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The Texas Longhorns have a history as the AP Poll's No. 1 team

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•09/18/24•

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Steve Sarkisian
Steve Sarkisian (Will Gallagher/IT)

On Sunday, the Texas Longhorns rose to the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll past No. 2 Georgia. Steve Sarkisian‘s program garnered 35 first-place votes to the Bulldogs’ 23, elevating the Longhorns to the No. 1 spot for the first time in almost 16 years.

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Texas is ranked No. 1 for the 46th week in program history. The last time Texas was at the top of the AP Poll was October 26, 2008. The Longhorns’ stay at the top would not last long as Mack Brown‘s team was upset a few days later by the No. 6 Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock.

That defeat dropped Texas to 30-7-3 as the No. 1 team. Among coaches of the Longhorn football program, Dana X. Bible was 2-0-1 as the No. 1 team, Darrell Royal was 20-4-1, Fred Akers was 6-2-1, and Brown was 2-1.

This will be Sarkisian’s first time coaching a No. 1 team as a permanent head coach. He does have some experience leading a No. 1 team on an interim basis. When Nick Saban tested positive for COVID-19 in 2020 the week of the Iron Bowl, Sarkisian had to coach the Crimson Tide in the place of the sport’s greatest coach. The No. 1 Crimson Tide defeated No. 22 Auburn 42-13. Saban returned to the sidelines soon after to lead Alabama to the 2020 national championship.

Speaking of Alabama, Texas is one of a select few teams from the SEC along with the Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners to have over 700 appearances in the AP Poll. Texas has been ranked 777 times.

The Longhorns have been ranked in the top 25 of both polls for 24 straight weeks. They’ve been in the top five in the last six polls as well. According to Texas, that’s the longest stretch since Brown had Texas ranked in the top 25 for 162-straight weeks from 2000-10.

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Texas has a long and storied history with the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll, but it’s a history that hasn’t been added to since 2008. On Saturday, Sarkisian and company will look to add to it in the Texas head coach’s first game leading a top-ranked team.

Texas as the No. 1 team

DATEOPPONENTRESULT
11/1/41at No. 20 SMU34-0 W
11/8/41Baylor7-7 T
10/12/46vs. Oklahoma20-13 W
11/11/61Baylor33-7 W
11/18/61TCU6-0 L
10/20/62No. 7 Arkansas7-3 W
10/27/62at Rice14-14 T
10/19/63at Arkansas17-13 W
10/26/63Rice10-6 W
11/2/63at SMU17-12 W
11/9/63Baylor7-0 W
11/16/63TCU17-0 W
11/28/63at Texas A&M15-13 W
1/1/64vs. No. 2 Navy28-6 W
10/3/64Army28-7 W
10/10/64vs. Oklahoma28-7 W
10/17/64No. 8 Arkansas14-13 L
10/2/65Indiana27-12 W
10/9/65vs. Oklahoma19-0 W
10/16/65at No. 3 Arkansas27-24 L
11/27/69at Texas A&M49-12 W
12/6/69at No. 2 Arkansas15-14 W
1/1/70vs. No. 9 Notre Dame21-17 W
10/31/70SMU42-15 W
11/7/70at Baylor21-14 W
11/26/70Texas A&M52-14 W
12/5/70No. 4 Arkansas42-7 W
1/1/71vs. No. 6 Notre Dame24-11 L
10/29/77No. 14 Texas Tech26-0 W
11/5/77at Houston35-21 W
11/12/77TCU44-14 W
11/19/77Baylor29-7 W
11/26/77at No. 12 Texas A&M57-28 W
1/1/78vs. No. 5 Notre Dame38-10 L
10/17/81at Arkansas42-11 L
10/6/84at Rice38-13 W
10/13/84vs. No. 2 Oklahoma15-15 T
10/18/08No. 11 Missouri56-31 W
10/25/08No. 7 Oklahoma State28-24 W
11/1/08at No. 6 Texas Tech39-33 L

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