The Tower glowed burnt orange for a different reason Wednesday night.
With the football team an afterthought and basketball teams barely into their regular seasons, UT chose to honor its most successful athletic program of 2007 after they claimed their first Big 12 title since 1997: the volleyball team.
And as the No. 3 Longhorns (24-3, 19-1 Big 12) prepare to play host to the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament starting tonight at Gregory Gym, the players believe they belong among the country's elite.
"If we can sustain a certain level, we're on par with the top teams in the country," head coach Jerritt Elliott said. "Everyone here feels like we have a very good chance at going deep into the tournament."
While having the Tower lit is their most recent honor, this week has been full of accolades and awards for Texas.
The Longhorns now sport five All-Big 12 First Team players - Michelle Moriarty, Lauren Paolini, Ashley Engle, Destinee Hooker and Juliann Faucette - the freshman of the year (Faucette) and the coach of the year (Elliott).
And on top of that, Hooker, Paolini and Faucette were all invited to try out for the U.S. national team in January.
But, despite all their regular season accomplishments, the Longhorns are still looking to cross one final goal off their to-do list: a national championship.
"We're very excited, but we can't let that affect us," Hooker said. "It's time to move on."
Having won 20 straight matches, including a sweep of then-top-ranked Nebraska, the Longhorns are deserving of their first seed billing in the Gainesville (Fla.) Regional and fourth seed overall.
Faucette sees their regular season matches with No. 1 Penn State and Nebraska as practice for the tournament.
"Those matches really gave us a wake-up call for the tournament," Faucette said. "Every game's not going to be a cakewalk."
Last year, Texas advanced to the Regional Finals for the first time since 1998, losing to Stanford in the round of eight. Elliott feels his team has what it takes to deal with the high competition of the tournament.
"This is my most capable team ,maybe ever," Elliott said. "When we play at our highest level, we're tough to contain."
The Longhorns' first opponent is Texas State. The Bobcats (21-11, 10-6 Southland) earned their third conference championship in three years and are entering their sixth NCAA tournament.
No matter who is on the other side of the net, the Longhorns believe they have a team capable of bringing home a national title for the first time since 1988.
"We can go all the way," senior libero Alyson Jennings said. "After being here for four years, this is the team to do it."
Maybe they'll have the Tower illuminated burnt orange in their honor again, soon.
The tournament kicks off at 4:30 p.m. today with LSU and No. 14 New Mexico State facing off, followed by Texas and Texas State at 6:30 p.m. The winners will play Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Gregory Gym.
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