Texas Tops Collegiate Merchandise Sales Once Again

Vince Young - the gift that keeps on giving -- at least for the UT cash register.

Young dazzled college football and led the Longhorns to the National Championship in January of 2006, making Burnt Orange the coolest color in college sports. Texas set a record for licensed apparel sales with over $8 million that year, and the Longhorns have been at the top of the list ever since.

The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) announced Tuesday that he Longhorns racked up more sales than any other University for the 9th year in a row.

The Longhorns had been among the Top Ten in sales for a while before Young, but since then he has been the Texas version of the Michael Jordan effect. Jordan was a key component of North Carolina reaching the top of the sales list, and the Tar Heels stayed in the #1 slot for more than a decade after MJ left for the NBA.

Five SEC teams help fill out the rest of the Top Ten in sales. Texas is followed by Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Florida State, Texas A&M and North Carolina.

CLC estimates that retails sales of college-licensed merchandise reached $4.59 billion.