Title-holders of a total of 47 national championships, 39 of which are NCAA national championships, the Texas Longhorn sports teams have proven their mettle in each of the sports they represent. The athletics programs include the extramural and intramural teams of University of Texas, Austin. As the grand, inspiring song "The Eyes of Texas," an anthem for their alma mater plays, the crowds cheer for their team in burnt orange (or "Texas" orange) and white uniforms. Dubbed as "America's Best Sports College" by Sports Illustrated, in 2002 because of the range and quality of sports offered, University of Texas, is still polishing its highly skilled players in ten women's and eight men's sports.  The Texas Longhorns are named after the world famous dramatic-looking longhorn cattle, officially the state animal of Texas. The Longhorn teams are variously called "Texas," or "Longhorns" or simply "Horns" for short. The female players are sometimes referred to as "Lady Longhorns" in typical Texas fashion, but in official sports lingo both men's and women's teams are called Texas Longhorns. The nickname Longhorns stuck since it appeared in the newspapers in the early 1900s.

After the Southwest Conference dissolved in 1996, the Texas Longhorns became members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) participating in the Big 12 Conference (South Division). The most high profile performances by the Texas Longhorns have been their Olympics competitions. The Longhorns have been representing the nation in the Olympic games nearly since the beginning of the games, and have had considerable success over the decades. The Texas Longhorns came back with a gold medal in 1948. The number of medals steadily increased over time, peaking most recently, in the summer Olympics in China, at 10 gold, two silver and 2 bronze medals. The Texas Longhorns have brought in a total of 28 gold medals since 2000.

The sports that the Texas Longhorns compete in, are the following: Baseball, Basketball, Cross country, Golf, Football, Swimming and diving, Tennis, Track and field for men. In addition to some of these, women compete in rowing, soccer, softball and volleyball. Most women's teams have been strongest in the eighties, winning many national championships. Their most recent victories in the US championships have been in indoor and outdoor track and field sports. The Texas Longhorns have won 15 tournament titles and a total of 75 regular session titles in Conference Championships.

The Texas Longhorn mascots "Bevo" and "Hook'em" are part of the mischief of teams kidnapping each other's mascots in the famous "rivalry" games. The University of Texas Longhorn Band performs the university fight song, the morale booster "Texas Fight," at such intensely competitive events as the "Lone Star Showdown," often improvising the song with the opponent's name in it. The Texas Longhorns never fail to excite the fans with their excellent performance whether they end up winning or losing. They have been able to make history for a reason. They have always upheld the highest standards of performance, in any sport, any event.