The Basketball Race is now a Soap Opera

It was a big week last week (as it seems every week is) in the race for the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball regular season title. UT Arlington split the week with a dominant win against Southern Utah and an overtime loss to California Baptist, both at home. That loss did not give separation in the standings. Then this week, news broke that could have a huge impact on the race.

First, the Mavericks hosted the Thunderbirds last Thursday. UTA never trailed in the game as they throttled SUU. The lead went as high as 25 a couple of times in the second half as UTA won 80-61. UTA shot 43.3 percent from the field, 35.3 percent from three-point land while allowing a similar field goal percentage and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Senior forward Raysean Seamster led all scorers with 16 while freshman forward Amari Reed had nine rebounds to lead all players.

That set up a battle between 6-2 UTA and 5-3 California Baptist. Utah Valley was 6-3 entering the day meaning a UTA loss would put a three-way tie for first and a UTA win would put the Mavericks in sole possession of first by a full game.

First-place UTA Mavericks

Back in a past life when I used to work at a popular local sports radio station, the Texas Rangers were in the midst of another losing season. They were last in the four-team AL West from 2000 to 2003. They were third place from 2004 to 2006. All but one of those seasons resulted in an overall losing record. During one of those years, they had a great April and either the end of that month or the start of May, the Rangers receptionist was answering the phone “first-place Texas Rangers.” The radio station got that audio and saved it and would use it often. It was an occasional jab at the Rangers, as the schedule to that point when the audio was recorded was quite easy, but it transitioned to just a general descriptor of the team. Then, after I left the station, it became an accurate way, perhaps even a proud way, to describe the team as they made their runs in the early teens.

I give that long intro to relay the first thing that came to my mind after an epic game between the California Baptist Lancers and the Utah Valley Wolverines. UVU entered the day half a game ahead of the UT Arlington Mavericks in the Western Athletic Conference standings. When CBU won, one easy phrase popped into my head.

First-place UTA Mavericks.

First Week In - the Good

With a slight hiccup at home, the 3-1 start for the UT Arlington men's basketball team was about as perfect a start to Western Athletic Conference play as there could be. Even with the loss, the start is as good as could be expected by Maverick fans. Excitement is building and the players are clearly showing confidence.

It has helped that UTA has played three of the four games to open WAC play at home. As I've watched the season unfold, both non-conference and the first two weeks of Western Athletic Conference play there are legitimately five teams that could win the regular season and six have a realistic shot. The lone road game to this point was versus the one team that I don't think can make a case they will finish near the top and are currently in last place. 

With road games this week against two competitive teams, we'll have a better idea of where UTA could be to start the conference tournament in Las Vegas. But before I get into that, let's look into the first two weeks of conference play.

First Week In - the Bad

The UT Arlington women's basketball team was given a gauntlet of a schedule by the Western Athletic Conference to open conference play and the record reflects it. At 0-4, UTA has a hole to climb out of the rest of the way.

Credit to Derryl Trujillo on Twitter, or X, for getting to this stat first as teams in the WAC are 11-4 when they play on their home floor. That's not a terribly good stat for this squad as their schedule has three of the first four conference games away from the friendly confines of College Park Center. The lone home game featured a team that has a legitimate chance to win the conference regular season title. 

The losing streak was also exacerbated by the injury report. The good news for UTA is much of that slump came with senior point guard Nya Threatt out. She was back on the floor after missing the first three WAC games to start conference play. She returned to action against Abilene Christian on Saturday.

The Season that Counts, Men's Version

This year's version of the UT Arlington men's team has had the best start to a season since 2017/18 when they had an equal 8-4 start en route to a 21-win season. I don't know what fortunes this year holds, but it has been a pleasure to watch the non-conference season.

The last Maverick Rambler post was just two games prior to the completion of the non-conference schedule and the results went the way my optimism was hoping.

UTA's lone-Power Conference game was in California against Stanford. UTA hit a cold streak in the first half while the Cardinal did not en route to a 25-40 Maverick deficit. UTA played toe-to-toe and was on the verge of getting the score within single digits on more than one occasion in the second half, but ultimately it was a 76-60 loss. UTA kept its fairly strong three-point defense going, allowing only five of 16 shooting for Stanford beyond the arc. Conversely, UTA was porous in the paint, where Stanford did a lot of damage.

The Season that Counts, Women's Version

Since I've rotated between weekly UT Arlington men's and women's basketball teams, non-conference games come at a sporadic pace, I haven't really covered the Lady Mavericks this month. As we exit the Christmas break, the non-conference portion of both teams schedule has concluded and there's no better time to check in with the UTA women's team.

UTA had just successfully competed in the North Shore Classic, going 2-1 against two P4 teams and an A-10 squad. In that time, they have compiled a respectable 2-2 record, defeating Little Rock in Arkansas, 62-55, losing in Houston to Rice, 75-54, defeating Texas Southern at College Park Center, 81-73 and closed out non-conference in Baton Rouge to the fifth-ranked Louisiana State Tigers, 110-45.

In the wins, UTA beat who they should have with the Trojans 30-40 spots below UTA in the NET ranking while the Tigers are 150 or so. In the losses, there wasn't anything shattering either.

Starting Strong

If you asked the average UT Arlington fan about their expectations for the 2025/26 men's basketball season, I'm not sure there would have been a consistent consensus. I know some eternally optimistic fans who believe every year is UTA's year. Conversely, I've seen the opposite end of the spectrum where some are of the opinion this will be a disaster.

For those in the middle or those like me who give it an honest attempt at as close to an unbiased look as possible, it is difficult. In the portal era where UTA has seen over 80 percent roster turnover in consecutive seasons, having any kind of expectation either way is increasingly less certain than a Las Vegas roulette table. 

This summer, Athletic Director Jon Fagg told me he thought the team had a high ceiling and would get some wins. Well, the early returns show he may have had the best take. To be fair, I don't get to watch practice and see how the new team looks.