Players on the volleyball team and the women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 basketball teams stand on the soon-to-be-completed College Park Center court where they'll compete next season as members of the Western Athletic Conference.
Raising Our聽Game
Move to Western Athletic Conference coincides with College Park Center opening
It鈥檚 a whole new ballgame for UT Arlington athletics. When the Maverick basketball and volleyball teams take the court in fall 2012, they鈥檒l be playing in a new conference and a new聽arena.
UT Arlington has accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference, a move expected to elevate the University鈥檚 competitive sports programs and increase its national profile. UT Arlington becomes the 10th member of the WAC for the 2012鈥�13 academic year, joining San Jose State University, New Mexico State University, and Utah State University, among other institutions.
WAC conference play will coincide with the first full basketball season at , a 7,000-seat, split-bowl arena designed by Cowboys Stadium architect HKS. The events center is part of the 20-acre, mixed-use College Park District scheduled to open in late summer 2012.
鈥�This is clear recognition of the growing prominence of UT Arlington and is consistent with our strategic initiative to become a major research university,鈥� President James D. Spaniolo says. 鈥淭ier One institutions have Tier One athletics programs and student-athletes who compete at the highest levels, both on and off the聽field.鈥�
鈥淭ier One institutions have Tier One athletics programs and student-athletes who compete at the highest levels, both on and off the聽field.鈥�
WAC Commissioner Karl Benson says UT Arlington brings geographic balance and increased media exposure to the conference, plus top-level academics. The conference also includes UT San Antonio, 糖心Vlog视频 State University, the University of Denver, the University of Idaho, Seattle University, and Louisiana Tech University for 2012鈥�13. Benson would like to add two more schools and create two, six-team divisions.
鈥�The addition of UT Arlington places the WAC in another top-20 media market with the recent additions of Seattle and Denver,鈥� he says. 鈥淎ccess to the Dallas-Fort Worth region will help the WAC secure more lucrative television rights fees in the future, a benefit for all of our member institutions.鈥�
All of UT Arlington鈥檚 14 Division I intercollegiate sports will compete in the new conference. Pete Carlon, the University鈥檚 athletics director, says the move from the Southland Conference to the WAC ushers in a new era of Maverick athletics.
鈥�This gives UT Arlington instant recognition across the country,鈥� he says, noting that the WAC is one of 11 elite conferences in NCAA Division I athletics. 鈥淚t moves us from regional athletics competition to a truly national stage.鈥�