CPC better than Moody Center?

 I'm about to wade into a topic I don't normally get into, as at the base of it I think it is understood. Any UT Arlington fan will quickly say what a jewel College Park Center is. I know that I do get traffic outside of UTA circles who may not know, but this blog is not intended for them. When someone like WACHoopsNation visits UTA's home, they quickly see CPC for what it is, one of the best NCAA arenas.

While I don't see away games as often as I'd like, I go to a few here and there. I've seen several places when I was a student broadcaster traveling with the various teams. I seen more as an adult traveling to places as well. I rarely find the desire to write a post about opponent's venues, like Tarleton's Wisdom Gym is so far below CPC. I've made lists ranking arenas, like this one for current WAC venues, but that's the extent of it. 

The last time I made a post like this was early in CPC's infancy when I visited Rupp Arena in Kentucky. While CPC's capacity would likely mean it wouldn't be a good fit for the Wildcats, I was thinking the whole time about how CPC was cleaner, had better amenities or how cavernous it was. It was a pride point for me as a Maverick fan that our arena competed with the bluebloods.

Top 10 moments in Maverick History

As we near the end of the summer break and the start of the 2022/23 athletic year, excitement is naturally building. Add in the fact that UTA is moving to a new home and will see new faces adds to that excitement.

In preparation for that start, I'm going to list the top 11 moments in Maverick Athletic history. For this list, I'm going to balance what the moment meant for the Department or the University as a whole, the general accomplishment's worth, the attention the accomplishment gathered and what it means today,. While the attention metric starts to sway the meter towards certain sports, I'm going to grade on a curve. I believe that if you are going to sponsor a sport, sponsor it to win. As such, any accomplishment is worthwhile.

Certain accomplishments could diminish others, for example, a postseason win could overshadow a previous high of first conference championship. Others are harder to grade, such as individual sports like the track and field programs. As such, I'm focusing primarily on team sports.

All that said, let's start the countdown.

What to Improve?

I've been hanging on to this the idea of this entry (and this one too) since February when the Shorthorn, UT Arlington's student newspaper, reported on Athletic Director Jim Baker's impending retirement. I added my own commentary a bit later. The link can be found here.

There's a couple of paragraphs at the end of the article that caught my eye that I believe will very much will have an impact on the future of the Athletic Department. And seeing how we've entered the summer months, now is the time to pontificate.

"UTA Athletics has been pursuing an athletics master plan that will address current and long-term needs, improvements and facility expansion for most Division I teams. It will also help revitalize the west side of campus."

There are possibly two things that are being addressed here, though the obvious is "facility expansion." So based on that quote, I want to go down the list of current facilities and give my opinion on what upgrades are best or needed for each facility. The list is in order starting with the least needed facility for upgrades and ending with the venue that needs the most attention.

Change at the Top

In addition to the new(ish) conference change coming up, UT Arlington will experience some new leadership in two key areas. While I can't specifically say what the moves mean individually, I see any change given the current situation is a positive. 

Jennifer Evans-Cowley was named the sole finalist for the UTA presidency on January 7th. Due to state rules, the UT system Board of Regents completed the formality on February 1st, where she officially became the 10th president. Her official start date is April 28th, though I've heard some rumors she may unofficially begin before that.

She replaces Dr. Teik Lim, who was the interim president for the last two years. He took a position as president of New Jersey Institute of Technology. 

Evans-Cowley comes to UTA from the University of North Texas. She was the Vice President of Academic Affairs and was a Provost. She had applied for many positions across the country and her resume has been circulated.

Greatest Team Ever

Notice there is no question mark in the title. The 2016/17 UT Arlington men's basketball team was the most talented and accomplished in the history of the program. Yes, all UTA fans are sad that the team could not get into the NCAA tournament, but that by no means is the sole headline of the season.

There were several things that stick out about the year, not the least of which was the first time UTA won multiple games in the postseason, as well as won a game in the NIT. Not to take anything away from the CIT win last year, but the NIT is a more prestigious tournament, against supposedly-tougher competition. There’ll be more on that in a minute.

As a refresher, I consider the 1980/1981 team to have been the best at UTA. My list is subjective of course, as there is no way to actually quantify it, but I have received mild backlash on my pick. Many say the 2008 team that made the NCAA tournament should be included. I’ve also heard the 2004 and 2012 teams that won conference championships should be ahead.

But I don’t rank them higher for one simple reason, the level of competition. In the early 1980’s, the Southland Conference was one of the premier “mid-major” (I hate that term, since it is all Division I), as the league boasted sweet sixteen runs and nationally competitive teams. For UTA to finish second, tied with Louisiana Tech and a game behind Lamar, was a greater accomplishment than beating the teams UTA did in a watered-down Southland in the 2000’s. On top of it, that team received an at-large invitation to the NIT. While we could debate the merits of UTA receiving an NCAA tournament at-large invitation, no UTA team has received an at-large to either tournament except in 1981.

This year’s team added some solid credentials that no team at UTA can lay claim to, cementing the 2016/17 team as the best Rebel/Maverick squad. They beat the number 12 team in the country with a convincing 65-51 win over Saint Mary’s on December 8. Beating a ranked team was a first. They won a regular season title in the Sun Belt Conference for the first time in four tries. The Sun Belt now is closer to that the SLC was in the early ‘80’s than what the SLC had turned into. They sported an undefeated record at home during the regular season, a first at UTA. The regular season attendance was second highest in UTA history, and didn’t have the benefit of a marquee team like North Texas or a power-5 conference school. Then there’s also the matter of 27 wins, three wins better than any previous team had earned.

And as mentioned, they won their first NIT game, en route to another. They also hosted an NIT game, and showed that UTA fans can turn out for big games at College Park Center. Against Akron, a season high 5,390 showed up as UTA won. That followed with a second-highest on-campus attendance ever of 6,336 against Cal State-Bakersfield, the first loss at College Park Center all year. You can’t convince me that had Jalen Jones not been injured, that the Mavericks wouldn’t have advanced to New York City.

The first inkling of disappointment came in the conference tournament. Jones had inured his hand in the opening game and his absence was notable. Many times this year when UTA looked flat, Jones was able to provide the spark needed to fuel a run. But Texas State, for the second time in three years, ended UTA’s run in the SBC tournament.

By the way, I want no one to claim again that there isn’t a real rivalry between the Mavs and ‘cats. Games that mean something build a rivalry and last year, UTA ended their season. The geographical closeness and the fact that each team is the other’s longest, continuous conference opponent only furthers that rivalry.

Despite the exit from the SBC tourney, UTA was guaranteed a spot in the NIT by virtue of its regular season title. UTA was seeded sixth, (really…?) and had to travel on the road to face the BYU Cougars.

It is hard to tell when a school like UTA plays a "name" team like BYU just what opponent the “smaller” school will get. A P5 conference team that plays in the NIT has had a disappointing year, as they aren't in the top 6-10 schools in their conference that made the NCAA Tournament. While BYU is not a P5 school, they have a name, following and expectations that put them near the same category. UTA dominated almost from the start and put the thing on cruise control. In all the Maverick games I have watched in almost two decades, it was single-handed the most dominating game ever. I say that because they never looked threatened, it was against a good 20+ win team and it was in the postseason.

The NIT was full of upsets (I don’t believe they were upsets, but just a general trend of overrating the P5 schools with a higher seed), and one of those upsets allowed UTA to host the Akron Zips, a seventh seeded team that beat the Houston Cougars in Houston.

The game was a similar storyline that I saw against BYU as the Zips never really challenged UTA. That win set-up a similar scenario where the eighth-seeded Bakersfield team came to Arlington.
Even in a loss to Bakersfield loss, there were positive signs, particularly in the second half. After a close start to the game, Bakersfield took the lead and never looked back, building as much as a 20-point lead early in the second, but then UTA began chipping away, but never seemed in control. Erick Neal made two quick three-point shots to bring UTA within two points with just under half a minute remaining in the game, but that would be as close as the Mavs got.

It was a bummer of a way to finish the year, but the foundation is set for 2017/18. There are some seniors that will need to be replaced, and there are question marks on who can man the interior with Jorge Bilbao now a UTA alum. But Kevin Hervey said after the game that he will be back for his senior season. Combined with the prowess of point guard Neal, UTA has a solid foundation to build on.

I also believe that the loss to Bakersfield will build fuel to the fire for UTA’s drive into next season. If Mav fan dreams come true, this team’s reign as the greatest ever will be short-lived.

2016/17 Men's Basketball Schedule

Unquestionably, the 2016/17 men's basketball season is the most anticipated at UT Arlington ever, at least by me since I became a student in 2000. You may have to go all the way back to the very early 1980's to find some similar anticipation. Back then, the Southland Conference was one of the best non-major conferences, repeatedly sending teams into later rounds of the NCAA tournament. From 1979-1985, an SLC team won at least one game in the end-of-year tourney except in 1982.

Once the SLC split after UTA dropped their football program, losing Lamar and Louisiana Tech primarily, the conference's basketball stature dropped tremendously. In that seven-year time frame above, SLC teams won eight NCAA tournament games. In the 28 years since, the conference won a total five games. Two have been from Stephen F. Austin St in the last three years and two were the 16-seed vs. 16-seed for the righ to be slaughtered by a 1 seed.

So UTA started winning games in the SLC, but I'm still not convinced it has everything to do with the dropping of football and the allocation of more resources for the basketball team. That certainly is a factor, but the decline in the level of talent from the conference as a whole has at least just as much a say if not more.

I've been convinced the 1980/1981 UTA team that received an at-large berth into the National Invitational Tournament has been the most talented team UTA has ever fielded, beating the 1990-91 team that went 20-9, the NCAA tournament team of 2007-08 that went 21-12 and even the 2011-12 team that won a school record 24 games en route to their first outright SLC championship.

Volleyball Out of the Gate

Fall is a lonely time at UT Arlington as far as sports go. Without a bevy of team sports like most schools have (UTA is the only school with one team sport in the fall), it puts a lot of pressure on volleyball to be an outlet for the school.

And it makes losing all the more noticeable.

There was a time when UTA was a dominant national power, appearing in the top 25 consistently in the 1980's. The regional representative in the NCAA tournament was either going to be the Mavericks or the team from UT-Austin. It was clear who the top University in the DFW region was, as neither TCU, SMU nor North Texas were on par with what the Mavericks were doing.

A brief period of mediocrity in the mid-1990's was followed by a resuscitation of the program as the UTA volleyball made its seventh and eighth appearances in the NCAA tournament in 2001 and '02 (to go with four AIAW national tournament appearances and one National Invitational).

Since then, it has been nothing. In the 13 completed seasons since then, the Mavericks have won zero conference championships, zero conference tournaments, appeared in only two conference tournament championship matches and had five losing seasons. The days of UTA volleyball being an elite program seem far from over, and that just gets exacerbated by starts like the 2016 team is having.

CIT Bound

With the regular season over, the UT-Arlington men's basketball program had high hopes entering the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. After a rough stretch of four SBC loses in a row, already slim at-large chances to the NCAA tournament disappeared. There was a chance that their entire post-season possibilities could go up in flames if they didn't right the ship.

But right the ship they did, as they won eight of the next ten. Including in that streak was a win over Louisiana-Lafayette, which allowed them to jump a spot in the SBC standings. I think that would be one of the better wins of the year. It all but guaranteed a first round bye in the conference tournament as well. As it would turn out, UTA would clinch the third seed. The two losses in that streak were to the top two teams in the conference, Little Rock and Louisiana-Monroe though the last one was a tight affair.

That set the stage for the conference tournament. After getting eliminated last year by the Texas State Bobcats, UTA's in-state rival won their first round match-up, which would set up a rematch. After trailing at halftime, the Mavericks stormed back to take a 72-63 win, setting the stage for another shot at the Warhawks from Monroe. Things looked good early, as the Mavs would stake a 14-3 lead to open the affair, but that would really end the highlights, as the Mavs would end up on the short end of an 82-71 score that really wasn't that close.

For many Mav faithful, the season was over, but I knew it would go on. I didn't think an NIT invite was likely, and I certainly knew there was not going to be an NCAA invite. But I had a feeling the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, or CIT, was in the Mavs future, and that another game at College Park Center was on the horizon.

Metroplex Four Tourney

Once again, an idea that has been out there many-a-time made print headlines again. Sportsday's Rick Gosselin, perhaps the highest-profile person to broach the topic, argued for an annual fall tournament among DFW's four area Division 1 schools in a recent Sports Day article.

In it, he argues that other cities have successful local showcases and North Texas should too. I know UTA would be on board. My guess is so would University of North Texas. But TCU hasn't played the Mavericks in years based on the tired argument that they have nothing to gain. From what I've ascertained, SMU is the same way.

In fact, Rick Gosselin quotes that elitist-attitude in his article, and then shuts that idea down:

"We are always open to evaluating options," SMU athletic director Rick Hart said, "but our preference is to play home games and home-and-home series -- like we have with TCU -- which reward our students, fans and season-ticket holders and allow us to showcase our campus and what we believe is one of the best arenas and in-arena experiences in all of college basketball to a national audience."

It's understandable why SMU would prefer to stay at home for its games every winter and out of any local tournaments. The Mustangs have gone national and have the most to lose of the four programs. But this tournament wouldn't be about SMU. It would be about celebrating college basketball in the area. It would be about generating local interest and enthusiasm for the sport. It would be about establishing a tradition.

The idea in the last two sentences is it in a nut shell. The idea from the "bigger" programs is that playing "smaller schools" hurts the RPI if they win, and hurts recruiting if they lose, especially if it is against a school in the same recruiting footprint.

Men's Basketball Schedule Released

The UT Arlington Athletic Department finally released the men's basketball schedule, the delay as school after school released theirs becoming more crushing by the day. Heck, even the Sun Belt Conference releasing the vast majority of conference play months ago added to the pressure. But worry no more.

I gotta say, I'm really impressed with this schedule, though not for the reason listed on UTAMavs.com. "Challenging schedule includes Ohio State, Texas and Memphis," reads the headline. Gotta say, don't really care about those teams. Will be highly proud if we pick off a win, but otherwise, they are just more name teams that come in a guarantee game to help raise funds for the team (I'm assuming Ohio State and Memphis, as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational, are games to be played for monetary value). I'm interested in two things, who is playing at College Park Center, and who are they playing in-state and near-state.

Those last two really have me buzzing.

Extra Basketball at CPC

About  a week ago, it became official. The WNBA's Tulsa Shock will relocate to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. While that in and of itself doesn't qualify as a topic I'd normally put in this blog, a minor detail about the move does. Come June through September of 2016, College Park Center will be their home.

This season, each WNBA team will play 17 home games. That means when there isn't much going on during the summer months, there will be activity on campus. It also means that for the first month or so of the fall semester, there will be team sports on campus. No longer will volleyball be solo at CPC. This will remedy one of my bigger problems with the fall profile on campus. I mentioned in one of my earliest posts that adding women's soccer would help alleviate the lack of activity in the fall. A WNBA team playing on-campus would do the same.

Of course, this whole turn of events brings up one big question from the UTA perspective. What does this mean for the University?

UTA Football Find

Apologies if you've read the article I'm about to start a discussion on, as it was initially published in December, but I ran across this, a football faces uphill battle article, posted online from the Arlington voice.

It begins by noting that the University of Alabama-Birmingham has dropped its football program and it might bring sore feelings for UTA faithful (they have since announced they are bringing it back). However, that is really all I have to agree in the article with as there is little fact, quotes or references in there, only loose connections that don't really apply.

The author transitions from UAB to UTA with this:

An Open Letter to the Men's Basketball Team.

To the players, coaches and those who help the outcome on the court,

For better or worse, you are the spotlight of the Athletic Department. The perception of the entire Department, and to a lesser extent the University as a whole, lays on your performance. It may not be fair and it certainly isn't right, but it is what it is.

For years, the University just let the Athletic Department get by with no real active involvement. This is evident from the time the UTA Rebels joined the highest ranks of the NCAA until a few years ago. There was a long stretch of time where UTA was one of the worst performing teams in the Southland Conference from top to bottom with some of the most sub-par venues in the SLC.

But all that has changed. The University is actively involved now and has made Athletics a higher priority. Of course, College Park Center is one of the most visible signs. Going from Texas Hall, which never really was an athletic arena, to one of the finest basketball and volleyball places to play in all of the NCAA and would make many Big 12 teams jealous is the most obvious example, but nearly every sport is receiving some form of facility upgrade. Allan Saxe Field is almost an entirely new softball stadium. Clay Gould has received several upgrades of the last few years. Even Maverick Stadium has seen some improvements. With the baseball and softball teams now in their own locker rooms and the plans for doing so been in the works for years, the six track teams have better facilities at their disposal to train and practice. 11 of UTA's 14 teams has seen some facility upgrades in the last few years. That was unheard of when I was a student at the turn of the century.

But it doesn't end there. The admin was active in upgrading UTA's conference. The Mavericks went from a FCS/1-AA-football-centric conference with decent baseball and softball competition and bottom-level everything else to the nationally-known Western Athletic Conference. When the WAC had to exercise their nuclear option, the admin was active in securing membership into the Sun Belt Conference. While not as nationally-recognized, it was unmistakeably a step up from Southland and the now-WAC competition.

The budget is about double from when I was a student just a decade ago too. More money doesn't guarantee success, but it sure makes getting there a bit easier. The cynicist would say that is a byproduct of UTA's growth and the student fee, but the fact remains the Athletic Department is spending far more money now than at the rate of inflation.

The other big difference is the admin support. I try to make one of every sport played on campus a year, and in the higher-profile sports it is multiple. I have yet to attend any sporting event that President Vistasp Karbhari wasn't there, minus one baseball game. I can't recall one game of any kind where President Witt, President of UTA at the time I attended UTA, was in attendance. Though I concede I didn't really care then about presidential attendance and may have missed it.

All of this is a long way for me to say the U cares about your performance and is giving you the resources you need to compete. The downside is that expectations are there for a team to compete. One of the things I love about the UTA fan base is the incredible realism that we have. We know what to expect and don't have delusions of granduer. Keep that in mind as I go forward.

I know you guys as a whole are quite a young team. You are talented, but young. However you have shown an ability to compete, no matter the opponent. Problem is it ranges from the ranked team in the top 25, to an RPI-300 team. How can UTA claim wins over the top two teams in the conference, but have been swept by the last place team? It is very defeating seeing a team that should be a Sun Belt leader fighting for fourth place with little chance for third. Beat the teams that aren't even above .500 in conference play and you are at the top of the conference.

As a fan, most of us would like to see some consistency that has been missing the last few years. I'd rather be consistently middle of the pack and beat who we are supposed to, rather than do well against the top and poorly versus the bottom. As a fan, this yo-yo action and inconsistency on the court is tough to take. I'm a die-hard and will support regardless. The fairweather fans may be lost forever because of it. That hurts every athletic team in the process.

All UTA fans ask is a Maverick team playing at an even level night in and out. We are okay with losing to a better team. We get frustrated when the last place team in the conference sweeps you. We get frustrated when we have more wins over the top two teams than the bottom two.

So please, help build the fan base and don't play to the level of your opponent. Please don't look past anybody on the floor. Please take it one game at a time and do what you have to against those that you should do it too. Don't take any team for granted.

Beating ULM, Georgia Southern and Louisiana-Lafayette is a great accomplishment. Losing to Troy and South Alabama tarnishes that. You, the University and us fans deserve better.

Rise of the D

I mentioned last post that after UT Arlington dropped games against teams at the top of the Sun Belt Conference standings, they really needed to pick up wins against Louisiana-Monroe on the road and Texas State at home. While not every minute of the two games were great, the outcomes of the two games were what they needed to be for the Mavs, UTA wins.

Against the Warhawks in Monroe on Thursday, the Mavericks played one of the best all-around games of the season. It was reminiscent of the Troy game where UTA never gave up big runs, never let up the intensity and did what this team is capable of, beating any team in the Sun Belt conference.

With the win, UTA did something not often done. All-time, UTA was 4-28 in Monroe entering Thursday. Fant-Ewing Coliseum has never been friendly to the Mavs. Even with Thursday's win, UTA has just won 15% of the time there But for this season, they are undefeated in Monroe, and that is all that matters.

UTA has played ULM more than once quite often in their history, most as conference mates, some being just single-season home-and-home's. ULM had swept UTA during the regular season 17 times. The teams have split five times. With Thursday win, UTA has now swept Monroe for the fourth time.

Now understand these are two different teams then from now. ULM was a regional power, especially in the 80's and 90's. But due to various reasons, they just aren't what they once were. They haven't had a winning record at home for the last three full seasons. So far this year, though they are 5-5 with winnable games against the eighth and tenth (last) place teams left at Fant-Ewing.

Conversely, UTA is no longer the pushover it once was either. ULM's first season in the Southland Conference was UTA's first losing season after three winning years under Coach Bob "Snake" LeGrand. UTA would then embark on a streak of 14 losing seasons out of 17. Things would get better around the turn of the century and ULM would start a small decline, but they would leave the SLC before Coach Scott Cross andd his five winning seasons in seven years. In short, ULM is worse than they have been historically and UTA is better.

Nevertheless, UTA's win in Monroe was a rarity and kept the hopes of the Mavericks season alive at least until Saturday when UTA played rival Texas State.

There has always been something between UTA fans and Danny Kaspar, primarily because he was the coach at SFA, which was UTA's primary rival during the mid '90's and '00's. But with Texas State now being the Mavericks most continuous opponent as conference realignment moved the Mavs and Bobcats into two new conferences since their departure from the SLC two years ago, the SFA rivalry has cooled. Kaspar was a good hire for his basketball acumen for Texas State, but it will help the UTA-Texas State rivalry too.

Moving to Saturday's game, UTA's offense looked very flat to start the half, but luckily their defense was playing well. Going into the half, UTA scored just 25 points and trailed by eight.

The offense finally found their groove after the break. UTA hit 59% of their field goals in the second, compared to 30% in the previous half. In addition, the Mavs were hitting shots from behind the arc, 70% in the second after a 1-5 performance in the initial half.

Despite brief lapses periodically, the D won the game for UTA. They kept the score close in the first, despite the lack of offensive output. In the second, the pressure during the early part of the period was a key in the run that would give UTA the lead permanently. If UTA can keep the defensive intensity they showed this past week up, they will be poised to make a good run to end the season.

That run starts with a very big road trip this week. Thursday is a visit to Jonesboro to take on the fourth-place Red Wolves. The team is geared up for this one after a close first half at CPC turned into a laugher as Arkansas State embarrassed UTA.

After that is the fifth-place and slumping Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans. They beat UTA at CPC on a buzzer beater and were poised to be an upper level SBC team. However, they have lost four in a row, three to the current top three teams in the league. They will also have a week off before they see UTA on their home floor.

These games are crucial to seeding in the tournament. Two wins and UTA is guaranteed to move up a slot to fifth, and possibly a tie for fourth. When it comes to the conference tournament, the top two seeds get a double bye, meaning they only have to win two games for the NCAA auto-bid. The next two get a bye, while the fifth through eighth teams have to win four games against increasingly tougher competition.

After that, road games at Troy and South Alabama and home contests against Georgia State and Western Kentucky close out the season. Nothing is guaranteed, but I sure would like to have some positioning secured before the top two teams in the conference come to College Park Center.

That's what rivals are for

UT-Arlington men's and women's basketball teams played one game last week, but if you are going to have a week with one game, pick your rival. The Mavericks traveled to San Marcos to play Texas State and the outcomes for both games were expected, even if how they got there wasn't.

The men played to a 56-48 win over Texas State. Reger Dowell returned to action after missing a couple of weeks, but it was actually the defensive play that set the tone for the Mavericks. In giving up 48 points to the Bobcats, UTA gave up a season low while also scoring a season low. It was also a season low offensive output for TXST. That's very encouraging to see the defense rise to the occasion and win a game, rather than engaging in a shootout. I don't want this to seem like I am proclaiming this the second coming of last years UTA defense, the Bobcats rank 334 in points per game out of 351 DI teams, it sure was nice to see something from them.

Make no mistake, in scoring 56 points, UTA won this game on the defensive end. UTA allowed the Bobcats to shoot 32.1% from the floor and 25% from three-point land. UTA had 30 defensive rebounds and 36 overall. I do have a slight concern with giving up nine offensive rebounds to the 'cats, but that is it for me when critiquing Saturday's defensive performance.

UTA's offense was struggling, hitting only 39% of their shots and 31.6% of their three's. Three players did score in double figures with Dowell leading the way with 16. By the way, he's scored in double figures every game he has played this season.

My big problem still comes from the lack of consistent play. I didn't get to see or hear the game, as I had family obligations, but when I kept checking the status, UTA would build a six-eight point lead, then Texas State would match. UTA still hasn't played 40 solid minutes of basketball against DI competition. If UTA is to beat the upper echelon teams in the Belt, they'll have to figure it out. I don't know that the defense can shoulder the load when a team like Georgia State with their big three comes to College Park Center.

Under normal circumstances, I would say this team lives or dies by the three, but at least for this one game, they only made 6 of 19. I can say they weren't hitting all that well, but still won. That is the power of defense.

Up next for the men is the Alabama twosome, Troy on Thursday, South Alabama on Saturday. Troy comes in with a 2-4 SBC record and is 7-11 overall. They lost at home to Western Kentucky and Georgia State, two of the favorites before the season, then went to Arkansas and beat both UALR and stAte. They dropped homes games this weekend to the two Louisiana schools, Lafayette and Monroe.

So that means...I have no idea what this game will bring. I don't know which UTA or Troy team will show up. Troy nailed 14 of 27 three's in their upset of Arkansas State. They do that against UTA, which has traditionally struggled in defending the three and it will be a long day. However, if it is the team that lost to Central Arkansas, UTA will have it easier. I do know the game will be available on ESPN3, if you can't make it to CPC.

As for South Alabama, they are really struggling with a new coach. 1-5 in SBC play. Losses to Western Kentucky, Georgia State, UALR, stAte and ULM with the lone win against UL-L. That doesn't really tell me a lot. The five losses are to the teams in the top six. UTA has lost to two of those same teams, lost to the one that USA beat and beat a team USA lost to. Of course, in a ten-team conference, what does that mean. Nothing. Augustine Rubit is their star, who is .1 rebounds away from averaging a double-double. Otherwise, USA is an average team.

If UTA is to improve on its 7th place n the SBC standings, these two at home are the best chance in a while as both occupy spots lower than where the Mavs are.

As for the women, I just don't have much to say, another close loss on paper, 68-60, their fourth conference loss by single digits. The game wasn't as close as the score indicated, as the Mavs had to rally to get it to that point. I just don't think experience or depth are there right now.

At 0-5, they reside squarely in the cellar of the SBC. Troy comes in with a 5-12 record and is 1-5 in SBC play. They are in ninth place. South Alabama is one spot ahead of them and sport a 5-11, 3-3 record. Like the men, if the women's team is to make a move in the standings, now is the time. With UTA in clear rebuilding mode, it will be interesting to see how they do.

Homecourt advantage and CPC

Been thinking of posting this feature for a while, and since UTA will go a couple of weeks between events, I figured now is as good a time as any.

One consistent theme in sports is home advantage. Whether the phrase contains field, court, track or whatever else, the idea is a team gets a boost being at home than if they played in the other team's home. A cursory look at the numbers for College Park Center suggests otherwise.

Since CPC opened in February of 2012, the men's basketball team is 15-9 (.625) at home. The women's team is 5-19 (.208). The volleyball team is 15-17 (.469). A little more context is in order to get a better grasp.

CPC > Rupp Arena?

From time to time, there will be posts about the men's basketball team (and occasionally other sports) from another poster who is a good buddy of mine and a die-hard Maverick. In this case though, it is the Maverick Rambler who is typing up something that will be cross posted there. More on that when it happens.

Before I get into the meat of this post, I just wanted to say thank you so much to Coach Cross and the UTA Athletic Department who supplied me and the aforementioned friend with tickets to UTA's road game at the SEC's Kentucky. They helped create a memorable road trip with a good friend to Lexington, Kentucky.

Part of the reason that I really wanted to go was there experience that I thought Rupp Arena would provide. While they don't have a well-known and named student section like the Cameron Crazies at Duke or the attentive, active group at Kansas, there is an idea floating that Rupp is a great college basketball atmosphere. There is no doubt that students make any game more intense, intimidating and  overall a better place for the home crowd.

Addendum to the Last Post

In the last post, I chronicled what I thought were many of the reasons that led to the football programs demise. There is another reason I thought attendance was a little suppressed, but it came after Maverick Stadium was opened, and really didn't seem to fit the flow of the post.

I think the location is poor. I received  a Masters Degree from UTA in City Planning. One of the fields of planning is how we lay out the built environment, things like cities, urban areas, shopping centers, subdivisions, etc. There are so many factors that come into play, and many are unique with the project.

Most of the athletic venues are labeled on this map...and isolated from the rest of campus.

In the case of Maverick Stadium, it is obvious that the location was chosen because it was either the cheapest option or the easiest, maybe both. Somewhere more visible, like Cooper, Abrams or Division Street would have been better but I have suspect there was an feeling that we couldn't get rid of a parking lot on the major streets because we need those for students as a commuter school.

UTA had a tendency to put athletic facilities wherever they could fit. Clay Gould was put where it was because that's what UTA acquired in the late '60's to early '70's. They purchased the land at the edge of campus (and even edge is used a bit loosely), demoed the homes that were there and put up a field. It is well over a mile away from the edge of the heart of campus, and completely invisible from it. Alan Saxe was put next to it using the same thinking. The intramural fields were added there as well.

But look at the map above and see just how non-contiguous Maverick Stadium, Clay Gould Ballpark and Alan Saxe Field are from the rest of UTA. East of Davis Street, there is a large section that seems to be one big, contiguous section of the UTA campus. East of Nederman, it is a virtual square. Moving west and it becomes obvious that Maverick Stadium and the Clay Gould/Alan Saxe section are basically square parcels that touch the adjacent part of campus at the corner.

UTA built Maverick Stadium on the old football practice fields. It was the easiest location. At that time, most of the campus-owned land between Nederman and the stadium were not part of the everyday use that students would take a part in at UTA. It was virtually invisible.

When comparing UTA to other Universities and the lack of planning the location of athletic facilities
becomes even more noticeable. Most often, all the athletic venues are at the same place.

 

This is TCU. Notice how every athletic venue is clustered around Stadium Drive and then to the west. The campus also is quite contiguous. Most of the venues are visible from the portion of campus the students use and occupy everyday.

College Park Center works, even though it too is on the edge of campus. However, it is on the eastern side, integrated into the campus, visible and was part of a bigger plan to build residences, retail and other amenities. If you look back at the UTA map, you'll clearly see the eastern edge of Arlington is a line that ends on Center Street. There are multiple ways to get there, it can be seen, is on one of the more well used streets. It fits nicely into the campus and is the best integrated athletic facility at UTA.

Basketball attendance has increased from a rough average of 800, to 2,000 during the first full year. A proper venue, which Texas Hall really wasn't helps, but so does the location.

In 1985, when football was disbanded, UTA averaged 5,600 the last year of the program. Counting all the students dorms, campus-owned apartments and nearby non-University apartments, there were more students on and near campus than football attendees. Much of the reasons were detailed in the previous post, but a better location, say on the South 40 parking lot which is located on the southeast corner of Cooper Street, would have increased the attendance.

I'm not saying the program would have been saved or attendance would have shot through the roof if the stadium was on Cooper, but it would have been better than in a stadium no one sees when they are on campus. Memorial Stadium was in a prominent, visible place on campus and UTA commonly had standing room only for the games. Knowing and seeing the stadium are two different things.

This leads to other considerations. For the existing sports, increased signage, getting rid of dead ends to increase connectivity on the western part of campus to the main section and a marketing effort increase awareness of the far flung sports.

In the football revival effort, a serious question could be raised over whether Maverick Stadium, which will need some renovations, is the proper venue. I ultimately think it should be renovated, for reasons other than location. But it will need help for the mainstream student to know it is there.

Some have suggested that that a new stadium be built for football and Maverick Stadium be renovated for track and field as well as soccer. That could easily be done too, but I think it is more expensive and land gobbling.

Either way, something would have to change from the current for the sport to gain visibility on its own campus.