Do you all believe that fig trees in south texas need winter protection? I'm in San Antonio and sometimes we may get temps in low 30's through the night in "winter" but when the sun comes back up the temperature will rise again. 

Location has nothing to do as to whether or not a fig tree needs protection....it has to do with temperature.  How old is the tree? Is it sheltered?

If it is cold it needs protection, different aged trees will need different protections, some cultivars are more cold hardy than others.

Better to be safe than sorry.

Better safe than sorry. The "Cold Hardy" varieties are generally good to 20 degrees, but wind is another problem. If you've got a borderline variety. Wrap it up.

From Canyon Lake, 40 miles north of San Antonio city limits - I have 234 plants, 90 varieties. I decided this year to protect only about thirty 1 gal pots.

About the only freeze we had it got down to 17° two mornings in a row with a high of 36° for a few minutes in late afternoon of first day.

Most froze back to the ground. All but six or so have sprouted either from the ground or above the ground. So far the ones not showing signs of growth are Black Madeira (inground), Figo Preto(15 gal mulched to within 6" of rim), Maltese Falcon(15gal mulched to within 6" of rim), Smith(5gal).

I have another Smith that is coming out nicely. The BM, FP and MF if the don't come out will not be replaced. The FP fruit has more seeds than I like. I have read the BM is very similar to FP so it's out. The MF is just too expensive to replace.

I had some one gallon trees started last spring that had not gone dormant that died after 2 nights of 24 degrees and a lot of wind.  I also had some young trees that the tips were killed and they resprouted below the tips.

Living just north of Houston, I only protected my smaller (1 gal and less) potted figs in a greenhouse. All others were left out all winter, including the few nights down below 20 degrees.

The only complete lose was a 1 year old Raspberry Latte. Several others did have noticeable freeze damaged limbs. The worst was the Blk Madeira (also a year old), a small English BT that died to the ground,  and a Panache. Another couple of Italian Blacks did suffer some damage. But all other trees came through with no problems.

I also want to point out that these few very cold days and nights are record lows for the last couple of decades.

CliffH