A dead rivalry might be given new life next season.
From 1938-1971 ACU and McMurry met every year on the football field. That rivalry could be renewed in the 2012 football season.
Both ACU Director of Athletics Jared Mosley and McMurry Director of Athletics Ron Homles have confirmed that talks have taken place to try and schedule a Wildcats and War Hawks game next year.
“This has the potential to be a good rivalry game,” Mosley said. “It can be a game the community is interested in. We will see where these talks go, but as they move into Division II, it certainly makes it more attractive for us.”
With McMurry moving to Division II next season, it gives ACU a potential cross-town rival in all sports. The sport that might benefit the most, however, is football.
According to Mosley, the Wildcats are always looking for non-conference opponents in football located to Abilene. This year the Wildcats were able to play Western Oregon at Shotwell and only had to travel a few hours to Cowboy Stadium for their game against North Alabama.
Nothing is final however, as Mosley and Holmes both stressed that a deal is not done between the two schools.
“I’d still say we are quite a ways from having anything finalized,” Mosley said. “Where we play and how we handle tickets are some roadblocks that we still need to figure out, but we are definitely in those conversations, trying to get something worked out.”
If the game were to take place, it would be played at Shotwell, since McMurry’s Wilford Moore Stadium couldn’t accommodate the crowd that ACU would bring to the game, according to Mosley.
Football might not be the only sport to benefit from McMurry’s transition to Div. II. The War Hawks could play the Wildcats in non-conference games in every other sport.
“We don’t really play them in any sports right now because of our need to schedule DII opponents,” Mosley said. “Their move opens those doors.”
Beginning in 2012, the War Hawks will be a part of the Heartland Conference, which features schools such as Dallas Baptist University and the University of Texas-Permian Basin. ACU has played these schools in sports such as basketball and volleyball, so there is no reason to think that a cross-town rivalry wouldn’t be formed in those sports.
“Hardin-Simmons and McMurry have had a great rivalry for the years that they have both been in Division III,” Mosley said. “With McMurry moving up fans, I’m sure, will gravitate towards ACU and McMurry and make it a rivalry.”
