The team has achieved national prominence under head coach Rick Barnes in recent years. Barnes has guided Texas to a school-record ten consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and a school-best nine consecutive 20-win seasons as of March 16, 2008.
Since 1977, the team has played its home games in the Frank Erwin Special Events Center, where it has compiled a record of 362-89 (.803) as of March 9, 2008.
The Longhorns have won 27 total conference championships in men's basketball and have made 26 total appearances in the NCAA Tournament (32-29 overall record), reaching the NCAA Final Four three times (1943, 1947, 2003) and the NCAA Regional Finals (Elite Eight) seven times. As of March 28, 2008, Texas ranks second (tied with Oklahoma) among all Division I men's basketball programs for total NCAA Tournament games won without having won the national championship (32), trailing only Illinois (38).
Despite this record of historical success, Texas is not generally regarded as having a traditionally significant or powerful men's basketball program. The Longhorn program experienced substantial success during the early decades of its existence, but its success in the modern era is of relatively recent vintage.
While Texas achieved some measures of national recognition during the tenures of head coaches Abe Lemons (1976-82) and Tom Penders (1988-98), the program has risen to its present level of prominence under the direction of current head coach Rick Barnes (1998-present). The preponderance of the Longhorns' previous men's basketball success took place prior to 1950.
