Sam Houston vs. UTEP Game Was the Last of Dying Breed For Bearkats
Could Thursday night have been an end of an era?
Barring a lucky turn of the next wave of realignment, last week's game against UTEP could be the end of an era for the Bearkats. In 2026, the the Miners take their program to the Mountain West, meaning next year’s UTEP vs Sam game in Huntsville will be the final all-Texas conference game for the ‘Kats.
As it stands, Sam Houston’s conference games for 2025 include a smattering of teams east of the Sabine River and New Mexico. Get ready for historic rivalries with Kennesaw State; all an output of the new money-driven landscape of college football (which you can go into depth in places much deeper than we will here).
Yes, there will be out of conference games against in state foes as we saw this year (I’m looking at maybe going to that Texas game for a fun Austin weekend) and there is always Sam’s annual residency at NRG Park that draws in fans from Houston that can’t make it up to Huntsville for a game.
But something just doesn’t feel right. Quick, name someone, anyone, that you know in Delaware. Yes, head coach KC Keeler was a successful coach for the Blue Hens. But it sure doesn’t hit like beating the crap out of Stephen F. Austin or Lamar in a regional battle that helps decide the conference.
Admittedly, this could all be interjection and overreaction by me. Conference USA could try to add a Tarleton State. But the fact that we are even at this point is a sad day for the diehards of Texas regional college football. When UTEP comes next year, I will celebrate a game that is the last of a dying breed for Sam Houston.
Heck no to Tarelton State, who are they again? Seriously, no more purple rivalries, Sam is done with that as well. Let's just hope Sam Houston is in talks with the MWC, it's a better caliber home, bigger paychecks, and playing out west is just more fun. Conference USA should not be Sam's forever home like it was for UTEP, let us not go that route. But again, no thank you to Tarelton State anywhere in the FBS. They should try winning a Natty in the FCS first, then consider it.