Examining Texas Longhorns' Lengthy Cotton Bowl History

The Texas Longhorns return to a very familiar destination.

Jon Alfano | 8 Hours Ago

Cotton Bowl chairman Kelvin Walker presents Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian with a cowboy hat during a press conference at AT&T Stadium prior to the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl Classic in Arlington, Texas on Jan. 9, 2025. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Texas Longhorns

In more ways than one, the Texas Longhorns find themselves in familiar territory.

Not only are they back in the College Football Playoff semifinals, where they fell just short last season, but they are back in the Cotton Bowl Classic for the 23rd time, the most in the game's history. For comparison, the team with the second-most appearances, the Texas A&M Aggies, have just 13 appearances.

In their past 22 appearances, Texas boasts a record of 11-10-1, so around .500. In honor of their return to Arlington, let's look back on the Longhorns' lengthy history in the Cotton Bowl (the game, not the venue).

The Longhorns' first appearance in the Cotton Bowl came on Jan. 1, 1943 (1942 season), when they defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 14-7 in just the sixth iteration of the game. Texas dominated for much of the game, but Georgia Tech mounted a furious comeback in the final minutes. As the Yellow Jackets looked to tie the game late, the Longhorns came up with a goal-line stand to win their first bowl game in program history.

The very next year, the Longhorns returned to the game and faced a very unusual opponent in the Randolph Field Ramblers, playing to a 7-7 tie. They then played several more times over the next several years, participating in the 1945, 1950, 1952, and 1959 seasons.

If there's any time period to showcase Texas' history in the Cotton Bowl, it would be the early 60s-mid 70s. From 1961-73, Darrell Royal's Longhorns played in the game a whopping nine times, including every season from 1968-73. They also won three claimed national championships in that time in 1963, 1969 and 1970, despite losing the game in the latter year.

Since then, though, the Longhorns have only played in the Cotton Bowl sporadically. Their most recent appearance came at the end of the 2002 season when they defeated the LSU Tigers 35-20.

Yes, that means that this game is the Longhorns' first time playing in the Cotton Bowl in 22 years, as well as their first time playing the game at AT&T Stadium and not the venue of the same name. So, while they're very familiar with the game, this will still be an entirely new experience for them.