-1, No. 3/1
5. 1968: 9-1-1, No. 3/5
6. 1961: 10-1, No. 3/4
7. 1964: 10-1, No. 5/5
8. 1983: 11-1, No. 5/5
9. 2004: 11-1, No. 5/4
10. 1977: 11-1, No. 4/5
It was an incredibly close vote for the top spot. Mack Brown’s 2005 National Championship team, a season capped off by Vince Young’s fourth quarter comeback in the Rose Bowl over USC, won out over Darrell Royal’s 1969 National Championship squad. The ’05 team won by only four points in the final tally over the ’69 team. The Longhorns two other National Championships, the 1963 consensus and the 1970 split title, round out the top four.
No. 5 on the list is Royal’s team from 1968, during which the only loss was a 31-22 defeat at Texas Tech following a 20-20 tie against the Houston Cougars. Texas went on to win out the rest of the season and crushed No. 8 Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl 36-13. It’s followed on the list by the 1961 team that beat Mississippi in the Cotton Bowl and finished 3rd in the AP. Texas’ 1964 team that upset the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the Orange Bowl is next on the list. At No. 8 is Fred Akers’ talent-laden 1983 team that was one point away from being undefeated (but we’ll try not bring up 10-9 too often).
Another Vince Young team shows up at No. 9 on the list. The 2004 ended with a Texas victory in the Longhorns’ first Rose Bowl and propelled the Horns towards the 2005 National Championship, their first in 35 years. Rounding out the list in the 1977 team that went undefeated throughout the regular season, only to lose to Notre Dame 38-10 in the Cotton Bowl.
Just off the list: 1962, 9-1-1, No. 4 in both the AP and UPI
Oldest team to get a vote: 1920, with one 10th place vote
Teams on the list by coach:
Darrell Royal: 6 (1961, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1970)
Mack Brown: 2 (2004, 2005)
Fred Akers: 2 (1977, 1983)
In an upcoming issue of Inside Texas magazine, we're going to list the Top 10 greatest of everything Texas football. It will be 40 lists for the 40 acres. Inside Texas subscribers voted on the Top 10 in 10 of the categories. The subscriber vote will be printed alongside our staff selections in Inside Texas Magazine.
Thanks to everyone who voted!
NEXT UP: Top 10 Bowl Victories