While San Antonio football may still be in its infancy, the city has a lot to offer. Even if it has little or nothing to do with colleges or universities. San Antonio ranks 87 on our Top 100 College Football Towns in America.
To celebrate 100 days until the start of the college football season, HERO Sports is counting down the Top 100 FBS College Football Towns in America. Each day, starting May 17 and ending Aug. 24, a new city will be revealed. We will analyze the city, the program, the good and bad of the city as well as the bottom line. If you got a problem, @me on Twitter.
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88. San Antonio, Texas – UTSA
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University of Texas-San Antonio Athletics[/credit]
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The Program
UTSA Football is only six years old, but has already achieved success that many long-established programs have yearned to have for decades. In the most recent NFL Draft, Marcus Davenport became the first Roadrunner first-round selection. UTSA's first two years in FBS were huge triumphs going 15-9, including 8-4 in its inaugural year (four of those opponents were non-FBS, but that's not the point!).
Last year the Roadrunners finished second in Conference USA in home attendance. They are 12-12 under new head coach Frank Wilson. HERO Sports' Andrew Doughty recently rated them the 100th best team in the country. There is extreme optimism down in San Antone, and it is all warranted.
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The City
The long and storied history of tourist activities in San Antonio are well documented. From the River Walk to the Alamo, one can spend a weekend walking through the Texas streets and soak up the cosmopolitan culture that makes San Antonio one of the most eclectic cities in America.
As a college town, however, it lacks quite a lot. There is practically no college experience since UTSA and its neighboring schools in the area are sort of dispersed throughout the greater metropolitan. While one may be envious of the numerous city offerings, the activities and experiences directly centered for the college student is limited. When you compare San Antonio to Austin, College Station or even Waco or Lubbock, there is a stark divide between the marriage of football and college experience that San Antonio is still yet trying to figure out.
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The Good
The Roadrunners uniforms and color combination are a pleasant amuse bouche. The Spurs have been providing winning basketball and entertainment in the city for the entirety of the current college-age student's life. San Antonio is also home to a monthly pub run, where organizers –what was once thought of as physically impossible–brought together exercise and alcohol consumption. It's also just a 45-minute drive to Austin, for those who crave an authentic college experience.
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The Bad
UTSA plays its football in the Alamodome, a stadium that holds over 70,000 but barely fills the lower bowl can make for a very empty college football experience. It's never a good feeling when you can hear the cheers echo through the cavernous space of a stadium like being trapped in the bottom of a well.
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Bottom Line
San Antonio is still in the early stages of trying to find a healthy happy relationship with a multi-cultural, exciting city and a football program still searching for an identity. The city can provide, the college experience is just trying to catch up to compete with some of the more attractvie cities in Texas.
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NEXT: Top 100 College Football Towns: No. 88 – Kalamazoo, Michigan
