Rivalry Continues

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:

-the teams had met every year since the 1984/85 season, before they became conference rivals. In fact, they have met at least twice a year every year but the 1998/99 season,

-the all-time record is 41-37 in favor of the Mavs. Such a narrow margin makes a series special,

-there have been three OT games since 2018, including a 70-68 win in Arlington in 2018, an 84-77 double OT win in front of the largest crowd in Strahan history in 2019 and 85-87 triple OT loss in Arlington in 2020 on ESPN 2 in front of the second highest crowd for UTA that year behind homecoming, 

-eight games since 2018 had the score end within single digits and 14 total games in the nine years both teams were in the SBC, 

-they have met four times in the post-season conference tournament. UTA went 1-0 in the lone SLC appearance, but Texas State is 2-1 in the three SBC tournament games against UTA. One of those two wins smashed UTA's best all-time team and NCAA tournament contender in 2017,

-once the scheduled game is played, TXST will have tied McNeese State as the most played opponent for the Mavericks,

-the teams have finished next to each other in the standings or within one game 12 times,

-the teams recently drew well at home against the other, being a top three attendance game most years.

What's intriguing to me is the venue. Playing at an area, but off-campus, arena is interesting. It seems that the schools are trying to hype up the game. Playing it on the same date as the scheduled SMU/TCU game is another attempt to make this more of an event. My hope is the community responds and this becomes a good event that benefits all schools. Historically, these kinds of games fizzle out over time, rather than become a traditional, reoccurring event.

I'm also happy to see that Texas State values the series as UTA does. When I was a student, we didn't really have a conference rival. We got up to play Stephen F. Austin, but they didn't seem to reciprocate the rivalry. Since joining the Sun Belt, Texas State did, in every sport.

The top attended volleyball matches at UTA were when the Bobcats came to CPC, including an all-time record of 2,018. The top four attended CPC volleyball games are against Texas State.

The same is true in reverse, with only big-name Universities eclipsing UTA's draw. The same is true in women's basketball, outside of the Arlington ISD elementary school days. The diamond sports weren't the biggest draw of the year in either sport but were still generally above the season average.

It was my hope that we'd continue the series in all sports. When the volleyball schedule was released and Texas State wasn't on it, I feared for every other sport. It is a good sign that men's basketball is continuing on. I hope at least baseball does as well. 

I got to think that for Texas State, they need an in-state rivalry more than ever. They are out on an island in the Sun Belt now as Louisiana (shortest route 380 miles) and Louisiana-Monroe (466 miles) are their closest in-conference rivals. They play UT-San Antonio frequently, which is a good draw. But they don't play each other consistently in all sports.

While putting each other on the schedule certainly seems like a no-brainer, playing a team that draws fans and increases schedule competitiveness, no-brainer and NCAA conference realignment rarely makes competitive sense. Kudos to both schools for continuing the series the first opportunity they got.