UTA FB History: Vol. 7 Gm. 9 - Birth of a Conference?

 I find much of the early half decade of Arlington State College's time as a four-year school fascinating. They entered the College Division (today's Division II) when they transitioned from the Junior College ranks. As much as I have mentioned the 1970's transition to the University Division (today's DI) and the poor execution, the mid-50's and early 1960's set the stage for an optimal transition to the higher level. 

The then-Rebels were the Junior College national champions in 1956 and '57. They had an on-campus stadium that consistently sold out. The Arlington community was on board, and they attracted local talent, the only thing that was lacking was a conference home.

There's very little about how the Southland Conference was formed. What I have uncovered was the charter members, Abilene Christian College (now ACU), Arkansas State, Arlington State College, Lamar Tech (Tech has been dropped), and Trinity University met at the now demolished Baker Hotel in downtown Dallas and formed the conference. Texas A&I, now Texas A&M-Kingsville, was invited, but declined to attend. 

Arlington State played ACC and Trinity quite often prior to this meeting. ASC first met both teams in 1960 and would play again every year until the conference was formed. Ironically, ASC never played the other two charter members until conference play started. Total from 1959 to disbandment in '85, Arkansas State and Lamar are the most played teams at 22. At least one game from either of those last two teams and there'd be in sole possession.

UTA FB History: Vol. 7 Gm. 8 - Turnaround Game?

 As October moves past the halfway mark, our series for this year returns to 1972. While historians look back at the '72 squad with general enthusiasm, no one would know it at this point in time. When we last checked in with the '72 Mavericks, they were fresh off their 21-3 loss to Oklahoma State. That loss moved them to 0-2.

It didn't get better from there as they lost to on the road to Toledo, 38-24. The fourth road game in a row did not fare any better as the Mavs fell to TCU in Fort Worth 38-14. At least that road game was a small distance for Maverick fans to follow. Hard to get excited for an 0-3 squad facing a team in the premier conference from the region. A good crowd of 22,000 plus was on hand, so they were at least traveling in some number. 

Finally, last week, the team's first home game occurred as conference favorite Louisiana Tech came to Arlington. I mentioned last week how much the Bulldogs dominated UTA during this era, and specifically mentioned the 35-14 loss. While the stat sheet wasn't dominated by Louisiana Tech offensively, Tech won the rushing yardage battle 196-150, passing yards 154-78 and first downs 19-13, they intercepted nine, yes nine Maverick passes. That interception record is still a Southland Conference record for most thrown in a game.

Football Info Find

I consider myself one of the few remaining knowledgeable people regarding the UT Arlington / Arlington State College football teams. I got there by acquiring knowledge from many different outlets and different ways. Over the years, I have bought 16 different ASC / UTA football media guides from various online outlets. Occasionally I search to see if I can find any of the 11 I am missing. 

I conducted one such search this month and there were a lot of the same sites I have seen the times I have looked, but one new one caught my eye. 

You won't find any links to the main page, but on the UTA athletics site, there's a football page. If you didn't know any better, it looks like any of the other 15 sports' sub-sites. The football page has the front page rolling news site, which is currently manned by Hall-of-Honor and former NFL-great Bruce Collie. 

At the top left, there's the typical schedule, roster, news and archives tabs.

This One Seems Off

 As expected, the Western Athletic Conference released the coaches poll for the upcoming men's basketball season on Monday. Again, like I did yesterday with the commentary for the UT Arlington women's basketball team, I want to emphasize that I don't believe any singular poll is worth anything other than commentary. And I definitely have something to say with this one.

But first, the poll, with first place votes in parenthesis:

1. Grand Canyon         (9)    99

2. Stephen F. Austin    (2)    87

3. Seattle                              86

4. Utah Valley                      61

5. Abilene Christian            60

6. Tarleton St                      49

7. California Baptist           47

8. UT Arlington                  43

t9. Southern Utah               26

t9. UT Rio Grande Valley  26

11. Utah Tech                     21

With Grand Canyon at the top, there's no surprise. Preseason Player of the Year is Ray Harrison, who tested the NBA waters this year before electing to come back. He was a big part of them winning the WAC tourney and getting to the NCAA's. Seattle has been consistently tough and Cam Tyson is a tough guard for any defense. SFA, I'm a little less sold on, but we'll see. I certainly think UTA closed the gap with them.

That's about Right

 It's that time of year where anticipation for the upcoming UT Arlington basketball seasons is starting to build. Schedules have been released, there's little fall outlets for sports competition and in the case of this year, tons of new faces and a new coach on the men's side. Rankings and preseason polls are coming out. 

Yesterday, the Western Athletic Conference released the coaches' poll for how they see the conference race ending. Those that know me know I'm not a fan of these things, with one exception: they are wildly wrong way more than they are close to right and provide fodder and motivation in a distractionary way. In the transfer portal era, where just about every team seems to have at a minimum 50 percent roster turnover, these are worth the paper they are printed on. However, they are great for talking and getting ready for the season. 

 The Mavericks were tabbed seventh, which is about right for where we were last year. The Mavs were tabbed first and second, depending on the poll and finished eighth. There were injuries that caused issues, but they underperformed against teams they shouldn't have. So, this is about right.

UTA FB History: Vol. 7 Gm. 7 - The Circle of Friends Grows

 We started the 2023 This Day in UTA Football History with three straight games in the 1970's. Today will mark the fourth entry in the 1960's. Just two weeks ago we looked at the 1961 Arlington State Rebels' win over Stephen F. Austin that victory jumped the ASC record to 2-1 on the year.

The following week, the Rebs faced the McNeese State Cowboys, not to be confused with last week's entry against McNeese State in 1967. After trailing 13-0 at half, the Rebels scored 15 in the third and got an insurance touchdown in the fourth, which they needed. McNeese scored with a minute and a half remaining, recovered the ensuing onside kick with a few seconds remaining, but Ronnie Sutherland sealed the game with an interception and then a lengthy return as time expired. The 22-19 win moved their record to 3-1.

This week's tone will be similar to last week, as today's opponent is similar to McNeese State last week.

Basketball Schedules are Released

 I went to the UT Arlington volleyball match on Thursday against Cal Baptist and when I got s program, I happened to see a paper with the men's basketball schedule for the 2023/24 upcoming season. Thought I had the chance to post the schedule before the University formally released it, they formally released it on Friday.

There wasn't much we didn't know by piecing together the schedules other teams released, with my most recent post about the topic listing it here.

The missing pieces are a November 11th homecoming match against U of Texas-Tyler, another non-DI home game against North Texas-Dallas and the known-opponent, unknown-date road contest against North Texas on December 23. 

Overall, I'm happy with what I see. Coupled with a new coach, new roster with proven skins and a different vibe coming from College Park Center, I'd expect several indicators to be pointing up for the program. I'll give my impressions of the 31-game schedule. 

UTA FB History: Vol. 7 Gm. 6 - Soon to be Good Friends

 Now that every season has at least one entry for the Arlington State College/UT Arlington football program, we'll start to check in with each team again. For this week's game on This Day in UTA Football History, we'll return to the 1967 squad. It's only been one game we've missed since the last entry, but it certainly was a momentous one. 

When we last checked in, the team was 2-0 after a come-from-behind win against the higher-level school in New Mexico State. The game we missed was an entry in the 2017 edition. The link is here, but the short-story is a rivalry game against East Texas State, now Texas A&M-Commerce, resulted in another last-minute, come-from-behind victory. 

The 1967 squad was now 3-0 but they had trailed in the second half in every game. Further, the Rebels trailed in last two minutes of their prior two games. That was the magic of the late 1960's teams. They found a way to win, whereas the 1970's came, it was a case where it seemed they found a way to lose.

Those early season performances started gaining national attention in 1967. After the Los Angeles State win, the Rebels entered the AP College Division poll at number nine. After the New Mexico State win, they moved up to seven and debuted in the Coaches poll at number five. Following the East Texas State win, they stayed at five in the AP and dropped to nine in the coaches.