The Wait is Over

As is par for the UT Arlington men's basketball team, it seems they are one of the last in the NCAA to release a schedule. But on Tuesday, the 2024/25 schedule came out and there's some noticeable talking points. 

In August, playing schedule detective, we knew of a home game against Louisiana Tech, a road game at Missouri State, an in-season home and home with Louisiana-Monroe sandwiched around a buy game at Arkansas State, a road game at Liberty to complete the WAC/CUSA scheduling initiative and a home game against Evansville. Later, I learned the team would play in the Jacksonville Classic, but did not know the matchups, as well as a schedule release from the University of Southern California that had the Mavs on it.  

Now, with the schedule release, we can fill in the blanks. 

On November. 4, the Mavs open the season with a buy game against North Texas-Dallas. Later that week, they host Louisiana Tech on November 9. The release didn't say, but the La Tech game is at five pm on a Saturday, making it the best candidate for the homecoming game. 

The Mavs head to the road for the buy game against USC on November 13. I was hoping there would be a chain of West Coast games, but instead, UTA comes back for a second non-DI game against Texas College on November 15. They head back to the road on November 19 against Missouri State.

In a twist that I'll get back to in a moment, they play Murray State on a neutral court on November 26 in Jacksonville, Florida. It is not part of the Jacksonville Classic, which starts Nov. 27 and ends the next day, will be against a pool of teams including Austin Peay, Detroit and Rhode Island. The match-ups for the MTE (multi-team event) are not set.

Two road games against ULM on December 2 and Arkansas State on December 12 follow the MTE. The Mavs return to College Park Center against ULM on December 14. The third game against the Missouri Valley Conference completes the brief homestand as Evansville comes to Arlington on December 18.

A five-game road trip that spills into conference play starts on December 21 at Liberty, followed by a December 29 game at Texas State. 

Conference play starts January 4 at Tarleton State, then January 9 at Utah Tech. The travel partner is completed on January 11 at Southern Utah. The third Utah school comes to Arlington as Utah Valley plays the Mavs on January 16, followed by Seattle on January 23.

The squad is back on the road come January 25 at Abilene Christian. The Utah pair comes to CPC on January 30 for SUU, then February 1 for Utah tech.

The northwestern travel partners appear next on February 6 at UVU and February 8 at Seattle. 

A huge homestand starts on February 13 against California Baptist. Revenge brewing since the end of last season culminates on February 15 versus Grand Canyon. The longest homestand completes against Tarleton on February 22.

The return trip to GCU occurs on February 27. They immediately return home for ACU on March 1. the regular season concludes at California Baptist on March 8. 

Depending on how the season shakes out, the WAC tournament starts in Saint George, Utah on March 11 as the eight and nine seeds play for an entry into "WAC Vegas" on March 12-15 at the Orleans Arena.

In this scheduling environment, this is about as good as it going to get unless things change with the NCAA Tournament selection process. I generally don't understand how these "Power" teams schedule one or less road games, nine or so buy games play a good or equivalent team or two in a neutral court and get rated highly in the NET rankings by playing against fellow conference schools who did the exact same thing.

I've always been a conspiracy theorist in that the NCAA wants as few "little guys" in the tournament as possible to make more money from bigger fan bases. Fewer and fewer at-larges going to those teams really make that less conspiracy and more that's just how it is. 

Anyhoo, due to those schools scheduling as many buy games as possible, and unfortunately the non-P5 taking so many, scheduling gets harder and harder for programs that are close to being nationally competitive. McNeese State is a great example. 

Murray State, a team UTA has played exactly once prior, is a great example. They are separated by 566 miles as the crow flies from Arlington to Murray, Kentucky and while that would be a good home and home to schedule, they are playing on a neutral floor in Florida. Quirks of scheduling. 

It does also raise an interesting fact. Like volleyball, who played two Missouri Valley Conference teams, there are three MVC teams on the schedule for men's basketball. UTA briefly flirted with the MVC before the Western Athletic Conference became their home. With the Mountain West Conference and the remnants of the Pac-12 potentially causing further instability, I wonder if that pipeline is still there. Is it a coincidence that the MVC scheduling is happening, or is it part of something greater?

I knew it was coming, but I am glad the Texas State game continues. While it isn't what the rivalry was in the later half of UTA's time in the Sun Belt, these teams still don't like each other and after last year's weird loss in Arlington, they will be looking for redemption.

Final observation, there are three November home games, none near the Thanksgiving break, two December home games, that are both after finals and commencement. It is a period of five games totaling almost a month before the team returns home. The first January game takes place after the first day of the spring semester. There are three home games the first month of the year. In February, if this team is in the race, the four home games, including GCU, have a large chance to be a great atmosphere. The lone game in March is on the first and could carry over like the Feb. games. Other than the December games, it is a chance for the student body to re-establish themselves.

In total, there are 13 home games, 14 road affairs and three neutral court contests. The quality of opponent should really help in the strength of schedule if that comes into play. Each game is winnable if the talent that is here is as billed. Some nights will be harder, of course. But in this challenging scheduling environment, this is a really good schedule.