Everything's softer in Texas: BYU fans forced to change "horns down" shirts

The greatest example of the Streisand Effect in college sports has emerged in the form of Horns Down.

The Texas Longhorns don't want anyone to flash the "horns down" symbol. They don't want you to say the words either. And the more sensitive they get about it, the more opposing fans are likely to poke that weak spot.

BYU fans tried to do that on Saturday by standing in the front row of the student section with shirts that spelled out "H-O-R-N-S-D-O-W-N." By the first media time out, they were told to change the shirts, according to Mitch Harper of KSL Sports.

"Horns down" shirts not allowed in BYU student section vs. Texas

The game was in Provo, so BYU officials would have been the ones to make the call to tell those students to change their shirts. We don't know if that was at the prompting of the Texas traveling party or the Cougars just not wanting their students to taunt. But we all know why this happened.

The Longhorns complained enough to the Big 12 that the conference turned the horns down symbol into something worthy of a taunting penalty during football games. They've made this an issue and become the butt of the joke in the process.

Even Texas fans are embarrassed by this.

"Horns down" is a completely innocent form of sports trash talk. There's no obscenity in it. There's nothing inherently inappropriate about taking a rival's symbol and flipping it upside down.

It's wild that there's even debate about whether Texas' opponents should be allowed to invoke it. Half of them wouldn't even think to do it if they didn't know some Longhorns have such a huge problem with it.

That's the Streisand Effect at work. Making a big deal about something minor you don't like only amplifies the thing. It's a silly trap to fall into.

Everything may be bigger in Texas, but it's softer too.

BYU had the last laugh in any case. The Cougars won 84-72.