Hornography: Top 10s

1) Ramifications of loss to Notre Dame basically sent the Longhorns' season into an unmitigated tailspin by the final whistle. Immediately forced into scramble for answers – with a coaching staff not on the same page – Charlie Strong turned to Norvell as lead play-caller, and redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard as QB.

2) Texas Upends Oklahoma in Red River Rivalry Without this massive win, all other events staying the same, Athletics Director Mike Perrin is looking for another head coach, instead of flying up to capture his offensive coordinator.

3) Hiring of Shaka Smart Other than hiring Strong, Steve Patterson's hiring of Smart ranks as highest in his tenure. Smart's infectious vigor is quickly proving precisely what the Longhorn men's basketball program called for.

4) Firing of Steve Patterson His brief tenure brought seismic changes to UT Athletics' perception (the hiring of two black coaches to a school not exactly known as a safe space for minorities) and its financial bottom line. (So, um, beer. Yeah.)

5) Volleyball's Lady Horns Reach Title Game Though they came up short against Nebraska, the Lady Horns finished yet another successful season by reaching their second championship game in four years (won it in 2012). They earned their fourth Final Four in a row – the seventh in eight years.

6) Smart Earns Signature Win Over No. 3 North Carolina. For all intents and purposes, Smart's season – and timetable – started with this huge victory. This is the sort of win fans and pundits expect next year.

7) Firing of Rick Barnes Barnes is deserving of all the praise he was given and more. Barnes saw the arrival of future Texas greats like Durant, Aldridge, Tucker, and Ford. Finished with a Final Four appearance and three Big 12 titles.

8) Texas Upends Baylor Playing Sugar Bowl-spoiler, Texas earned a hard-fought victory, finishing a topsy-turvy season on a tremendous high note and providing itself some recruiting momentum.

9) The Gilbert Situation Somehow, some way – and with a lot of money – it finally got done. Sterlin Gilbert and the accompanying offensive mechanic Mike Mattox look to pull the guts out of a sputtering machine.

10) Loss to Iowa State If Strong couldn't be fired after this debacle, he couldn't be fired. Coming out flat and without a clue, the Horns laid a sizable egg. Support and belief in Strong remained. The message was clear: through thick or thin.