PJ Tucker, TJ Ford on the Horns Football Team

Wasn't meant to be seriously debated, truth be told. Just a fun item for posting, and a hat tip to Mr. Steinberg for going out of his way to serenade us - he wanted to be linked onto a Texas blog. His email was funny. We went for it.

Plus we love PJ Tucker and TJ Ford.

Vince took an already fantastic team with a lot of history and gave it the identity it needed to be a champion.  TJ pretty much singlehandedly turned this basketball program into a national player.  When he signed, it was a signal that Texas was a possible destination for top recruits.  When he took the team to the Final 4, that was it.  It meant you could win at Texas.  And the athletic department responded by building tons of new facilities, which resulted in better recruiting.

When you think of who built the Texas football program, you think DKR.  In the future, when you think who built the Texas basketball program, my bet is you're going to think Rick Barnes and TJ.

UT basketball wasn't even on the map outside the state of Texas in terms of recruiting, for the most part, until TJ decided to come play here.  We would have never landed LaMarcus and Kevin Durant if TJ hadn't come here first.  And he gave fans a taste of the Final Four, which has left us hungry for more. And there's no discounting the fact that he managed to fill up the Erwin Center, at a supposedly "football school".

That's no knock on VY.  He was probably the most talented athlete to set foot on the 40 Acres.  But his arrival here hasn't had the lasting impact that TJ's did.  Texas was already among the elite in the sport before his arrival.  He just took us that extra few miles to the Promised Land.

... whether Cat's brilliance leads to a recruiting bonanza and years of top-5 teams.  Coach Clark has yet to land another marquee player, so the jury's still out.

Remember, when Cat was off playing at the Olympics, the team was 24-25 and finished 8th in the Big XII.