Basketball School?

 I got the idea for this post the day before the most recent slate of games played by both UT Arlington basketball teams. As evidenced by the January 14th games, this will be a little outdated, but a couple of wins doesn't negate the poor start to Western Athletic Conference play for both teams. 

Prior to Saturday, the men's team was 0-5 to start WAC play. You have to go back all the way to the 1988/89 season, when the team started 0-7 in the Southland Conference. to find a worse start. That team ultimately won four of the final seven conference games. They were a young squad then and ultimately built the second-best run in program history (to that point) in the following years. 

In 89/90, they improved to 13-16 overall and 6-8 in conference, 20-9 and 11-3 the next year with two more winning seasons to follow, both in conference and overall. I'll go more in depth on the hopeful parallels that exist between these two teams.

On the women's side, at 1-4, they were off to their worst start since 2013/14 when Krista Gerlich began her first season of rebuilding the women's team that won less than ten games and lost more than 20 the previous three years. The 13/14 squad completed the season at 4-25, 3-15. It was the last major losing season. The only other losing season was a 15-16 mark in 2015/16. There have been four 20-win seasons since, the most successful period in program history.

A Nice Slate of Games

Like I mentioned in the baseball companion entry, the Christmas season took priority over my hobbies. Like the baseball team, the UT Arlington softball team released their schedule for the upcoming season. Unlike their baseball counterparts, the Mav softballers have some local teams and big names coming to Arlington.

The season starts with four games, two each against Texas Tech and Tulsa in Arlington. Two good tests against two good teams to start the season. 

The next week, they go north to Denton. The UTA site shows three games. The North Texas website shows the Green playing six games and when I check the Tracy Beard Classic website, there are six teams. No official schedule, but the teams include UTA, North Texas, Kentucky, McNeese State, Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Interesting that the six teams represent four conferences. I wonder if they will play each other or if there's scheduling agreements to avoid it.

2023 on Deck

The holidays are never a good time for a fan blog who posts in spare time, as this entry shows. The UT Arlington baseball team had announced their upcoming schedule a few weeks ago, but I'm just now getting to it. Having to pick between my college or my kids isn't a fair choice.

This is the first season under new coach Clay Van Hook, so I was expecting something different. There are some newer teams coming in 2023 but was somewhat disappointed by what's coming to Arlington this year.

My understanding of scheduling in baseball is that schedules can vary widely year-to-year and aren't made far advance, unlike football where the non-conference slate is done five years or more down the line. So, a new coach can make a wild difference from the prior one. 

The season opens like many recently have with a three-game trip to Corpus Christi to play Texas A&M-CC. This will be the sixth year in a row these two teams play each other to open the season. UTA also plays the Islanders in a mid-week game in Arlington in late April.

Underperforming at a High Level

 It seems basketball season has been a bit rough the UT Arlington Athletic Department in 2022. I documented the men's side earlier this week. Like their opposite gender counterparts, the women played one of the harder schedules in the conference. And came out of it okay at 6-6. There weren't any wow games, but conversely, there weren't any crushing disappointments, at least as the final results go. 

We knew UTA had lost a lot prior the start of the season: Claire Chastain, Katie Ferrell and Terryn Milton. Most pundits and fans thought the slack, or some of it, was taken up by the additions of Kamaria Gipson, Jireh Washington and Kayla White. 

Unfortunately, Washington missed five games with an injury. She was back for the last non-conference game but played well-below the minutes she averaged prior to her injury. However, there seem to be a detriment to this team that may be a by-product of the modern NCAA, more on that towards the end.

UTA started the season with a drubbing of Division I Texas Southern. Those that truly follow this blog know I don't have a high opinion of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, but they are still Division I. So after 102-53 victory, Maverick nation was feeling good.