Duck_Mav

Dang it, you're right. That Burnt Orange AD is not my favorite.

Still a good idea, but perhaps TCU and SMU feel it would be a comedown to have to play their larger neighbors.

Thanks for the open-minded comment, @SteaminWillieBeamin. As for the rest of you, it's fun to see the responses to "the story we hear every year," as if your comments were not as repetitive as the repetitious story. "Not enough interest." "Not enough money." "Commuter school." "Can't compete for the DFW dollars." I'm not sure what was the point of the references to UTSA, UTEP and the other UT's. Just like UNT, UT Arlington is stuck in a governmental amalgamation that exerts control over our school in return for a fraction of the funding. I mean, I'm not feeling the love, and have to assume we would have a really good, bitter, nasty rivalry with UNT in football, just as we almost have had in basketball. (Maybe your basketball team can finally beat us this year, and after that, maybe we can call it a rivalry. Oh wait. Maybe we should cancel the game, like UNT did a few years ago when we were favored.)

Scott Cross' problem this year, in addition to the thin bench, was that he had no replacement for Jorge Bilbao. For the previous 3-4 years, the Spaniard was the heart of the team. You guys had a great team this year - almost beat UT Arlington. Maybe next year, but I kind of doubt it. :0)

We sure appreciate UNT being willing to play us most years. It's too bad Smew and Teeceeyou are afraid to play us, but I guess that's normal. We're pretty good and those guys don't want to share glory in the DFW market.

620am on tunein works if you search for UT Arlington....

UTA is 4-1 against CUSA thix year, having blown a 10 point lead vs LaTech. El Paso was pretty good, but otherwise, I would agree it is a down year for the conference, especially San Antonio!

UofH would never get in the XII as long as UT-Austin could stop them. The Bevoites have never forgiven Houston for outshining them once they got into the SWC.

You guys are being too nice. How can a UTA fan talk smack in such an environment? Good luck the rest of the season!

Dang. I wish we could say that. Oh well, at least we have baseball and men's tennis.

As a Maverick Alum, I am really disappointed. I very much doubt that JJ would ever have backed down from this rivalry. Sure, UTA has "owned" UNT 7 of the last 9 times we've played, but I'm old enough to remember the 70s and 80s. From 1973 to 1983 North Texas beat us 8 of 11 games, yet nobody in Arlington even considered giving up on the series. Streaks happen: That's just the way things go with good rivalries. I hope this is just a temporary setback and that the series will be renewed. It's bad enough that TCU and SMU are afraid to play. I never thought UNT was like that. We'll really miss you guys next season at College Park Center. I'm particularly sorry not to see Alzee Williams play again. He, unlike Benford, is a class act.

It was a rough time for UNT, but you weathered it and came through better and tougher. We, on the other hand.....

I think there was an era when that was an attitude that accounted for some of the best and brightest students at UTA, perhaps ten years ago. Only speaking for myself, I never considered Arlington a stopover, unless it was a stopover on my way to law school. Now that about 5,000 students live on campus, with a majority of the others in apartments within 5 miles of campus, it's hard to apply the old paradigms. During my era when we were playing winning football (late 60s), attendance was good, interest was high, and community support was significant. If you came later, your reality was different, and I get that. As for whether or not UTA would support football, I doubt that UNT had good crowds during the latter years of the Dodge era. That doesn't mean North Texas cannot or does not support football. I'm sorry to hear from any UTA exe who thinks we could not support a competitive team. That's absurd.

Is it possible that I am the only UTA alumnus to reply on this topic? I agree with Silvereagle. It just doesn't make sense. We have lost a quarter century of fun we could've been having if "Dr. Pohl's window" had only been kept open at UTA. I'm afraid we are under the control of the same kind of leftist tree-hugging commie bastards that are attacking UNT from South Dallas. A thin sliver of hope is starting to shine into our bunker as the arch-anti-football president Spaniolo is finally closing out his career. We have a search committee that is just now forming up and I am very hopeful that they will be looking at candidates who are not anti-football.

No poser here, but thought I would dispel the talk about swTSU not being D-1. They have been giving the full FBS allotment of scholarships and are thus ineligible for the Southland football championship this year. Granted, their team is probably not the best one in the SLC, but they are giving those 21 extra rides, so they are not an FCS program. Like the rest of the lower half of the SLC, they would have trouble competing with McNeese, SFA or Sam Houston, but that probably puts them on a par with some of the Sunbelt bottom dwellers as well. :0)

Plumm and Meangreeneagle, I appreciate you guys taking the high road regarding our two schools' rivalry. I agree it will be good for all concerned if UTA competes well in the WAC and adds FB. We had some good contests over the years. Remember, if we ruined your first game with Fry, you guys beat us at our place when we opened the stadium in 1981. It was the biggest crowd we ever had....sigh. So I think you more than got the upper hand. I have no influence over Spaniolo. He's playing his cards very close to the vest. I think the motivation is there for him to support "Tier One" athletics. If/when we get our team back, it will be because he sees some long-term financial and prestige benefits. By the way, it should have been "due to" not "do to".

Dang. I don't mean to start anything hostile, but why all the hate? Do you guys really hate the WAC? I think the WAC is shaping up to be an improved version of the Southland for UTA. I really have no beef against the 'belt, but they seem to be a larger collection of former SLC schools than the WAC. Former SLC schools Troy, ASU, ULL, ULM and UNT are in the 'belt, vs TSU, UTSA and UTA in the WAC, right? Maybe Lamar and Sam Houston will get an invite as well, and that would make us even. Ya think? Even after those defections, I think the Southland will survive with its collection of 4 remaining Louisiana schools, UCA, SFA and Corpus Christi. All except Corpus play FB.

This was unexpected good news for UTA. I'm somewhat surprised that there is not more talk about bringing football back as part of the deal, but perhaps that is a side issue until the long expected capital campaign finally kicks off. Football has long been viewed as the ultimate carrot that would figure in such a campaign, and I think that is how it will ultimately turn out. UTA has not hit its students with the large athletics fees like the UNT students agreed to, so that is another potential trick they could pull out of the bag once the decision is made to go bigger time. All along, I was hoping we would be going to the 'belt, as UNT is a natural rival for us, but frankly, the WAC institutions have better reputations, especially compared to our former SLC conference mates in La. Maybe in a few years the WAC will be good enough for UNT to give it another look.

Did you forget Troy and Arkansas State? UNT was only temporarily in the SLC when they had to drop down a division during the Corky Nelson era, but even that brief time showed what a great natural rivalry we could have and what ideal travel partners UNT and UTA could be if and when UTA ever stepped up to "Tier One" athletic status, and if UNT ever gets Baseball and Men's Tennis.

It was the biggest turnout in a one-day referendum ever at UTA, probably on a par with similar referenda at UNT and UTSA, which is to say, less than a majority of students, but all of the ones who are active on campus.

Not true. The fee that the students approved in the April 2004 referendum has never been collected. The approval was conditional upon FB and two women's sports being started, which obviously has not happened. Spanny did successfully divert the student leaders from the FB goal to the Arena goal, so in that respect, your "bait and switch" comment is valid.

Great Win MG!!!!

I sympathize with your frustration about school colors. UNT alums and UTA alums have that much in common. Our administrations or suppliers cannot seem to get the colors right. We got some bozos in Austin telling us we have to use freakin' ORANGE as a trim color instead of the RED we used for over 50 years. Now the "trim color" is showing up as the main hue everywhere on campus. As I say, I can see how them getting the Kelly Green and White wrong can tick you guys off. At least you get a SHADE of green!

I don't think they meant disrespect, but maybe they were in shock at the significant a**kicking Balls Tate got from the MG. GREAT GAME!!!

Sic transit gloria. Maybe someday soon we'll finally get the go-ahead to be a real university and play football. Lamar recently announced their 2010 football schedule and UTSA is gearing up to start play in 2011, leaving UTA and TAMU-cc as the only non-FB schools in the Southland.