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.
Number 11: When I completed the top ten, I was sad that this would be excluded. Then I realized. It's my UTA blog. What's to stop me from giving an extra bonus? Nothing, that's what.
To say UTA's football history is complicated is an understatement. UTA has more near misses than any other Metroplex sports entity per capita. 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1984 all could have been conference titles if UTA had won just one game extra. In some cases, if just one other game in conference was different that UTA did not play in, they would have been title holders. I've detailed many of those seasons and many of the reasons UTA came up just short, usually detailed on This Day in UTA Football History.
1981 started off like many of the seasons on that list, or the losing ones that were not on that list. They were drubbed by Southern Methodist University's Pony Express 48-0 at Texas Stadium, beat New Mexico State 26-13 at Maverick Stadium, lost at Texas Christian University 38-16, at West Texas State 35-31 and another blow-out loss to Southern Mississippi 52-9. With their record at a paltry 1-4, it definitely looked like more of the same.
Yet the team responded differently. In what was a rare occasion, they opened conference play with a 31-14 home victory over Louisiana Tech to go to 1-0 in conference play. In a one-off game that I believe could have been a good tradition, the Mavericks beat the North Texas Eagles 7-6 at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas. Melvin Ikner erased two NTSU field goals with an interception and then swatted away what looked like a certain completed pass for a touchdown late in the game for the win.
UTA returned to Maverick Stadium and dropped their conference record to 1-1 when Arkansas State stumped the Mavs 10-7. The game was chocked full or penalties, turnovers and blocked kicks. It seemed like the same ole, same ole.
The Mavericks rebounded with a 23-7 win over bottom-dwelling Louisiana (who finished with one win all year. Setting up the biggest game of the year to that point against McNeese, UTA came in middle of the pack in the standings, with an outside shot at a title. The Cowboys were 2-0-1, while Arkansas State was 2-1 with the tiebreaker. Playing at Mavericks Stadium, UTA's ground game was running at full pace, getting UTA to a 21-14 lead in the fourth quarter. In the theme of the year, it looked like more of the same when McNeese scored with four minutes left. But, Brett Hargrove blocked all-conference kicker Don Stump (who helped beat UTA and their title hopes in 1979), to keep the Mavs in the slimmest leads, one-point. McNeese took over at their own 20 with a little over a minute remaining, drove to the UTA ten, when Stump would miss a 27-yard field goal.
That still wouldn't matter much as they needed help. In what ended up a really good week for the Mavs, help they did get. Louisiana Tech, fourth in the standings, beat number two Arkansas State, to drop them a loss behind UTA. All of a sudden, they were in control of their destiny and needed to beat long-time rival Lamar.
On November 21, 1981, UTA hosted Lamar for what would be their championship game. After a first quarter Brian Happel field goal, Lamar's Fred Hessen threw a touchdown pass, one of 61 attempts on the night, to give Lamar an early 7-3 lead. That hit the hornets nest and UTA's offense would score three first-half touchdowns and get a 24-7 halftime lead. The Fort Worth Star Telegram adequately described UTA's defense as a bend-but-don't-break, as they would flirt with disaster all night, but not give up another point as the Mavericks won their first title since 1967, and last to this date. The fact that it still carries meaning is why nearly forty years later, it sits at number 11 on my list of top Maverick moments.
Number ten: It's sometimes hard for current Mavericks to truly understand what dire straits the Maverick Athletic Department found itself in during the 1970's. Poor facilities, small budgets, an almost overnight drop from SLC attendance leaders to cellar dwellers. Every conference school funded their programs better than UTA did. The Arlington Athletic Center (Clay Gould Ballpark) was nothing more than metal bleachers with a chain link fence. Texas Hall was a poor basketball fit when it opened in the 1960's and seemed unescapable for decades. I'd say something about their football stadium, but they didn't have one. The on-campus stadium was deemed small and was demolished. The program played in a minor-then-major-league baseball stadium before going to a high school field. The Athletic Department itself didn't have a home and UTA had to utilize the P.E Building for many of its day-to-day needs.
All that changed on September 6, 1980, when UTA finally had a nice venue to claim as their own. UTA hosted North Texas to open Maverick Stadium. The training, weight room, locker rooms, offices, etc. were something UTA lacked prior to the opening. It's no secret UTA started improving performance across the board in the 1980's. That had to do with Maverick Stadium.
The game itself was rough, as UTA scored touchdowns first and last, but NTSU scored 31 points in between. The game set a couple of milestones, as it was the first ESPN college football broadcast in addition to those specifically relating to UTA. The 18,033 on hand is still the largest home crowd to witness a Maverick Sporting event. Pending a resurrection of the program, that won't change as no other venue could handle that much and track and field likely will never draw a crowd to fill just the west stands.
Testament to how important and useful Maverick Stadium was, long after the football program was disbanded, it still was the center of the Athletic Department. That lasted until 2012 when College Park Center opened. In fact, The Mav still fills a vital role in strength and conditioning, training and housing of sports teams.
The fact that UTA came from nothing to its own, fine facility, and its enduring usefulness, the opening of Maverick Stadium is the tenth most impactful moment in UTA history.
Number nine: To say the UTA men's basketball program has a less-than-stellar history is a bit of an understatement. It took eight seasons to register the first winning season, 22 season to register back-to-back winning seasons, 22 seasons to make a postseason appearance, 44 seasons to win a conference regular season championship and 48 to make an NCAA tournament.
I discussed much of the 2003/04 UTA Mavericks team in this post, so I won't repeat myself much. However, the main point is that on March 3, 2004, UTA beat Sam Houston State 81-53 at Texas Hall. 2003/04 was the first season where UTA sat on the top of the conference at the conclusion of the regular season, earning its spot at number nine on this list.
Number eight: While the women's basketball team's history isn't as sparse as their male counterparts, they certainly share similarities in the start to their programs. The women did have some success in the early years in the AIAW, but never made a national tournament like volleyball and softball did. There's some irony in that Hall of Fame coach Jody Conradt coached at UTA prior to going to UT-Austin for several decades. When Cindy Salser took over, the winning seasons ceased after a couple of years. That continued in the 1980's under Connie Kelch, tough circumstances for the team as the NCAA took over women's sports competition, putting them behind many other schools. The lack of a history hurt as the 1980's and '90's progressed.
Mike Dean took the reins in the mid-1990's and UTA earned a WNIT at-large berth in 1998. The well ran dry again as he left and when Donna Capps took over, UTA suffered through a six-win season in 2000/01. It'd be the lowest of the Capps era as UTA's win total improved every year under her watch entering the 2004/05 season.
Expectations were high that year. Several returning stars like Rola Ogunoye and Krystal Buchanan had resurrected the program. Several rising stars like Terra Wallace and Tojjinay Thompson were ready to contribute big moments. Hope was high that UTA's basketball NCAA postseason drought would end.
The Mavericks had a tough non-conference schedule, all against Division I schools, and started conference play at 5-6. Included in those wins were Kansas, Arkansas-Little Rock and North Texas. UTA had a two-point loss to Florida State and a six-point setback to Villanova.
The tough non-conference slate set up UTA well in conference as they rolled through the first eight games without a loss. On that note, they held down the home court at Texas Hall, going undefeated in conference and losing only the Villanova game on home floor all year long.
Southwest Texas State was the first set-back, 67-59 in San Marcos. UTA picked up two more wins against UTSA and Lamar before hitting the road against Louisiana-Monroe and dropping that affair, 59-47. Some demons were exercised against Stephen F. Austin in a 64-38 road win. The last conference loss came against UTSA 48-46 before the Mavs reeled off the last two home games against SWT and Nicholls State.
UTA earned the second seed in the tournament. I don't remember from the time and my research wasn't productive as ULM earned the number one seed despite the two teams splitting the season series and the total score was 105 to 103 in favor of UTA. I can't determine the tiebreaker, but either way, UTA earned a co-regular championship, the first in its history.
UTA opened against seventh seed SFA and the Mavericks made it known SFA's tendency to beat UTA in the conference tournament would not occur this year as UTA won 75-45 behind Tamesha Graves, who was one of three Mavs in double figures with a game-high 14.
Next up in the semifinals was Northwestern State. UTA won by 15 early in the year on the stage. The semis would not be that close as the defense held the Demons below their season average en route to a 74-45 win. Wallace showed her star power with 27 points. Ashley Bobb had a double-double with ten points and rebounds. The win was the 20th of the year for the team, first time in NCAA era UTA achieved that feat.
Next up was a date in Monroe for the SLC Final. The game was a tight-knit affair to start, as UTA got hot early, before Ogunoye picked up her second foul six minutes in. The Indians tightened the game, but Wallace and Tabitha Wesley made some timely shots to keep UTA in the game. The 31-30 half-time deficit was erased early in the second half as Ogunoye played looser and took control. She scored a game high 20, 12 in the second half. Halfway through the frame, UTA went on a 13-0 run to turn the tide as they took a ten-point lead. Ogunoye had five of those points. The Mavericks dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Indians, 42-29. UTA made four of their last five free throws to keep the lead late, ultimately getting a 60-54 win. UTA was destined for its first NCAA tourney appearance.
On March 19, 2005, 13th-seeded UTA played 4th-seeded Texas Tech at Reunion Arena. UTA trailed by only three at half, but was outmatched following the break in a 69-49 loss. However, after earning the team's first regular season championship, conference tournament championship and NCAA tournament appearance makes this moment the eighth best in Maverick history.
Number seven: Some may be shocked at how low this moment is, but there are a lot of ancillary factors that tamp down this entry for me. But what is unquestionable is that this moment was a glass-ceiling breaker.
The 2007/08 men's basketball season was a series of two peaks and one valley. The season started with a great non-conference run by UTA. The Mavs started 8-0, 6-0 against Division I schools. Included were wins against the Big West's UC Riverside, the Sun Belt's North Texas and Arkansas Little Rock and the Missouri Valley's Wichita State on the road.
The win streak was halted at TCU in a 77-74 overtime loss. UTA would lose one more to Oklahoma State and secure two more non-DI victories to end the non-conference slate at 10-2. The valley would start as conference play began. UTA drop the opener at Northwestern State and a second at Central Arkansas to go to 0-2 in the SLC. The Mavs seemed to figure it out as they picked up wins in the next four games. But it was inconsistent after that, 0-2, 2-0 (one was a non-conf win), 0-3, 1-0, 0-1, 1-0, 0-1. The Mavs ended at 7-9 in conference play, earning the 7th seed in the Southland Conference tournament.
A look at the standings would show what was obvious to fans at the time. The West Division of the SLC that year was head and shoulders tougher than the east. Three west teams finished with 20 plus wins. None in the east did. That would actually favor UTA.
In the conference tournament, Lamar secured the second seed by virtue of winning the SLC East. It would have been easy to write the Mavs off as they lost to Lamar 80-66 on the road. But in what was a competitive back-and-forth affair, late free throws gave the Mavs an 81-75 victory. Rodrick Epps sank a game-high 24 and Jermaine Griffin scored 20 to lead UTA's output. Anthony Vereen and Larry Posey added seven boards as the Mavs out rebounded the Cardinals 38-29.
Number three-seed Sam Houston held their end up in defeating sixth seed McNeese in overtime, setting UTA up with another game against the West Division rival. One reason the WAC return was appealing to me was reuniting with Sam, as there have been some seriously entertaining games in their series. This one was no exception, especially considering Sam took both games in the regular season.
The game featured several runs by both teams, but no major one until the start of the second half when UTA used an 18-2 advantage to go up double digits. A couple more minor runs for both sides kept it close until near the end of the half. Thankfully, UTA was in the lead and it was up to UTA's free throws. While not stellar, they made enough and got a couple of stops to preserve a 72-66 victory. In the second half, UTA kept pounding it down low to Anthony Vereen, who had a game high 20. Rog'er Guignard added an important 17 points and eight boards. The Mavs again had the board advantage, but just 35 to 34.
On the other side of the bracket, fifth seed Northwestern St beat top seed Stephen F. Austin. UTA split with the season series with SFA, each winning on the other's court. While NSU started UTA's slide in conference play. On the surface, it may appear like a break, but UTA had lost to both during the season, so it may have been a wash either way.
With the conference championship game set for March 16, 2008, UTA was set for its fourth try to turn a conference championship game appearance into an NCAA berth.
After a slow start, UTA pulled even five minutes in, took a slight lead and traded buckets until half time, a 42-41 Mav advantage. It was a mirror second half at the start, as the Demons pulled ahead by a point. With just under four minutes gone, Vereen put a shot in to give his team the lead for good. That wasn't to say it wasn't a close game, as NSU stayed within five for most of the period, even getting to 74-72 with 3:57 left. But, clearly unwilling to accept another loss, Vereen scored six points and grabbed two rebounds the remainder of the way to do enough to get UTA over the hump, 82-79. NSU missed a three-pointer with three seconds left and Epps grabbed the rebounded and sealed the deal.
Vereen was on a mission, 25 points and 9 rebounds in just 22 minutes earned him the tourney MVP. What's more impressive his 25 points came on 6 of 10 shooting and 13 of 15 free throws. Guignard and Posey landed on the all-tournament team as well.
UTA faced second overall seed Memphis in the NCAA tournament and lost 87-63. Memphis later had to vacate the win for violating NCAA rules, meaning UTA essentially lost to no one in the record books. Vereen scored 20 against the Tigers, but couldn't overcome a balanced attack that saw five players score in double figures for Memphis.
The Mavericks finished 21-12, at the time the most wins in school history. More importantly, they got the biggest monkey off their back, a trip to the NCAA tournament, earning the seventh spot on top Maverick moments.
Number six: The pinnacle of the men's basketball program came in the 2016/17 season. There were several marquee wins during the season: at UT-Austin 72-61, at North Texas 77-61, at #12 Saint Mary's 65-51. The Mavericks went 14-4 during conference play, giving the program its only Sun Belt regular season championship. 24-7 still stands as the best regular season record in program history.
UTA opened the conference tournament with Coastal Carolina, who accounted for one of its four conference losses. A convincing 74-51 win sent UTA to the semi-finals against rival Texas State. The two teams split the season series, with the Bobcats winning at their home, 81-73 and UTA winning 76-61 at College Park Center.
I still remember where I was and what was I was doing as Josh Sours was giving the call. UTA started okay, but gave up a 19-6 run en route to 41-32 halftime deficit. The Bobcats never let up (or the Mavericks never got it in gear) and UTA fell 83-62.
While deserving, UTA finished the year with an RPI of 40 (a metric heavily weighted against non-Power 5 schools), the NCAA Tournament Committee bypassed UTA. I'm convinced if the Mavs had fallen in the championship game, they would have gotten in. Also, it was rough knowing that sixth-seeded Troy knocked off Georgia State in the other semi, a mountain UTA was never able to climb over as the Panthers made several NCAA appearances instead of the Mavs.
As it is, UTA secured an NIT berth by virtue of its SBC championship. The Mavericks were sent to the Cal Bracket as a six seed. Included in the bracket were #1 California, #2 Houston, #3 Brigham Young, #4 Colorado State, # 5 Charleston, #7 Akron and #8 California State-Bakersfield. UTA went to BYU to start and held the throttle against the Cougars, 105-89 on March 15. All local talk had surrounded UTA hosting prior to the tournament. With the sixth seed, it looked unlikely, but Akron had upset Houston, a game played in Texas Southern's gym, rather than on Houston's campus.
That gave College Park Center its first postseason opportunity, and Mav fans didn't disappoint. On March 20, 5,390 fans turned out to see UTA control the whole game against the Zips 85-69. At the time it was the fourth largest crowd in Maverick history, and still ranks eighth. That win put UTA in the NIT quarterfinals. Cal St Bakersfield was the next opponent, and the eight seed was on a Cinderella run.
UTA fell behind at the half 45-29 thanks to one major Roadrunner run. UTA put together a solid second half, but fell shy 80-76. The 6,336 attendance is second in College Park Center History then and still holds.
While UTA had a win in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament the year prior, the BYU win was the first win in the NIT and it was the first and currently only time UTA had secured multiple wins in the same postseason tournament, earning the number six spot on this list.
Number five: This will be the only entry on the list from when UTA, then Arlington State College, spent time in the lower levels of the NCAA. ASC started the four-year era in 1959 with a 4-3 record in football and a 6-18 record in basketball. Women's sports weren't a thing yet, baseball wouldn't start for a decade and every sport offered was not affiliated with a conference, so records are hard to find. Football went 9-2 the following year, while basketball went 11-12. Things started to decline after that for both sports as several years of losing records were on the horizon. Arlington State founded the Southland Conference with four other schools and the then-Rebels lost in every sport that first year.
The second year of the SLC, ASC rebounds in football with a .500 record in conference, and 6-3 overall. In 1966, ASC was co-champions with Lamar Tech. They won with some young underclassmen, giving hope to the future.
1967 was a fresh year with optimism, both with a new name, the one we all know the University to be today, plus tons of top returning talent. Newly named University of Texas at Arlington started the year at number nine in the AP poll and five in the coaches poll. They won their first six games, including a win against University Division (now Division I) opponent New Mexico State and the SLC opener against Trinity. The first loss was against another University Division opponent West Texas State. UTA then swept the remaining three SLC games to finish the regular season 9-1 and were the first outright SLC champs. With a solid portfolio and high national ranking, the still-named Rebels were selected to play in the Pecan Bowl in Abilene.
The Pecan Bowl was considered a regional final in the College Division and was used to determine the final rankings and College Division national champions. The Pecan Bowl's boundary was west of the Mississippi River, roughly the Rocky Mountains and both international borders. It also has the distinction as the first broadcast of the UTA football team and second of the department overall (behind the 1967 AAU swimming meet).
UTA's opponent was North Dakota State, playing in their second Pecan Bowl. They finished the year number two in the AP poll and stayed at number two all year in the coaches poll. San Diego State was the consensus all year at number one in both polls.
I wasn't alive at the time, but I suspect NDSU had to be the favorite for several reasons. The ranking n, the fact that the Bisons had the number one rushing attack in the College Division and the game was played in freezing, iced weather. Maybe it's me, but just the weather alone seems to favor a North Dakota squad.
But, as the saying goes, that's why they play the game. UTA's defense was mammoth, shutting out NDSU for the first time in five years. UTA scored first in the second quarter when UTA's all-time passing leader Mike Baylor found end Dick Hill for a 53-yard pass, setting up UTA at the NDSU 23 yard-line. A few plays later fullback Danny Griffin ran the ball in from the one-yard line. A missed extra point had UTA up 6-0.
The defense came up big in the turnover category too. Linebacker Monty Tolleson secured two interceptions. As a whole, the Bison turned the ball over four times when they were in UTA territory and threatening. The 6-0 score would hold until the fourth when UTA forced another fumble, this one deep in Bison territory. Linebacker Bill Stewart knocked the ball loose and Danny Scott recovered it at the 18. It took just two plays before Keith Luft rumbled 12 yards for the final TD. The extra point was good and the game was all but over.
That win did several things. It gave UTA the Midwest Regional Championship and a final ranking of number three in the coaches poll and six in the AP poll. It also set the sights for UTA on a move to the University Division. It was a move finally accomplished by 1971 in all-sports, becoming the first SLC school to do so. It also favored the idea to move the program off campus to a bigger stadium, as school officials viewed Memorial Stadium, the on-campus stadium, as too antiquated and basic. Now the merits of the by-products of this win can be debated, but it set in motion events that have made the Athletic Department and even the Southland Conference (and to some extent, even the Sun Belt Conference), what it is today.
The only post-season win in football still holds up as the fifth best moment in UTA history.
Number four: This entry actually spans a couple of days, May 15-16, 2003 specifically, as the UTA Mavericks Softball team made their first entry into the NCAA tournament. That 2003 team was a weird combination of circumstances that lead to the most dominant team of its history.
Star pitcher Katy Cox was a junior and virtually unhittable. There were several freshmen on the team that made an immediate impact.
UTA was slow to start the season against good competition, going 4-7. The Mavs righted the ship after a win against Baylor, which started a six-game win streak that included a sweep to start SLC play and concluded with a win against Alabama. That kicked started a series of dominance that ended with UTA finishing the regular season 35-15 and 23-4 in conference.
UTA earned the first seed in the conference tournament, barely edging out Texas State by a game, though UTA owned the tiebreaker with a 2-1 series win. On the first day of the tournament, five-seeded Nicholls upset the Bobcats while UTA beat Sam Houston by a run. Sam then finished the upset and eliminated UTA's greatest threat without a pitch thrown. The Mavericks rolled in the next three games to win the tournament without a loss. That earned their first, and currently only NCAA tournament appearance. Texas State would earn an at-large berth and make it to the Regional Final in Austin before falling. UTA went to the Gainseville Regional halfway across the country.
UTA opened against Florida State. Cox pitched a gem, shutting out the Seminoles 1-0. That moved UTA on in the winners bracket the next day. The Florida Gators beat Oregon State 3-2 and were next up for UTA. Cox was again on her game as she shut out Florida 2-0 in their home stadium.
Cox's magic ran out on the third day as the Oklahoma Sooners won 6-2, sending UTA to the loser's bracket for the first time. That put UTA in a bind as freshman pitcher Jill Garro, who would turn into one of UTA's better all-time pitchers, to pitch the second game of the day. She pitched well enough to win, but the offense was shut out for the first time against Oregon State, a 2-0 loss, thus ending one of the best runs in an NCAA tournament by an SLC team, and the best effort by a Maverick squad.
Cox's heroic effort was the impetus for the two wins in the 2003 NCAA tournament, earning the number four spot.
Number three: Prior to May 26, 2001, there weren't many accomplishments among what many label as the "big three sports" of football, men's basketball and baseball. UTA didn't have many postseason accolades. Men's basketball hadn't made an NCAA tournament appearance yet. Football had been disbanded and has the one bowl appearance. Baseball was in two NCAA tournaments, going 0-2 each time.
The 2001 season seemed like a season of destiny. They started the year with some high-profile wins against UT-Austin, Arizona State and Baylor. Add in several wins against TCU later, plus one over Texas A&M and they had a good non-conference showing. In conference, they racked up a 15-11 record, good for a tie for third. With the tie-breaker over Texas State, UTA earned the number three seed for the Southland Conference tournament.
The Mavs won the first two games of the tourney over Texas State and UTSA. The number one seed Northwestern St Demons dropped both games, the first to sixth seeded Lamar. The Cardinals then beat UTA in the third game 1-0. In the losers bracket, UTA beat Louisiana-Monroe, the number two seed, to set-up a rematch with Lamar. Oh, and by the way, Lamar was hosting the event. By identical scores of 3-1, the Mavericks beat Lamar and earned their third NCAA postseason trip.
UTA was sent to Houston for the Rice Regional, seeded 9-16 overall by the committee. The Mavericks were given a four-seed within the regional. The Owls were number one, Baylor was sent to Houston as a two seed and the Houston Cougars were third at 29-28. There were questions whether they should have even been in the tournament, especially after an 0-2 performance in their own conference tourney.
The Mavericks pitched a clunker against Rice in the opener, dropping an 11-4 decision. However, what was on deck in the second game was an instant classic. Piece Loveless, an all-conference first-team pitcher, started the second game. He pitched three scoreless innings to start the game. In the bottom of the third, Micah Ladd and Joel Alvarado scored on an Alvarado and Craig Martin RBI to take a lead. Houston scored four in the fourth to take a lead on a grand slam homer. The Mavs got one in their half when Matt Anderson scored on a Ladd single.
Chris Minissale started the fifth inning and gave up one run in three innings. In the fifth, Darrell Preston and Junior Ramirez scored after an Anderson single to re-take the lead. Ladd would score again in the sixth after another Alvarado single, giving UTA a two-run lead. After Minissale gave up his only run in the seventh, one of UTA's all-time best pitchers, Michael Snapp came on in the eighth. The move didn't pay off as he gave up one run in 0.1 innings and faced three batters. The lone run was another homer to tie the game.
After the third batter reached on an error, Coach Jeff Curtis, acting in place of Head Coach Clay Gould, who was admitted to a hospital in his battle against cancer, pulled Snapp and put in Jarrett Garza. It got sticky for the Mavs when Garza walked the next runner on. Garza was then called for a balk. All of a sudden, the Cougars had two runners in scoring position with one out. Garza came through in the pressure situation and got a strike out for the second out and a fly out to end the eighth tied. UTA then went scoreless. Houston copied their act in the top of the ninth.
In the bottom, Martin came to the plate with one out. A record-setting player cranked a pitch to left field, giving a walk-off home run to the first NCAA Division I tournament win for either of the "big three" sports in the number three moment in Mavericks history.
Number two: For decades UTA's athletic facilities were subpar at best, as many high schools had nicer venues. Maverick Stadium helped in many regards, but outside of track and field, sport-specific venues were poor. The Mav also was a nice facility for what it was, but never a state-of-the-art venue.
Texas Hall was a great home court advantage because of its quicks, but players weren't flocking to it. In fact, there are many stories of coaches actively avoiding showing recruits the place, including anecdotes from Bob "Snake" LeGrand putting a chain on the door during recruiting visits.
So imagine what it felt for Maverick nation to finally leave that place. February 1, 2012 is likely a date I'll remember when my mental health declines. College Park Center made its debut. In doing so, a new era was started. As then-Coach Scott Cross said, they went from the outhouse to the Taj Mahal.
A then-record crowd of 6,228 saw the men beat UT San Antonio 67-66 and the women win 51-40. The remaining three games of the season all eclipsed 4,000. Two of those games would also have been a campus record prior to the opening. The men's game was a great game that came down to the buzzer. They brought an 11-game winning streak that moved to 12. They were in sole possession of first place in conference. UTA was on its way to the WAC, a higher-caliber and tougher conference. UTA won the conference title outright, went to its second NIT. The entire athletic department moved into the arena, creating a first-class experience. There was a new Athletic Director. The directional arrow was pointing nowhere but up.
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| College Park Center, from Spaniolo Drive. |
A decade after its opening, College Park Center is still the crown jewel it was when it opened. At the time, it was the nicest college arena in Texas. Combined with the Mavericks beating UT-Austin in 2016, it inspired UT-Austin to pause (albeit super temporarily) their continued upgrades of their football stadium and build a bigger version of CPC on their campus.
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| UT-Austin's new Arena, the Moody Center, looks awfully similar to another basketball arena in the University of Texas System |
The idea of building a smaller capacity (in this case 7,000 versus say 10,000) inspired Baylor to replace the Ferrell Center (10,284 for basketball) with their new venue opening in 2024 (7,000).
Honorable mentions: presented in chronological order as much as possible,
-September 26, 1959, the Rebels of Arlington State College beat the Southeastern Oklahoma football team, 28-0, the first athletic event for the Institution as four-year University.
-The UTA swim team finished seventh at the NCAA University Division meet in 1968.
-Starting in 1973, UTA volleyball made eight AIAW national tournaments in 9 years, six of those seasons ended in top ten finishes nationally.
-In 1976 the softball team made the AIAW College World Series, finishing eighth nationally. UTA went again in 1977.
-The 1980/81 men's basketball was a record-breaking team, culminating in the team's first postseason appearance in the 1981 NIT.
- In 1985, the men's cross country won the Southland Conference meet, become the first non-football men's team to win a conference title.
-May 19, 1990, UTA baseball hosts Nicholls State and wins 4-3. That gives the Mavs a half game advantage over Sam Houston State and its first baseball conference title.
-On November 29, 2016, the UTA men's basketball team beats UT-Austin 72-61. Scoring the highest in-state, non-conference win in program history.
- Due to winning the conference regular season championship, but falling in the conference tournament, UTA was earned a berth in the 2019 WNIT. On March 21, 2019, UTA beat long-time killer Stephen F. Austin 60-54, earning their first post-season win in six tries.
-The news of UTA being asked to leave the Sun Belt was public when the UTA women's basketball team team throttled Troy in the SBC championship 76-61. The win had the feeling of an ex showing the person who broke up with them what they lost.
-UTA has had numerous individual national champions at the highest level: 1968, Rick Nesbit (100-yard breaststroke), 1968, Doug Russell (100-yard butterfly), 1968, Doug Russell, Rick Nesbit, Charlie Smith, Ernie Siefert (400-yard medley relay), 1982, Gilbert Smith (long jump), 1990, McClinton Neal (400m hurdles), 2018, Alexus Henry (high jump).
Number one: On December 14, 1989, the UTA women's volleyball team did something no other Maverick (or Rebel) squad has done before or since. After getting wins against North Carolina, LSU and UT-Austin, the Mavericks advanced to the Final Four of the 1989 NCAA women's volleyball tournament.
Consider the timeframe. UTA usually had a strong showing with their women's team, especially volleyball, as shown above. But UTA had dropped football four years prior. Men's basketball was in a stretch of seven straight losing seasons (Willie Brand was a freshman this year and would stop that streak at eight the following season). Baseball had run into the buzz saw of Lamar and had not claimed a conference title (though as seen above, that would change in a few months). Softball went through something similar with a couple of runner-up conference tournaments. This was the only team to have sustained success at the time. The track and field teams were about to earn their first conference titles and start a dynasty that would last decades. The men's outdoor team claimed their first one a few months prior.
UTA volleyball made their first NCAA tournament appearance in 1985 and played in it every year since then. They had wins in each of the prior three tournaments and were building to this moment. Legendary Coach Lisa Love built the team, though she left for UCLA after the prior season concluded. UTA was led by several seniors, including do-it-all Chris Rudiger, who led the team in kills (still #8 all-time single season) and digs. Legendary setter Shawna Sweeten just finished leading the team in assists for the third straight year. Anita Allgood was the middle blocker to hold the net, as she led the team in solo and total blocks.
The Mavericks finished first in the SLC and ended with a 31-4 record. The win total is second in the NCAA-era. The winning percentage stills sits in first, and likely will not be broken in my lifetime, if ever.
After getting past the Longhorns, UTA faced Long Beach State in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Mavericks lost in four sets to the eventual national champion. That set lost was the only one for then-known-as-49ers, as they swept Nebraska 3-0 for the title. To this date and the foreseeable future, this is the closest any Maverick team has come to in a quest for a team NCAA national championship and earns the number one spot on this list.
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