The UT Arlington Athletic Department recently announced a key date on the men's basketball schedule. On top of that, it looks like they are trying to elevate the match-up.
On December 10, 2022 UTA will renew the now-non-conference rivalry with the Texas State Bobcats. Additionally, it will be played off-campus at Dickie's Arena in the Fort Worth Cultural District.
I was certainly excited to see the game on the schedule. I was afraid it would turn into a casualty of conference realignment. UTA was fortunate to have both the Bobcats and Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners move to the Western Athletic Conference together, giving the Mavericks some familiar faces in a new conference. When UTA moved to the Sun Belt, Texas State did too, maintaining what was UTA's then-longest current conference rival. It was theirs a well.
But, when UTA was forced out of the Sun Belt, the longest-continuous rivalry meter was reset to zero. However, UTA does renew some conference rivalries of various degrees, but nothing continuous.
Consider what the Texas State rivalry had climbed to in men's basketball: