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UT-Arlington to WAC??

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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby couch 'em » Wed Mar 09, 2011 12:51 pm

I didn't even know UTA used to have a football team. It seems bizarre, like UTD having a team would be.

The UT Arlington football team traces its roots to 1919 when the program was established as the then Grubbs Vocational College Grubbworms from 1919 through 1922.[1] By 1923 Grubbs was renamed as the North Texas Agricultural College with the football team then playing as the Junior Aggies competing in the Central Texas Conference. As the Aggies, the program captured four conference championships through the 1948 season.[1] By 1949, the school would again change its name and mascot in competing as the Arlington State College Blue Riders through the 1950 season only to again change the mascot to the Rebels for the 1951 season.[1] Arlington would reach their zeinth as a junior college program in capturing both the 1956 and 1957 Junior Rose Bowls as national junior college champions.[2] Following the 1958 season, Arlington State became a four-year school and begin competition as a Division II school.[1]

After entering the Southland Conference as a charter member for the 1964 season, by 1966, the school officially became the University of Texas at Arlington.[1] As UTA won conference championships in 1966, 1967 and 1981 seasons in addition to winning their lone bowl game, the 1967 Pecan Bowl.[1] The program would be officially disbanded after an announcement by then university president Wendell Nedderman on November 26, 1985, citing financial loss as the primary impetus for its abandonment.[1]

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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby couch 'em » Wed Mar 09, 2011 12:56 pm

This is interesting:

From http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kcu08
In the 1990s about 7 percent of UT Arlington students were black and about 6 percent Hispanic. When Amacher was hired as president-and again after he resigned-black organizations threatened to attempt to prevent black student enrollment at all University of Texas System schools unless an African American was chosen president.
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby couch 'em » Wed Mar 09, 2011 1:04 pm

Basically, UTA is what SMU would have been if we were a public school (football wise). We would have likely dropped football 10 years after UTA.

http://shorthorn.uta.edu/databank/football/n120199-01.html

Substitute 90s for 80s:
“I knew back in the 80s that the death knell had sounded when the fraternities started having parties at the same time as the ball game.”


“That was a little like a funeral day,” he said. “We didn’t have a clue it was even in the works.”


“For 13 years, I tried to make football a viable program,” he said. “But the students didn’t seem to want it, or weren’t willing to support it by attending. We made a decision, and the Board of Regents agreed.”


Former students, especially from the 1950s and 1960s, had more than an average team to watch.

The football program at Arlington State College, which was a junior college, reached a high point in 1956. Arlington State won the Junior Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., defeating Compton College, 20-13. After that game, Arlington College students dismantled the goal posts, brought them home and erected them in front of what was then the Student Center.

Arlington College went back undefeated to the bowl the next year, beating Cerritos Junior College, 21-12. In 1963, the college joined the Southland Conference.

The only national championship the team won was in 1967 when it won the Pecan Bowl in Abilene over North Dakota in a game where the wind chill reached 20 degrees below zero.


“Attendance was good on campus,” he said. “We would even drive to away games. It was really fun the years we beat TCU.”


(This article is from 1999)
Because the games were moved off campus and the team record in the 1970s was usually terrible, attendance began to decline severely. In 1970 the average attendance was 4,580 and the team record was 0-10, the worst record the program had ever suffered.

Whiddon said people stopped attending the games.

“For the same reason that less than 8,000 fans attended the SMU game last Saturday (Nov. 6) in the Cotton Bowl, attendance took a dive,” he said. “I think it is a universally accepted truism now that college football teams need to play their home games on campus.”
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby couch 'em » Wed Mar 09, 2011 1:05 pm

From the same article, more mascot history:

The team changed mascots as many times as it changed stadiums, another factor that supporters of the team say led to its demise.

Four colleges have sat on the same plot of land that UTA has occupied since 1917, and all of them have had a football program.

While part of the Texas A&M System, the first school was Grubbs Vocational College with its mascot, the Grubworms. The name then changed to the Hornets in 1921. In 1923, the school became North Texas Agricultural College. In 1940, the school became Arlington State College and its mascot was the Rebels.

But as the civil rights movement picked up steam, some students became offended that the team mascot was a Rebel. Confederate flags were waved at the games to support the team, and tension increased. Students displayed signs demanding the mascot name be changed.

Whiddon said the controversy took its toll on the attendance.

“The Confederate flag, Dixie and the Rebel theme were not just the symbols of UTA, but were actually the theme of Arlington itself,” Whiddon said. “A significant sector of the students decided they did not like the Rebel theme, and despite student referenda to the contrary, (they) were able to persuade the dean to abolish the Rebel theme.”

Estes said that when the Rebel theme was playing, it changed the atmosphere of the stadium. “It was an electric experience.”

Dan Griffin, a fullback who played on the last Rebel team, agrees with Estes.

“I get goose bumps just talking about it,” he said.

Former halfback Calvin Lee said that when the band played Dixie, it gave the players a boost.

“You kinda got the feeling you could run through a brick wall,” he said.

The mascot changed to the Mavericks in 1970, three years after Arlington State College became the University of Texas at Arlington.

The end

With the Rebel theme done away with and the Maverick in place, attendance declined again in the 1980s.

In 1985, average attendance was 5,600 with a team record of 4-6-1. During this period, the team had a winning record only in 1981 and 1984.

“Football became not a priority for our students,”Darovich said. “We would look over at the student side of the stadium and it was so embarrassing because the fraternities weren’t there and ROTC that used to always be there wasn’t there. The band was there, but at half time when the band took the field, there was nobody on the student side.”
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby StallionsModelT » Wed Mar 09, 2011 1:43 pm

Wow that really does reflect our student attendance.
Back off Warchild seriously.
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby Longtime » Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:23 pm

It would be a horrendous mistake for them to bring back football. UNT, for all its financial struggles, is light years ahead of UTA in terms of football viability.

This isn't exactly a sports-starved market like San Antonio, where UTSA is starting a football program. San Antonio has the Spurs and not much else, so there's potential for a college football program to flourish.

The only reason it would be worth doing is to spur alumni giving. The only way it could be competitive is on a I-AA or smaller scale, such as in the Southland Conference. Then it wouldn't be competing with the area's established schools for recruits. But no one is going to write a check to dear old alma mater for winning a Southland Conference championship.

The only reason SMU and TCU succeed at all in this environment is our SWC history and large numbers of influential alumni. UNT struggles because it lacks in those areas, and UTA has even less. However, UTA is opening a new basketball arena - no more playing on a stage - which is a much more cost-effective way of enhancing student life.
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby PurplFrawg » Fri Mar 11, 2011 8:04 pm

I always thought it was interesting how many of the Texas A$M system schools field football teams as opposed to the UT system. Within the UT system, I think only UTEP plays football, whereas you have Tarleton, Commerce, Canyon, Kingsville and others on the A$M side. Curious
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby Vitale » Sat Mar 12, 2011 1:35 am

Would be pretty funny to see UTA in a legitimate conference and NTSU still in the Sun Belt.
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby Charleston Pony » Sat Mar 12, 2011 10:21 am

back in our "glory days" as a SWC member, we played UTA in the non-conference just as we did NTSU
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby 03Mustang » Sat Mar 12, 2011 1:47 pm

Vitale wrote:Would be pretty funny to see UTA in a legitimate conference and NTSU still in the Sun Belt.


The new WAC is much, much worse than the Sun Belt. NTSU has turned down the WAC repeatedly.
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby Big Hoss » Sun Mar 13, 2011 11:12 pm

03Mustang wrote:They have the most ridiculous basketball arena ever. Gotta love the orchestra seating on one side.
Image


FWIW, they are building a 6500 seat arena/special events center to the tune of nearly $80mm. Opens late this year. http://www.uta.edu/eventcenter/

I got my undergrad from UTA, and MBA from SMU, thus the connection. The only shot the school has of getting kids interested in their sports program is to have football. Basketball might get more interest with the new venue, but this is Texas where football is king, so many folks aren't holding their breath.

If UTSA can join the WAC in just its 2nd year of existence, I'd be willing to be UTA could do it. UTA has grown over 50% since my time there in the early 90's. They have a lot of on campus housing now, and continue to build. It'd be interesting to see them do it, but can't say that I'd change where my athletic support and donation are currently going. :D
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby Longtime » Mon Mar 14, 2011 2:13 pm

@03Mustang: I wouldn't say the WAC is much, much worse than the Sun Belt just because UNT turned them down.

UNT has turned down the WAC because it would go broke with all the travel costs. You might argue that the WAC without Boise, Fresno and Nevada is no better than the Sun Belt. But I wouldn't say it is much worse, other than the high travel costs for a Texas school.
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby SMUstang » Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:43 pm

I know that there is not much respect here for either UTA or the WAC. However, under the circumstances, UTA joining the WAC at this time makes a lot of sense. I probably wouldn't come to Arlington to see them, but I just might go to San Marcos or San Antonio to see them. If they are ever going to have success in their athletic program, this may be the time.

There were some interesting observations in this article. (Take it for what it's worth)

"In talking to multiple Metroplex media sources today, I’ve also been told there’s a distinct possibility UTA will join the WAC in basketball - and soon.
Though even more intriguing is the prospect of UT-Arlington reviving football, which according to DFW sources is once again gaining traction. I was told today by a prominent Fort Worth-based sports media member that UTA President Spaniolo and Athletic Director Carlon are currently in the “evaluation” stage of considering a football program that would compete in the WAC."
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby Bergermeister » Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:15 am

Having Pete Carlon involved in any UTA football discussion is the kiss of death. Maverick athletics will continue to tread water as long as he is there.
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Re: UT-Arlington to WAC??

Postby SMUstang » Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:48 am

Bergermeister wrote:Having Pete Carlon involved in any UTA football discussion is the kiss of death. Maverick athletics will continue to tread water as long as he is there.


I don't know Pete, so I'll have to take your word on it. Though it is hard for me to believe that any athletic director wouldn't want football to be a part of his program.
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