Claim: Texas Longhorns men's basketball has reached the NCAA Final Four three times, most recently in 2003.

The Texas Longhorns men 's basketball team '' ' represents The University of Texas at Austin in NCAA Division I intercollegiate men 's basketball competition . The Longhorns currently compete in the Big 12 Conference .   The University of Texas began varsity intercollegiate competition in men 's basketball in 1906 . The Longhorns rank 17th in total victories among all NCAA Division I college basketball programs and 25th in all-time win percentage among programs with at least 50 years in Division I , with an all-time win-loss record of 1750 -- 1054 . Among Big 12 Conference men 's basketball programs , Texas is second only to Kansas in both all-time wins and all-time win percentage .   The Longhorns have won 27 total conference championships in men 's basketball and have made 33 total appearances in the NCAA Tournament -LRB- 11th-most appearances all time , with a 35 -- 36 overall record -RRB- , reaching the NCAA Final Four three times -LRB- 1943 , 1947 , 2003 -RRB- and the NCAA Regional Finals -LRB- Elite Eight -RRB- seven times . As of March 21 , 2017 , Texas ranks fifth among all Division I men 's basketball programs for total NCAA Tournament games won without having won the national championship -LRB- 35 -RRB- , trailing Purdue -LRB- 36 -RRB- , Notre Dame -LRB- 38 -RRB- , Illinois -LRB- 40 -RRB- , and Oklahoma -LRB- 41 -RRB- .   The Texas basketball program experienced substantial success during the early decades of its existence , but its success in the modern era is of relatively recent vintage . After two losing seasons during the program 's first five years , Texas suffered only one losing season from 1912 to 1950 , achieving a winning percentage of .703 during that span , reaching two Final Fours and one Elite Eight during the first decade of the NCAA Tournament , and receiving retroactive recognition as the 1933 national champion from the Premo-Porretta Power Poll ; from 1951 to 1988 , the Longhorns finished with losing records 14 times , recorded a winning percentage of .522 , and participated in the expanded Tournament only five times . Texas achieved some measures of national recognition during the tenures of head coaches Abe Lemons -LRB- 1976 -- 82 -RRB- and Tom Penders -LRB- 1988 -- 98 -RRB- , but the program rose to its highest level of prominence under the direction of former head coach Rick Barnes -LRB- 1998 -- 2015 -RRB- . Barnes guided Texas to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances in his 17 seasons with the program , including a school-record fourteen consecutive appearances -LRB- 1999 -- 2012 -RRB- , as well as fifteen 20-win seasons overall and a school-best thirteen consecutive 20-win seasons -LRB- 2000 -- 12 -RRB- .   Since 1977 , the team has played its home games in the Frank Erwin Special Events Center , where it has compiled a record of 487 -- 119 as of March 7 , 2017 . The team is currently led by second-year head coach Shaka Smart .