The Season that Counts, Men's Version

This year's version of the UT Arlington men's team has had the best start to a season since 2017/18 when they had an equal 8-4 start en route to a 21-win season. I don't know what fortunes this year holds, but it has been a pleasure to watch the non-conference season.

The last Maverick Rambler post was just two games prior to the completion of the non-conference schedule and the results went the way my optimism was hoping.

UTA's lone-Power Conference game was in California against Stanford. UTA hit a cold streak in the first half while the Cardinal did not en route to a 25-40 Maverick deficit. UTA played toe-to-toe and was on the verge of getting the score within single digits on more than one occasion in the second half, but ultimately it was a 76-60 loss. UTA kept its fairly strong three-point defense going, allowing only five of 16 shooting for Stanford beyond the arc. Conversely, UTA was porous in the paint, where Stanford did a lot of damage.

The Season that Counts, Women's Version

Since I've rotated between weekly UT Arlington men's and women's basketball teams, non-conference games come at a sporadic pace, I haven't really covered the Lady Mavericks this month. As we exit the Christmas break, the non-conference portion of both teams schedule has concluded and there's no better time to check in with the UTA women's team.

UTA had just successfully competed in the North Shore Classic, going 2-1 against two P4 teams and an A-10 squad. In that time, they have compiled a respectable 2-2 record, defeating Little Rock in Arkansas, 62-55, losing in Houston to Rice, 75-54, defeating Texas Southern at College Park Center, 81-73 and closed out non-conference in Baton Rouge to the fifth-ranked Louisiana State Tigers, 110-45.

In the wins, UTA beat who they should have with the Trojans 30-40 spots below UTA in the NET ranking while the Tigers are 150 or so. In the losses, there wasn't anything shattering either.

Starting Strong

If you asked the average UT Arlington fan about their expectations for the 2025/26 men's basketball season, I'm not sure there would have been a consistent consensus. I know some eternally optimistic fans who believe every year is UTA's year. Conversely, I've seen the opposite end of the spectrum where some are of the opinion this will be a disaster.

For those in the middle or those like me who give it an honest attempt at as close to an unbiased look as possible, it is difficult. In the portal era where UTA has seen over 80 percent roster turnover in consecutive seasons, having any kind of expectation either way is increasingly less certain than a Las Vegas roulette table. 

This summer, Athletic Director Jon Fagg told me he thought the team had a high ceiling and would get some wins. Well, the early returns show he may have had the best take. To be fair, I don't get to watch practice and see how the new team looks. 

End of November Quick Hits

I wanted to touch on a number of sports for this week, so instead of doing half a dozen separate blog entries of varying lengths, I'm going to wrap all of them into this is one single entry. I don't normally do that, but I suspect that will prevent a post overload that I feel would have happened with six in a short period of time. I'll go in chronological order to avoid confusion.

-THE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL season ended a week ago. Prior to the start of the Western Athletic Conference tournament, the All-WAC teams and postseason accolades were given. Even though there were two Maverick players leading the conference in their respective stat categories, I wasn't expecting a player of the year honor for the team, given its fifth of seven finish in conference. Junior setter Mira Ledermueller was first in the WAC in assists with 896 and assists per set at 9.05 to conclude the regular season. Second place had 860 and 7.89 respectively. Junior libero Samantha Glenn had 422 total digs in the regular season, good for second in the conference and had 4.18 digs a set, good for first. 

What irked me is neither made an all-conference team. Senior outside hitter Jalie Tritt was a second-team member. There were two freshmen on the All-Freshman team: middle blocker Sophia Krichev and middle blocker Camryn McMinn.

Early Hoops Return

While the early 2-4 record for the UT Arlington women's basketball team isn't appealing on the surface, there's certainly things about this team that should build excitement for the part of the schedule that matters most, conference play.

Looking over the Western Athletic Conference, scores have not indicated a true favorite like there was last year. UTA's schedule was known to be challenging prior to the start of the season. Given the Mavericks recent conference performances the last few years, it seems something is working. The hope is this translates to a success WAC performance.

The Mavs opened the season with two straight losses at Houston (59-76) and at home to Missouri State (53-69). The first win was in College Park Center to Wyoming (64-44) and a second in a row to Tennessee State (78-58). In the one-that-got-away category, UTA suffered a 55-66 loss at Lamar. There, they led the Cardinals 38-26 with less than a minute gone in the 3rd quarter and it ended with the Mavs down 44-45. Most recently in the Hawaii North Shore Showcase, UTA slugged it out with Colorado, dropping another 60-71. In that game, UTA had a lead late in the first quarter before it ended in a tie. UTA was trailing by a point before a basket as time expired gave the Buffaloes a three-point lead at the half. The game was tied again halfway through the third before Colorado went on a spurt to keep the lead for good. UTA trimmed the lead to one with two minutes gone in the fourth, but gave up an 8-0 that was integral to the 11-point defeat.

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 12 - End with a High Note

I flip through dozens of games on Saturday afternoon nights during the college football season. I don't remember which broadcaster, but one last week or one prior said they couldn't believe how fast the season had progressed. I echo that as today is the final entry of the 2025 This Day in UTA Football History.

The Maverick Rambler ends with the 1980 season. It's been well established that '80 was a season of promise that came up very short. Maverick Stadium opened and UTA got its first win in their new home last week, a 36-14 win over Arkansas State. With that win, UTA was 1-5 at home for the 1980 season.

Certainly a mark that low was not on anyone's hopes or dreams to start the year. Losses of 17, ten, 12, 20 and 17 didn't give UTA fans much excitement either. The Mavs beat themselves, just as much as the opponent did.

Start Looks Good but ...

The 3-1 start to the 2025/26 looks good for the UT Arlington men's basketball team. And it is certainly better than 2-2 or, heaven forbid, 1-3. But this part of the season makes judging where the basketball team is or what they can be very difficult. 

The mark was attained by beating two non-NCAA schools, not just non-Division I. They opened the season against North Texas-Dallas, which seems to be a regular occurrence of late. They were on the Mavs schedule last year as well as the prior year. The relatively new National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school has gone 0-3 in those games. UTA won 91-40. A general rule of thumb for me is UTA needs to win these games by double.

Most recently, they played Arlington Baptist, a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) school that has an enrollment in the low hundreds. UTA played them for the first time and won 117-61.

But I have a thought after looking at those two games.