It appears that Texas fans took yesterday’s upset loss to Stanford very hard. An hour before game time, there were surprisingly few tailgate parties in the parking lot, and posts on hornfans.com have been predominantly gloomy.

If you are a Texas fan trying to find reason for hope, here are two numbers to think about: 2001 and 2005.

2001 was the last time Texas did not host a regional. The Horns were sent to Palo Alto as the #3 seed. Texas pulled two consecutive upsets over 2-seed Long Beach and 1-seed Stanford to put themselves in the driver’s seat, but Stanford came back through the loser’s bracket and won two one-run games against the Longhorns to advance. If you’re a Texas fan, you’re probably thinking, “Now it’s payback time.”

On June 4th, 2005, Texas and Arkansas met in the second Saturday game of the Austin Regional. Just like yesterday, Kyle McCulloch took the hill for Texas that day and was roughed up in a surprising loss. The next day, Texas bombed Miami-OH 12-4, then turned right around and slaughtered the Hogs 19-8 to force a Monday game. The Longhorns won that one 5-2 to advance to the Supers. If you’re a Texas fan, you’re probably thinking, “We did this last year and we can do it again.”

(Press conference gold from yesterday: A writer asked Augie if he talked to his team about how they were in this situation last year and everything turned out great. Augie stared blankly for second then responded, “No, because I had completely forgotten about it until you just reminded me.”)

On the other hand, this Texas team has flaws that last year’s team didn’t, most notably infield defense. First baseman Chance Wheeless is the only returnee on the infield. Up the middle, Savvy seniors Seth Johnston and Robby Hudson have been replaced by JC transfer Chais Fuller and freshman Bradley Suttle. Third baseman David Maroul, who you might remember from his spot-on Brooks Robinson imitation in Omaha last year, has been replaced by gritty but erratic Nick Peoples. In Stanford’s crucial four-run fifth inning yesterday, all four infielders had balls hit to them that they were unable to turn into outs.

One piece of good news for everyone who’s a college baseball fan: Nick Peoples, who took that wicked shot to his nose yesterday, is in the lineup today.