Big Showdown Looming

 Another Western Athletic Conference week is in the book for the UT Arlington volleyball squad and they repeated the same formula from the previous two conference weeks as they went undefeated, going 2-0.

It would have been easier to stumble in the third week of WAC play than in any other week due what's on tap this week. But as it is, other than some brief hiccups, the Mavericks did not drop a set in two sweeps. The wins moved their conference mark to 6-0 and 16-2 overall.

On Thursday, the Seattle Redhawks came to town and until SU went on a brief 4-0 run near the end of the third set, the Mavericks never took a timeout. That is pretty significant as coaches use timeouts to manage the runs by their opponents. Seattle made mild runs here and there and held brief, small leads. But the Mavs never looked stressed or out of control. By contrast, prior to the SU run / timeout in the third, UTA was leading 24-17 and Seattle looked demoralized. It has been a while since I have seen a Maverick opponent look like they were readily waving the white flag, but I did on Thursday.

Realignment Rumors

At the beginning of the month, I opined on the current state of the UT Arlington Athletic Department's place in the current landscape of college athletics, specifically in regard to their lack of a football program limiting the potential conference landing spots should the Western Athletic Conference lose one more member.

In it, I mentioned the few, limited possibilities as California Baptist is likely a prime target for the West Coast Conference and Tarleton State's Football Bowl Subdivision aspirations will likely lead to a Conference USA spot at a minimum. With few to no institutions willing to join, the WAC is in a rough spot. 

UTA potential could have a home in the Ohio Valley Conference, joining fellow Sun Belt Conference cast-off Little Rock. The Missouri Valley Conference and UTA briefly flirted before nothing formal advanced prior to UTA joining the WAC. The Atlantic Sun Conference likely would be receptive too, but I know of nothing actually occurring between the two. 

UTA FB History: Vol. 8 Gm. 6 - We're About to be Good Friends

The 1960's were unquestionably the best time to be an Arlington State College / UT Arlington football fan. The team was riding momentum from a highly successful decade as a junior college program, flirted with a bowl within two years of moving up, went to and won a bowl game, had a winning percentage of .575, a home winning percentage of two-thirds, formation of the Southland Conference, attendance that led the SLC, sent players to the National Football League, etc.

I looked up attendance for a post last week and the top five highest average attended seasons were from this decade and 13 of the top 14 attended games were from this time period. That is due to so many reasons listed above, but it is just jarring to see attendance records hold 50 plus years later. Considering what occurred in the 1970's and ultimately the disbandment of the program, obviously it is understandable, but the duality of the University in the 1960's into the 1970's is evident in the football program too.

When we last checked in with the 1968 squad, they picked up their first win of the season against Northeast Louisiana. After notching a 1-1 record, they hit the road again and traveled to the University Division's New Mexico State.

Keep Rolling

 I'm going to shake up how I cover the UT Arlington volleyball squad this week. The last few weeks I have covered it set by set however, it feels long and congested to me. Proofreading it sometimes feels like a slog, so I'm not sure what it feels like to the average reader. I'll let you judge how it flows and tell me in the comments which you prefer, or if it matters.

This past week was like most of the rest of the 2024 season. There wasn't much that was left in doubt. So far, the Western Athletic Conference race isn't shaping up as predicted but that's a common occurrence.

Southern Utah, predicted eighth in the nine-team WAC, visited College Park Center for an early season test for number one. The Thunderbirds defeated Abilene Christian and Tarleton State in week one. ACU (6) and Tarleton (5) were predicted middle of the pack, so while they weren't world beating wins, SUU was hitting above their projections. 

Despite a third set hiccup, the Mavericks won handily in four, 25-13, 25-14, 19-25, 25-14. There was no real sweat in either set save the third. The Mavs took control early and kept it handily. In three set wins, if your opponent didn't surpass 14, that is a blowout.

UTA FB History: Vol. 8 Gm. 5 - Not Shocked

September was rarely a good month for the UT Arlington football program. As today's edition of This Day in UTA Football History enters October, fortunes start to look up, though at the time, no one knows it of course. Which is ultimately what I think was the biggest fan suppressor. 

Of the four decades that Arlington State College / UTA sponsored a football program, from 1959-85, only one had a winning record in the September months. The lone winning decade was '59's 1-0 mark. The '60's saw a 12-13 total September mark. Not good, but not terrible. What is terrible would be the next two decades. The 1970's were a dismal 7-29. They averaged less than one win a year in the first month of the season. The 1980's were a bit better but still far below where they really needed to be. They had the same number of wins in near half the games with fewer losses. 7-13 is an improvement, but certainly needed to be better.  

Speaking of the 1980's, Head Coach Harold "Bud" Elliott was a terrible 3-11 in September from 1980 to 1983. Today's Head Coach, Chuck Curtis fared much better in 1984. At 3-1, it was the best start since 1979, also 3-1. As an aside, hard to imagine three of the seven September wins in the 1970's came in one season.

1985 was a different story for Coach Curtis. After the opening season loss to Angelo State, they went on the road to Huntsville. Sam Houston State was one of the better teams in the Gulf Star Conference, as they'd win two of the three football titles awarded by the now defunct conference. One of those years was in 1985 and though the Mavs played much better than how they started the season, the Bearkats came out on top, 38-23. After a rough start to the season, and a rough start to the game, UTA found out who they were in the second half. They trailed 24-0 at one point. Quarterback David Bates had a breakout half, was 14 of 27 for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for more than 80 yards. 

If Not Now?

If you have a high-level whiplash injury or extreme fatigue from the constant conference reshuffling dubbed conference realignment, you are not alone. I miss the days were college sports were about competition and money wasn't so prominent. Unless it directly touches the UT Arlington Mavericks, I tend to avoid it here on the Maverick Rambler. 

With that setup, guess what is around the corner?

Recently, the remaining two schools of the old Pac-12 (Pac-2?) invited and received acceptance from Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State. Coupled with Oregon State and Washington State, that gave the Pac-2 seven schools (Pac-7?). The five schools departed the Mountain West, who also were left with seven members. Since the NCAA requires eight full-time members in a conference to play at the Football Bowl Subdivision, obviously, each conference needs at least one more FBS school. Meaning more moves are on the horizon.

So what does this all mean for the Maverick Rambler?

Almost a Letdown

 There will not be as many matches to talk about for the UT Arlington volleyball team now that conference play has started. At most there will be two matches a week, and occasionally, thanks to the odd number of Western Athletic Conference teams, one match to talk about.

But what a week it was. Conference play started with the conference preseason one and two going at it. The experienced Mavs, forecasted second to Grand Canyon's preseason prognostication of first, were playing their supposed betters. On top of that, UTA was on the road at their place. And, after winning the first two matches of the series, UTA had lost three straight entering Thursday.

There clearly was a chip on the Mavericks shoulder. It had to be some combo of underdog, away team and losing streak. The first set deceptively started as a slugfest the match was thought to be, as UTA led 1-0, tied 1-1, then another Mav lead at 3-1. 3-2. then 5-3. While still close at 8-5, the Mavs used runs of 5-0. 3-0. and 7-0, the latter ended the set, for an unpredicted 25-8 win. Graduate Student Brianna Ford scored two aces in that clinching run to go with three kills in the set, below her kill per set average. With such a dominating performance, and only three from the offensive engine, speaks to the depth this offense possesses.