The UT Arlington Mavericks (abbreviated UT Arlington, UTA, and Mavs) 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 (WAC) in 15 varsity sports. The number will rise to 16 in the 2026/27 academic year when women's flag football begins their first season of competition. The addition of flag football will also coincide with the WAC's rebranding as the United Athletic Conference. UTA will remain a member of the newly rebranded UAC. When UAC expansion was first announced, UTA was the only member that does not sponsor (full-contact) football; the UAC would later add Little Rock as a second full non-football member effective in 2026–27.
Jon Fagg is the current athletic director. Prior to his stint at UTA, he was a Deputy Athletics Director, overseeing daily administration and NCAA compliance for the Arkansas Razorbacks at the University of Arkansas. Fagg replaced Jim Baker, who led the Athletic Department from 2012 to 2022.
History
UTA was a founding member of the Southland Conference in 1963 and participated in the league until the end of the 2011–12 athletic year. They joined the Western Athletic Conference for one year before they moved to the Sun Belt Conference. They left the Sun Belt and rejoined the WAC on July 1, 2022.
UT Arlington won the Southland Conference's Commissioners Cup three times since the award was first instituted in 1998. The Commissioner's Cup is awarded to the athletics program with the highest all-around performance in all conference events, including all men's and women's events. The Athletic Department finished within two points of the Bubas Cup, the Sun Belt's all-sports championship trophy, twice in 2014-15 and 2016–17, as well as a second-place finish in 2018–19.
When the school transitioned from junior college to University status in 1959, the schools athletic teams were known as the Rebels. Controversy would surround the name after a decades time. A series of events would occur that lead to a change in mascots to the current version. The Mavericks' name selection was made in 1971, predating the National Basketball Association's expansion franchise Dallas Mavericks' starting choice in 1980.
The first women's programs began competition in the 1973–74 school year. Volleyball, basketball and softball were the first three programs, competing in the AIAW until the teams moved under the umbrella of the NCAA in 1982–83.
Sports sponsored Men's sports Women's sports Baseball Basketball Basketball Cross country Cross country Golf Golf Softball Tennis Tennis Track & field Track & field Volleyball
Basketball
Men's basketball
Home games are played at College Park Center, located on 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. Later, Memphis had to forfeit their win for "ineligible competition, impermissible benefits and failure to monitor its athletics programs."
On November 29, 2016, the Mavericks defeated the Texas Longhorns in Austin for the first time in program history after 11 attempts. The Longhorns decided to terminate their contract with them after their 2016 loss due to the Mavericks becoming too competitive. The terminated contract paid the Mavericks a large lump sum for each game played in Austin for six consecutive years (2011-2016).After embarrassing losses, Power 5 teams are avoiding UT Arlington star-telegram.com (subscription required)
Although only 22 of 65 University seasons have resulted in an overall winning record, 13 of the past 22 seasons have finished with a .500 winning percentage or greater, including a school record 27 wins in the 2016–17 season (as of the conclusion of the 2022–23 season). They won the Southland Conference regular season championship in 2012, along with a tie for the 2004 regular season championship and a 2008 conference tournament championship that led to their first NCAA Tournament appearance. The first Sun Belt regular season title was earned in the record-setting year of 2016–2017.
Overall, the team has played in six postseason tournaments and won four conference championships.
Women's basketball
The women's basketball team was established in 1973 and experienced early success with a combined 64–32 record in three seasons between 1975 and 1977. The Mavericks participated in several AIAW state and regional tournaments before joining the Southland Conference beginning with the 1982–83 season.
Between 2004 and 2010, the team posted an overall record of 121–65. During this time span, highlights included a perfect 16–0 Southland Conference record for the 2006–07 season and two NCAA tournament appearances in (2005 and 2007).
In 2016–17, the team earned an at-large NIT bid. In 2018/19, the Mavericks finished in a tie for the Sun Belt regular season title. UTA played in the WNIT again, winning their first-round game against Stephen F. Austin, the first postseason win in program history.
In 2021/22, the basketball team finished second in the regular season. UTA advanced to the Sun Belt Tournament final where the Mavericks earned a 76–62 win over number one seed Troy. This marked the third overall appearance in the NCAA tournament.
UTA has played in three NCAA and four NIT tournaments (as of the end of the 2022/23 season).
Baseball
The baseball team plays at Clay Gould Ballpark, located at the southwestern edge of the UT Arlington campus. The inaugural season was in 1969. Highlights include Southland Conference regular season championships in 1990 and 1992 along with tournament championships in 2001, 2006 and 2012. The team also won a share of the 2013 Western Athletic Conference regular season title and their first outright divisional Sun Belt Conference regular season title in 2017.
Despite the Mavericks winning a minimum of 30 games in the 1980s and sporting a total winning percentage of.587, UTA could not get past the Lamar Cardinals (4) nor the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (3) and enter the NCAA Tournament. Three seasons after those two teams left, UTA entered the tournament for the first time in 1990, the first of five times the Mavericks would enter the postseason. UTA lost by one run to the top seeded Texas Longhorns. The Mavericks went 0–2 in 1992, losing to Creighton and the Longhorns again. In 2001, UTA sandwiched two losses to Rice around a 7–6 victory over the Houston Cougars. That win to date is the sole postseason win for the Maverick program. In 2006, The Mavericks experienced a 10 inning 6–5 loss to North Carolina State. In 2012, UTA earned their highest seed in the current format at three and played in the Waco Regional, going 0–2. The current 12 season drought is the longest period between NCAA tournaments in program history.
Volleyball
The first season for volleyball at UT Arlington was in 1973. The volleyball team appeared in the national rankings in the 1970s during their time in the AIAW and towards the end of the 1980s in the NCAA. They advanced to the NCAA Division I Volleyball Final Four in 1989. UT Arlington is one of only three institutions in Texas to ever reach the NCAA Division I Volleyball Final Four.
The team won 12 Southland Conference regular season championships, including the first 9 from 1982 to 1990 as well as 10 Southland Tournament crowns. In 2024, the team won their first WAC championship. They have appeared in 16 AIAW National and NCAA Tournaments. The team has secured seven NCAA tournament victories. The Mavericks ended the longest NCAA Tournament drought in program history by winning the 2024 WAC tournament. The previous appearance was in 2002.
Softball
UTA softball plays their home games at Allan Saxe Field, adjacent to Clay Gould Ballpark. The Mavericks began play in 1973 and have compiled a record of 1,487–1,342–9, a winning percentage of .525 (as of the conclusion of the 2024 season). Along the way, they have won five Southland Conference regular season titles and one tournament title. Their lone appearance in the NCAA tournament came in 2003, where they went 2–2. In 2017, they played in the National Invitational Softball Championships. In 2019, UTA claimed the NISC championship, defeating Iowa State 4–3 in the championship game.
Prior to competing in the NCAA, the Mavericks were members of the AIAW, where they competed in two Women's College World Series tournaments.
Football
UT Arlington began play as a junior college in 1919 and played at that level until 1958. They won Junior Rose Bowls in 1956 and 1957, as well as the Junior College National Championship, as Arlington State College.
After becoming a four-year University, UTA fielded a College Division (Division II today) football program as an independent from 1959 to 1963, joined the Southland Conference in the College Division from 1964 to 1970, a University Level (Division I) program from 1971 to 1981 and a Division I-AA program from 1982 to 1985. Home games were played in Maverick Stadium beginning in the 1980 season. UTA earned conference championships in 1966, 1967 and 1981. In 1967, the team won the Pecan Bowl against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, the only bowl game in its history.
The team was disbanded after the 1985 season due to major financial losses (nearly one million dollars per year) and low home game average attendance (5,600 with 23,100 students). By the end, the program was funded by the university's auxiliary enterprise income while the other 14 sports were under-funded, as football accounted for half the total athletic budget.Executive Summary of the Neinas Report , UT Arlington Sports Expansion Study, 2004, Accessed May 13, 2008.
In April 2004, UT Arlington students voted by a 2-to-1 margin to increase their student athletic fees by $2 per semester-credit hour should the university reinstate football and begin women's golf and soccer teams. President James D. Spaniolo, who just began his post leading the school, decided to pursue a new multi-purpose venue, which materialized when College Park Center opened in 2012. He also made the announcement to relook at adding football in five years. While several Freedom of Information requests uncovered two different feasibility studies, nothing public occurred in the ensuing years.
In April 2023, student again voted to increase the student fee to fund a football program and two additional women's sports.The Shorthorn, article of student election, Accessed October 25, 2024. The non-binding referendum has not been publicly acted upon by the administration as of the end of 2024.
Other sports
The men's golf team has won four Southland Conference Championships, while finishing as the runner-up eight times. During that time, they had the individual champion three times. In their lone season in the WAC, the team finished in second place while they claimed their fourth individual conference champion.
The women's golf team began varsity play in 2017/18. Their best finish was in 2019 when they finished 7th out of 11 in the Sun Belt Championship.