Despite UTSA entering just its 12th season in college football, there has been no shortage of memorable moments. From the inaugural game in front of 56,743 fans in the Alamodome, to winning back-to-back Conference-USA Championships in 2021 and 2022, Roadrunner nation has seen some amazing achievements. 

While winning trophies is perhaps the main goal of college sports, there is sometimes an even bigger prize to be won; winning against a rival. UTSA has always had a traditional rival in Texas State, which is about 45 minutes north of San Antonio. With the short distance between the schools and large number of alumni representing both institutions, it is always a tense affair when these schools meet, although it has been rare in recent years. 

North Texas has become a more common foe for UTSA since both were members of C-USA and now set to join the American Athletic Conference in the 2023 season. Especially in regard to football, the beef between the schools has risen to a fiery level, both on and off the field. 

With both of these rivalries, one can say the Roadrunners would be satisfied, right? 

Not quite, as many fans and alumni are looking at another Texas team to form a hatred towards. 

That school would be the University of Houston, which is the largest university in the Bayou City and recently made a conference switch of its own to the Big-12. Many fans of both teams would like to see the two schools play more regularly, which remains to be seen with both being in different conferences. 

Though both teams have only played three times in their programs history, there has been plenty of headlines for each game. 

The first meeting between the two sides was on September 28, 2013, when Houston thrashed UTSA 59-28 in San Antonio. The Roadrunners, with a very sour taste in their mouths, then defeated the Cougars 27-7 the next season at the inaugural game at TDECU Stadium — the current home of Houston. 

The series went dormant for almost a decade, until last season, when UTSA opened up at home against the Cougars in what would be the most thrilling game of the series thus far. 

The Cougars would win in comeback fashion 37-35 in a triple overtime game that gave Houston a 2-1 record over UTSA’s football program. 

The passionate fan bases and fiery matchups have shown that these two schools are growing into a rivalry against each other. Both schools compete against each other regularly in the majority of other sports, so it is now time to make the transition to the football side of things. 

With the stocks of both teams on the rise, what better time than to grow and nurture a rivalry that would not only be school versus school, but city versus city?