I-35 Rivalry

The I-35 Rivalry (officially the I-35 Maroon vs. Orange Rivalry Series[1][2]) is a college rivalry between the Texas State University Bobcats and the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners. It is named for the Interstate Highway that connects the two universities.

I-35 Rivalry

UTSA Roadrunners Texas State Bobcats
Sport	Football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, tennis, track and field, softball, golf, baseball[1]
First meeting	1991
Trophy	I-35 Series Trophy[1]

🌍

Locations of Texas State and UTSA

History

Series results

Texas State victories

UTSA victories

No.	Date	Winner	Score
1	1991–1992	UTSA	1–0
2	1992–1993	UTSA	1–0
3	1993–1994	Southwest Texas State	1–0
4	1994–1995	UTSA	1–0
5	1995–1996	UTSA	1–0
6	1996–1997	Southwest Texas State	1–0
7	1998–1999	UTSA	1–0
8	1999–2000	Southwest Texas State	1–0
9	2000–2001	UTSA	1–0
10	2003–2004	UTSA	1–0
11	2004–2005	UTSA	1–0
12	2005–2006	Texas State	1–0
13	2006–2007	Texas State	1–0
14	2007–2008	Texas State	1–0
15	2008–2009	UTSA	1–0
16	2009–2010	Texas State	1–0
17	2010–2011	Texas State	1–0
18	2011–2012	Texas State	1–0
19	2012–2013	UTSA	1–0
20	2017–2018	UTSA	1–0
21	2018–2019	UTSA	1–0
22	2020–2021	UTSA	1–0
Series: UTSA leads 13–9

Start of a big rivalry (1991)

The rivalry dates back to 1991, when the University of Texas at San Antonio joined as a non-football member of the Southland Conference. Southwest Texas State University, which had jumped in the conference only four years prior, is located less than 60 miles from the UTSA main campus. Due to their proximity, conference membership, and status as emerging research universities, the rivalry began to develop. It was fostered by a desire to bring attention to collegiate athletics in Central Texas.[3]

Eventually, a trophy was utilized in the mid-1990s to recognize the winner of the annual men's basketball game between the two universities.[2] In 2007, the competition was expanded to all sports, with the new I-35 Series Trophy being awarded to the winner.[1] Prior to this new moniker and point-based scheme, the rivalry's name was unofficial, with the term "I-35 rivalry" being used by other schools and teams to label their own athletic competitions.[4][5]

The Texas State Bobcat Marching Band performs at the Alamodome during halftime at the inaugural football game against UTSA

In 2003, "Southwest Texas State University" became "Texas State University—San Marcos", a move designed to help propel the school from a regional institution to a recognized, tier one university, a similar direction that UTSA had envisioned for itself.[6][7] In 2009, the University of Texas at San Antonio was designated as one of seven emerging tier one universities in the state.[8] Texas State years after its rival, was upgraded to emerging tier one university status in January 2012 by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.[9] In 2013, "Texas State University—San Marcos" was renamed to simply "Texas State University", the school's seventh name in the history of its existence. The university's administration saw the new name both as a clarification due to its identity issues and a step away from local identity.[10]

Western Athletic Conference (2012)

In 2012, big changes to the rivalry occurred. With the addition of both UTSA and Texas State to the Western Athletic Conference, the two schools met each other for the first time on a football field. The game, which took place on November 24, 2012, was heavily promoted by both teams. 39,032 fans witnessed the rivalry's first-ever football game,[11] the highest attendance of any game on both teams' schedules and the most-attended conference game in the WAC that year. Although the game remained close throughout its duration, UTSA emerged victorious, 38–31, in its home field at the Alamodome.[12] The teams signed contracts with two different conferences that year, with UTSA heading to Conference USA and Texas State going to the Sun Belt Conference.

Future of the rivalry (2013–present)

With the Bobcats and Roadrunners parting ways to different conferences in 2013, the fate of the rivalry remained uncertain.

On May 23, 2014, both Texas State and UTSA both announced an eight-game football series starting in 2017 in San Marcos. "With the proximity and similarities that we have, this could develop into a special college football rivalry," stated by the Texas State head coach Dennis Franchione.[13][14] On January 23, 2020, Texas State and UTSA announced a further extension of the football series to 2031.[15]

Game results

Men's Basketball

Texas State–UTSA Men's Basketball rivalry

First meeting	February 9, 1985 UTSA 83, Texas State 76
Latest meeting	December 7, 2019 UTSA 77, Texas State 71
Statistics
Meetings total	61
All-time series	UTSA leads 36–25
Longest win streak	UTSA, 8 (1986–1994)
Current win streak	UTSA, 1 (2019–present)

Texas State victories

UTSA victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 February 9, 1985 San Antonio, TX UTSA 83–76 2 February 26, 1985 San Marcos, TX UTSA 94–77 3 January 11, 1986 San Marcos Texas State 69–62 4 March 6, 1986 San Antonio UTSA 94–73 5 December 8, 1989 UTSA 97–78 6 November 24, 1990 San Antonio UTSA 132–97 7 January 5, 1991 San Marcos UTSA 77–61 8 January 25, 1992 San Marcos UTSA 70–68 9 February 22, 1992 San Antonio UTSA 82–66 10 January 16, 1993 San Antonio UTSA 83–74 11 February 13, 1993 San Marcos UTSA 67–65 12 January 8, 1994 San Antonio Texas State 75–66 13 February 5, 1994 San Marcos Texas State 79–62 14 January 21, 1995 San Antonio UTSA 69–59 15 February 18, 1986 San Marcos UTSA 86–82 16 January 27, 1996 San Antonio UTSA 65–42 17 February 24, 1996 San Marcos UTSA 75–59 18 January 25, 1997 San Antonio Texas State 100–85 19 February 15, 1997 San Marcos Texas State 86–78 20 January 29, 1998 San Marcos UTSA 64–63 21 February 26, 1998 San Antonio Texas State 76–65 22 January 23, 1999 San Marcos UTSA 60–56 23 February 27, 1999 San Antonio Texas State 91–77 24 March 6, 1999 Shreveport, LA UTSA 71–63 25 January 29, 2000 San Antonio UTSA 90–86 26 March 4, 2000 San Marcos Texas State 77–69 27 March 7, 2000 San Antonio Texas State 88–86 28 January 27, 2001 San Antonio UTSA 77–69 29 February 19, 2001 San Marcos UTSA 90–85 30 March 6, 2001 San Antonio UTSA 71–69 31 February 16, 2002 San Antonio Texas State 81–68 No. Date Location Winner Score 32 March 2, 2002 San Marcos Texas State 70–59 33 March 4, 2002 San Antonio UTSA 99–83 34 January 25, 2003 San Marcos Texas State 85–76 35 February 24, 2003 San Antonio UTSA 83–73 36 January 21, 2004 San Antonio Texas State 74–73 37 February 25, 2004 San Marcos UTSA 69–66 38 March 8, 2004 San Antonio UTSA 78–73 39 February 12, 2005 San Antonio UTSA 88–69 40 March 4, 2005 San Antonio UTSA 81–76 41 February 18, 2006 San Marcos Texas State 85–68 42 January 20, 2007 San Marcos Texas State 67–63 43 February 17, 2007 San Antonio Texas State 77–65 44 January 26, 2008 San Antonio Texas State 79–73 45 February 23, 2008 San Marcos UTSA 103–96 46 January 28, 2009 San Antonio UTSA 86–76 47 March 4, 2009 San Marcos Texas State 80–66 48 January 27, 2010 San Marcos Texas State 76–62 49 March 3, 2010 San Antonio Texas State 83–76 50 January 22, 2011 San Antonio UTSA 88–84 51 February 26, 2011 San Marcos Texas State 82–80 52 January 21, 2012 San Marcos UTSA 80–75 53 February 25, 2012 San Antonio Texas State 66–52 54 January 19, 2013 San Antonio Texas State 81–78 55 February 16, 2013 San Marcos UTSA 73–62 56 November 22, 2014 San Antonio UTSA 80–67 57 December 2, 2015 San Marcos Texas State 76–53 58 November 25, 2016 San Antonio UTSA 63–48 59 November 15, 2017 San Marcos UTSA 79–78 60 December 1, 2018 San Antonio Texas State 69–68 61 December 7, 2019 San Marcos UTSA 77–71 Series: UTSA leads 36–25

Football

Texas State–UTSA football rivalry

First meeting	November 24, 2012 UTSA 38, Texas State 31
Latest meeting	September 12, 2020 UTSA 51, Texas State 48 ^2OT
Statistics
Meetings total	4
All-time series	UTSA leads 4–0
Largest victory	UTSA, 44–14 (2017)
Longest win streak	UTSA, 4 (2012–present)
Current win streak	UTSA, 4 (2012–present)

Texas State victories

UTSA victories

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
1	November 24, 2012	San Antonio	UTSA	38–31
2	September 23, 2017	San Marcos	UTSA	44–14
3	September 22, 2018	San Antonio	UTSA	25–21
4	September 12, 2020	San Marcos	UTSA	51–48
Series: UTSA leads 4–0

References

1. I-35 "Rivalry Series". The Official Athletics Website of Texas State University. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
2. I-35 "Orange vs. Maroon Rivalry Series". goUTSA.com. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
3. "I-35 Orange vs. Maroon Rivalry" Archived 2012-02-22 at the Wayback Machine. Texas State University Pride and Traditions. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
4. "Bears and Longhorns Meet in I-35 Rivalry". Baylor Bears Official Athletic Site. Published October 23, 2000. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
5. "San Antonio Spurs-Dallas Mavericks: I-35 Rivalry Could Be on Life Support". Bleacher Report. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
6. "Texas State University signed into being". Austin-American Statesman. 2003. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
7. "UTSA establishes new chair in biotechnology". San Antonio Business Journal. Published October 13, 2005. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
8. "Texas voters may start universities' race for elite status". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
9. "Texas State Upgraded to Emerging Research Status". Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
10. "Texas State University-San Marcos to Be Renamed". Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
11. "UTSA tops Texas State in I-35 battle". KENS 5. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
12. "Runners victorious in first-ever I-35 rivalry football game". The Paisano. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
13. "Texas State and Utsa Begin 8-year Series in 2017". TXState Bobcats. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
14. "Texas State, UTSA Schedule Eight-Game Football Series". FBSchedules. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
15. "Texas State, UTSA extend football series through 2031". FBSchedules. Retrieved January 25, 2020.