The first 12-team College Football Playoff offers a wealth of potential storylines. Some teams are looking to build on already historic seasons as Blue Bloods look to once again reach the top of the sport.

The latter category includes the Texas Longhorns, whose struggles in recent years have made them an easy target for ridicule from the college football community.

The mockery of the Longhorns is often summed up in three sarcastic words: “Texas is back.” The phrase has been repeated countless times since 2016, when ESPN’s Joe Tessitore first used it when leading Texas to the winning touchdown in the season opener against Notre Dame shouted.

The question of whether Texas is coming back — or not — quickly took on a life of its own on college football social media, with Longhorns fans and haters alike rushing to post those three words after every big win or loss. At one point there was even a website, istexasback.com, dedicated to the rhetorical question.

Texas hosts the Clemson Tigers on Saturday as they begin their playoff quest for their first national title since 2005. Here are some of the most notable moments over the last eight years when it looked like Texas might actually be back.

The moment: September 4, 2016. Tyrone Swoopes leaves Notre Dame in double overtime to open the 2016 season

What happened next: Texas finishes the fall at 5-7 and Charlie Strong is fired at the end of the season

The origins of the statement date back to 2016, when the Longhorns and Fighting Irish delivered an instant classic in Week 1 of that season. After suffering two losing seasons in his first two years as head coach, Charlie Strong turned to freshman quarterback Shane Buechele to cheer the team ahead of his third season. Buechele became the first freshman quarterback to start a season opener for Texas since 1944.

Another period wasn’t enough to separate the two blue-bloods. In the second overtime, Tyrone Swoopes dove into the end zone to send DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium into a frenzy and proclaim to Tessitore, “Texas is back, folks.”

However, the joke quickly turned into a mockery as the season progressed. The Longhorns endured two separate three-game defeats in the fall, including one that ended the season, with each defeat punctuated by numerous “Are they still back?” Jokes on social media. Strong was fired after the final game of the season.

---

The moment: January 1, 2019. Sam Ehlinger announces “We’re back” in a postgame interview after winning the Sugar Bowl

What happened next: Texas is 8-5 over the next two seasons and Tom Herman will be fired at the end of the 2020 season

After a 7-6 debut season, the Longhorns’ next coach, Tom Herman, struck a chord in his second fall, posting 9 wins in the regular season – highlighted by a thrilling 48-45 win over then-Red River rival 7th place Oklahoma Sooners.

The Sooners would get revenge in the Big 12 title game, but another top-ten win in the Sugar Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs gave Texas momentum heading into the offseason. Seizing the opportunity to capitalize on the momentum, quarterback Sam Ehlinger used the postgame taunt as an extended rallying cry to Longhorn fans.

Things slowly came to an end under Herman, however, as two disappointing seasons in 2019 and 2020 led to his own exit.

---

The moment: September 9, 2023. Steve Sarkisian leads the Longhorns to a road win over No. 3 Alabama

What happened next: Texas finishes 11-1 and wins the Big 12, but loses to Washington in the College Football Playoff semifinals

The growth under Herman’s successor – Steve Sarkisian – proved to be linear: The Longhorns won five games in 2021 and eight games in 2022. 2023 proved to be a breakout year, with their biggest statement coming in early September when they eclipsed Sarkisian’s former boss Nick Saban in a 34-24 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

TEXAS IS OFFICIALLY BACK AFTER BEING NO. 3 ALABAMA 🤘 pic.twitter.com/wyF9t8ELLh

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 10, 2023

Unlike some of Texas’ other recent highlights, their win over the Tide wasn’t a precursor to a humiliating crash. The Longhorns lost to Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry, but finished the season 12-1 and won the Big 12 title. However, Texas lost to the Washington Huskies in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff, preventing the Longhorns from having a chance at the always elusive national title.

---

The moment: November 30, 2024. The Longhorns win the first football Lone Star showdown since 2011 and qualify for the SEC Championship Game

What happened next: Georgia beats Texas 22-19 to win the SEC title

Texas’ first regular season in the SEC was a resounding success. The Longhorns secured a trip to Atlanta by beating rival Texas A&M in the Lone Star Showdown at Kyle Field and returning to the starting lineup.

As the No. 2 team in the country headed into the SEC title game, things didn’t go as planned for Texas in its attempt to win the conference in its first season. Georgia prevailed in overtime, costing Sarkisian and Co. a bye in the 12-team playoff round. Instead, the Longhorns have viewed their opening round game against Clemson as the beginning of their mission to silence their haters and prove once and for all that Texas is back.