COLLEGE WORLD SERIES Despite four national titles, Texas falls short of dynasty

The Longhorns are closing in on their fifth title.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
OMAHA, Neb. -- Texas catcher Taylor Teagarden knows the Longhorns have won five national championships. He is amazed, though, how the titles are spread across five different decades dating to 1949.
For all its vast baseball history, UT has never clustered multiple national titles together and established a true championship dynasty like Southern California did in the 1970s or LSU in the 1990s.
Texas can win its second national championship in the last three years. With two victories against Cal State Fullerton in the College World Series, UT could establish itself as the dominant Division I powerhouse in an era where parity makes it hard to win one title, much less two or three.
Game 1 of the best-of-3 CWS championship series started Saturday night at Rosenblatt Stadium.
"To see one in 2002 and another in 2004 would really say a lot about the teams we've had in the last few years," Teagarden said. "I guess if we pulled it out, that would put us in the category of a dynasty."
Even if Texas (58-13) wins the CWS, it's not time to elevate coach Augie Garrido's club to dynasty status yet. Other teams have set higher standards.
Higher standards
USC, led by coach Rod Dedeaux, won five straight championships from 1970-74 and six total during the decade. In the 1980s, Arizona and Stanford won consecutive titles, but no team won three.
In the 1990s, LSU won four championships playing "Gorilla Ball." Coach Skip Bertman just sat back and watched his team smash one home run after another.
Garrido is the only coach in Division I history to win four national titles in four different decades. He won three at Cal State Fullerton (1979, '84, '95) and one at UT (2002).
Garrido said simply playing in the CWS should be hailed as an accomplishment, just like reaching the Final Four in basketball or the BCS title game in football. Winning on this stage is an entirely different matter.
Tough road
Just getting to Omaha isn't easy. Rice is the perfect example.
The Owls had the best starting pitching staff in college baseball. All three were picked in the top 10 of this year's major league draft. Rice, a No. 6 national seed, was knocked out of the NCAA tournament in the first round. Also falling short were national seeds Georgia Tech (No. 4), Stanford (No. 5) or Arizona State (No. 7).
"I don't think people understand the quality and competitiveness of the other teams," Garrido said. "You've got eight champions that start this thing. Then the teams start to separate themselves, and then we're down to two."
Fullerton coach George Horton has been to the CWS three times as a head coach but has yet to win a national title as a head coach. Horton believes the current playoff system -- which includes a NCAA super regional round and a best-of-3 CWS championship series -- strains even the best teams.
"What Bertman did and what Dedeaux did will be very difficult for anybody to repeat," Horton said. "But I do think it's possible for someone to get two, three or four championships over certain years if they get on a roll like that."