brackens attended the university of texas at austin, where he played for the texas longhorns football team from 1992 to 1995. he developed a reputation as a ferocious hitter as a defensive end. as senior in 1995, he was recognized as a consensus first-team all-american and was also a first-team all-southwest conference selection. he finished his career ranked eighth on the longhorns' all-time list with 24 sacks. he was also a key contributor to the 1995 longhorns team that went 10-1 and won the southwest conference and gained a berth in the 1996 sugar bowl against the virginia tech hokies.