Texas has taken down the No. 1 team in college football five times. Could Alabama be next?

Great moments, as the late great Herb Brooks once said, are born from great opportunity. The Texas Longhorns certainly have one on Saturday as they get set to host No. 1 Alabama.

It’s admittedly a tall order, with the Crimson Tide heading into Austin as nearly three-touchdown favorites. But the capacity of the sport of college football to surprise us should never be discounted.

This is the 17th time in the Longhorns’ lengthy history they’ll face the top-ranked team. It hasn’t always gone well for Texas, which came up on the short end of 11 of the 16 prior encounters. The most recent of those, in fact, was also against Alabama, the Bowl Championship Series title game in Pasadena during the 2009 season that secured the Tide’s first national title of the Nick Saban era in Tuscaloosa.

But on five occasions, the Longhorns successfully took down No. 1. Here’s a quick look back at the Texas triumphs, starting with the most recent.

Oct. 11, 2008 – Texas 45, Oklahoma 35

This was just a single chapter in what was arguably the craziest year in the history of the Big 12, and of course the Red River showdown in the Cotton Bowl was a big part of it. The then-No. 1 Sooners looked to be off and running with a 14-3 lead early, but Jordan Shipley returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. There would be plenty of other huge momentum swings, but Colt McCoy engineered a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives that proved to be the difference. Oklahoma would go on to win the Big 12 South after the Longhorns lost to Texas Tech in another memorable showdown.

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Jan. 4, 2006 – Texas 41, Southern California 38

Longhorns’ fans hold much more fond memories of this trip to the Rose Bowl, an epic BCS finale that concluded with Vince Young’s last-minute dash for the corner of the end zone. The Trojans, with two Heisman winners in their starting backfield, were the two-time defending national champs with a 34-game winning streak which held the top ranking for the entire season. But with USC holding a 38-33 lead with just over two minutes remaining, a failed fourth-down conversion attempt at the Texas 45 gave the Longhorns one more chance. After driving into the red zone, Young took the snap on fourth-and-five from the USC eight with just 19 seconds on the clock. You know the rest.

Jan. 1, 1965 – Texas 21, Alabama 17

The Orange Bowl following the 1964 season was historically significant on several fronts. For one thing, the NBC telecast marked the first time a college football game was shown at night in prime time. The undefeated Crimson Tide, led by Joe Namath, had already been voted national champions by the major polls. But the Longhorns built an early 14-0 cushion and held on late with a goal-line stand. Ernie Koy rushed for 133 yards and two scores for the Longhorns, including a 79-yard burst for the game’s first points. The Associated Press would begin conducting its final poll after the bowl for the first time the following year.

Oct. 12, 1963 – Texas 28, Oklahoma 7

For the first time in the history of the Red River showdown, the Sooners and Longhorns were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 entering the 1963 contest in the Cotton Bowl. Texas, however, would seize the top spot with this decisive victory en route to an undefeated national championship campaign. The Longhorns scored the game's first three touchdowns, helped by a rushing attack that piled up 239 yards.

Nov. 4, 1950 – Texas 23, SMU 20

You have to go all the way back to 1950 to find the last time Texas took down the No. 1 team on its home field. The Mustangs held the top spot heading into this visit to Austin, but the Longhorns, ranked seventh at the time, prevailed in a close affair and would eventually go on to win the Southwest Conference. Texas dominated on the ground and took a 14-0 advantage after two rushing touchdowns by Bryon Townsend. SMU would rally behind a passing game that accumulated 352 yards on 47 attempts, but a fourth-quarter safety for the Longhorns helped hold them off.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas has beaten No. 1 five times. Could Alabama be next?