Location | Arlington, Texas |
---|---|
Owner | University of Texas at Arlington |
Operator | University of Texas at Arlington Athletic Department |
Capacity | 10,022 |
Record attendance | 10,500 |
Surface | Natural Grass |
Construction | |
Built | 1951 |
Renovated | East stands, 1962 |
Expanded | 1962 |
Demolished | 1973 |
Construction cost | US$60,000 |
Tenants | |
UT Arlington Mavericks football Arlington Independent School District football |
Memorial Stadium was a 10,022-seat stadium on the campus of The University of Texas at Arlington that served as the home site for the numerous teams that would become UT Arlington Mavericks as well as the Arlington Independent School District.
The steel and wood stadium opened for the 1951 football season and cost $60,000 to construct. [1] Original capacity was 5,500. The stadium was oriented north-south from end zone to end zone with a playing field, west-side stands and a press box. In 1962, Memorial Stadium was expanded, reaching its final capacity of 10,022 with the addition of east-side stands. The stadium was located immediately west of the present Maverick Activities Center on what is now a field of flat recreational space and east of the nearby creek.
The Arlington State College Rebels won the national junior college championship in 1956 and 1957. The school would rise to four-year status in 1959. UTA would play as an NCAA College Division Independent for a half decade before founding the Southland Conference and playing its first conference game as a University in 1964. The stadium would host the 1966 SLC co-champions and the 1967 outright champions, the first SLC team to post a perfect conference record. The 1967 team would finish the regular season ranked third in the UPI poll and beat North Dakota State, who was ranked second in that poll, 13–0 in the 1967 Pecan Bowl.
One of the more memorable games came in the 1968 season. In what was the equivalent of the Southland Conference championship game, UTA hosted the Arkansas State Indians with a 15-game home winning streak and Southland Conference championship on the line. UTA was sporting a 2–0 SLC mark while Arkansas State was 3–0 in the five-team league. A win for Arkansas State would give them the title outright, while a UTA victory would guarantee a share. UTA led 21–14 when Arkansas State scored a touchdown and added a two-point conversion to go up 22–21 with three minutes remaining. UTA would fumble a punt with under two minutes to seal the game. [2]
Date | Opponent | Attendance | Result |
---|---|---|---|
November 4, 1967 | Abilene Christian^ | 10,500 | 34-7 |
November 18, 1967 | Lamar* | 10,500 | 16-10 |
October 10, 1968 | East Texas State | 10,500 | 41-30 |
October 1, 1966 | East Texas State | 10,000 | 27-10 |
November 12, 1966 | Arkansas State^* | 10,000 | 16-6 |
October 30, 1965 | Arizona State College^ | 9,900 | 27-6 |
September 15, 1962 | Southern Mississippi | 9,800 | 7-28 |
November 8, 1969 | Abilene Christian^ | 9,800 | 24-28 |
November 16, 1968 | Arkansas State^ | 9,750 | 21-22 |
^ Homecoming * Clinched SLC championship |
UTA teams played at Memorial Stadium until the conclusion of the 1969 season while Arlington high school teams played games there until the completion of the 1973 high school football season.
Memorial Stadium provided a home field advantage the program would never see again. From 1959 to 1969, the Rebels were 35-17-1, a winning percentage of .670. Included was a winning streak of 15 games that spanned from the last home game of 1965 to the last home game of 1968, the aforementioned Arkansas State game. Ironically, the longest losing streak came immediately after the winning streak as UTA would lose five in a row until winning the final game of the 1969 season, also the final game at Memorial.
As UTA prepared to move up the highest level of college football, officials at the University deemed Memorial too small and old to host higher level schools, which was needed to move up. The City of Arlington had just purchased Turnpike Stadium from Tarrant County, a minor league baseball stadium with the ability to host football games. The stadium was a lure for a major league team (eventually becoming the home of the Texas Rangers in 1972), but the City did not have a full-time tenant during the fall. Seeing a cost-effective solution, UTA would play their home games there beginning in 1970 leaving the UTA campus for the city-owned venue three miles away. UTA wouldn't play another home game on campus until the opening of Maverick Stadium in 1980, after Arlington Stadium was locked into a permanent baseball configuration.
After the last high school game of the 1973 season, Memorial Stadium was demolished. In 1975, the Maverick Activities Center opened east of the site, and provided UTA students recreational opportunities not previously available on campus.
The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Southland sponsors 18 sports, 10 for women and eight for men, and is governed by a presidential Board of Directors and an Advisory Council of athletic and academic administrators. Chris Grant became the Southland's seventh commissioner on April 5, 2022. From 1996 to 2002, for football only, the Southland Conference was known as the Southland Football League.
Maverick Stadium is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose stadium on the western edge of University of Texas at Arlington campus.
The North Texas Mean Green football program is the intercollegiate team that represents the University of North Texas in the sport of American football. The Mean Green compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the American Athletic Conference. They are coached by Eric Morris, who was hired as the new head coach of the Mean Green on December 13, 2022. North Texas has produced 24 conference championship titles, with twelve postseason bowl appearances and four appearances in the former I-AA Playoffs. The Mean Green play their home games at the DATCU Stadium which has a seating capacity of 30,850.
Scott Michael Cross is an American college basketball coach who is currently head men's basketball coach at Troy. He is the former head men's basketball coach at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he played college basketball.
The Texas State Bobcats are the sports teams that represent Texas State University. Currently, they compete in the Sun Belt Conference in NCAA Division I. The Bobcat has been the mascot of Texas State University since 1921, when the university adopted the name from the recommendation of a committee formed to raise school spirit. Though considerably smaller than mountain lions, bobcats are known for their stubborn fierceness and great courage. The football squad used the bobcat for the first time in 1921 and went undefeated with a 7–0 season. Texas State had several officially recognized live bobcat mascots until the 1970s. In 1964, the Texas State Bobcat was given the official name of "Boko" by Beth Greenlees, a sophomore from Luling, Texas, who beat out about 100 other students in a "Name the Bobcat" contest. Her winning submission earned her a $5 prize and the honor of being the person who named the Texas State mascot. Boko has twice been named “USA National Champion” mascot. Texas State had no official fight song until 1961, when Paul Yoder was commissioned to compose "Go Bobcats." The song is the rousing "call to arms" for all Texas State athletic games and competition.
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The Arkansas–Texas A&M football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Arkansas Razorbacks and Texas A&M Aggies, which started in 1903. Between 1992 and 2008, the schools did not play each other when Arkansas left the Southwest Conference to join the Southeastern Conference. The rivalry was renewed as a neutral-site out-of-conference contest in 2009; in 2012 it once again became a conference rivalry when Texas A&M also joined the Southeastern Conference. Arkansas leads the series 42–36–3.
The UT Arlington Mavericks are the athletic teams that represent the University of Texas at Arlington in Arlington, Texas. The Mavericks currently compete in the NCAA Division I Western Athletic Conference in 15 varsity sports. The number rose to 15 in the fall of 2017 women's golf began their first season of competition that athletic season.
The UT Arlington Mavericks football team represented the University of Texas at Arlington from the 1959 through 1985 seasons. Between 1919 through 1958, UTA competed as a junior college prior to moving to the NCAA College Division in 1959 and ultimately the University Division in 1971. UTA played its home games at multiple stadiums throughout their history with the most recent being Maverick Stadium, in Arlington, Texas.
Clay Gould Ballpark, the home field of the UT Arlington Mavericks, is located on the campus of The University of Texas at Arlington. The stadium has a seat capacity of 1,600. Clay Gould Ballpark is located at the intersection of West Park Row Drive and Fielder Road.
The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) located in the U.S. state of Texas. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as members of the Southland Conference, which SFA rejoins for the 2024 season after a three-year absence. SFA had played the 2023 season in the United Athletic Conference (UAC), newly formed for the 2023 season as a merger of the football leagues of SFA's previous home of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). It replaced an alliance between the two conferences that operated in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
The UT Arlington Mavericks men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Western Athletic Conference. Home games are played at College Park Center, located on the University of Texas at Arlington's campus in Arlington. The team appeared in the 2008 NCAA tournament, losing against the #1 seed Memphis in the first round, although Memphis was later forced to vacate the win due to infractions committed by the program.
The Lamar Cardinals basketball team represents Lamar University in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The Cardinals currently play in the Southland Conference following a return from the Western Athletic Conference on July 11, 2022. They were one of four programs, all from Texas, that left the Southland Conference on July 1, 2021, to join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Lamar left the Southland Conference for the second time, having initially joined at the league's formation in 1963, left in 1987, and returned in 1999. After one season in the WAC, Lamar returned to the Southland Conference. The Cardinals have played home games in the Montagne Center since 1984. The Lamar University basketball team is one of the school's most storied athletic programs. The Cardinals have competed in NCAA Tournament play eleven times and six times at the NCAA Division I level with the most recent appearance in the 2012 tournament. The 1979–80 team was one of the 1980 tournament's Sweet Sixteen teams. The Cardinals have also competed in four NIT tournaments. Heading into the 2014–2015 season Lamar had a 284–143 record in the Montagne Center. The Cardinals overall record going into the 2014–2015 season was 922–818.
The UT Arlington Mavericks baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the University of Texas at Arlington in Arlington, Texas, United States. The team is a member of the Western Athletic Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The team plays its home games at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. The Mavericks are coached by Mike Trapasso.
The UT Arlington Mavericks softball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the University of Texas at Arlington in Arlington, Texas, United States. The team rejoined the Western Athletic Conference in 2023, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The team plays its home games at Allan Saxe Field in Arlington, Texas.
The UT Arlington Mavericks women's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Western Athletic Conference and representing the University of Texas at Arlington. Home games are played at College Park Center, located on the university's campus in Arlington, Texas. The team appeared in the 2005 NCAA tournament, losing to #4 seed Texas Tech in the first round, 69–49, and the 2007 NCAA tournament, dropping their first round game to #4 seed Texas A&M 58–50.
The Texas–Arlington Mavericks volleyball team, historically one of the most nationally prominent teams on campus, is an NCAA Division I college volleyball team rejoined the Western Athletic Conference in July 2022. Home games are played at College Park Center, located on University of Texas at Arlington's campus in Arlington. The team has appeared in eight AIAW National Tournaments, eight NCAA Tournaments and three National Invitational Volleyball Championship Tournament, collecting 12 regular seasons titles and ten conference tournament titles along the way. The Mavericks ended the longest NCAA Tournament drought in program history by winning the 2024 WAC tournament. The previous appearance was in 2002.
Allan Saxe Field is the home of the UTA Mavericks softball team located in Arlington, Texas. As a result of a complete reconstruction in 2014–15, the stadium currently has a capacity of 622. Prior to the renovation, the softball facility had a seating capacity of 250. Adjacent to Clay Gould Ballpark, the stadium is located at the intersection of W. Park Row Drive and Fielder Road.
The East Texas A&M Lions football team is the college football program representing East Texas A&M University. The school competes in the Southland Conference (SLC) in Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Prior to joining the Southland, they competed in the Lone Star Conference of Division II. The East Texas A&M football team plays its home games at Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium on the university campus in Commerce, Texas. On December 16, 2017, East Texas A&M won its first NCAA Division II national championship, by defeating West Florida, 37–27, in Kansas City. The Lions recorded a perfect record in 1934, won the NAIA National Championship in 1972, and have amassed a total of 24 LSC conference championships since joining as a charter member in 1931. On September 28, 2021, the university accepted an invitation from the Southland Conference, moving the university's athletics programs up to the NCAA Division I level. This ended a 90-year affiliation with the Lone Star Conference, as East Texas A&M was the last founding member remaining. The football team began competing at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level starting with the 2022 season.
The 1977 UT Arlington Mavericks football team was an American football team that represented the University of Texas at Arlington in the Southland Conference during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. In their fourth year under head coach Harold Elliott, the team compiled a 5–6 record.