Texas Longhorns : Ask Biography

Home | college athletics | Texas Longhorns

Texas Longhorns athletics programs include the extramural and intramural sports teams of The University of Texas at Austin. These teams are referred to as the Texas Longhorns (or variously as Longhorns or Horns), taking their name from the Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and are now the official "large animal" of the State of Texas. The University of Texas at Austin is the apparent flagship institution of The University of Texas System. The women's teams are sometimes called the Lady Longhorns, but generally both the men's and women's teams are referred to as the Longhorns, and the mascot is a Texas Longhorn steer named Bevo.

The Longhorn nickname appeared in Texas newspapers by 1900.

The University of Texas at Austin offers a wide variety of varsity and intramural sports programs. Due to the breadth of sports offered and the quality of the programs, Texas was selected as "America's Best Sports College" in a 2002 analysis performed by Sports Illustrated. Texas was also listed as the number one Collegiate Licensing Company client from 2005 - 2007 in regards to the amount of annual trademark royalties received from the sales of its fan merchandise.

Texas is one of only two remaining NCAA Division I schools to operate separate men's and women's athletic departments. The other school, the University of Tennessee, is currently in the process of merging its men's and women's athletic departments, with the transition to be completed at the end of the 2011 � 12 academic year.