Football fans will be treated to a rare international experience and a chance to kickoff Hispanic Heritage Month in the world’s greatest stadium this fall as the Lone Star Football Festival returns to Cowboys Stadium with three Mexican collegiate football teams on the schedule, league officials announced.
The three-day event, featuring games that involve all seven Lone Star Conference football teams, will include a showdown between perennial LSC power Texas A&M-Kingsville and reigning CONADEIP Conferencia Premier champion Monterrey Tech, widely regarded as the best college football team in all of Mexico. In addition, teams from Monterrey Tech branch campuses in Mexico City and Puebla will trek to Arlington and square off against one another as Mexican collegiate football takes center stage on the same weekend its country celebrates its independence.
The weekend festival is set for Sept. 12-14, with Sunday, Sept. 15, marking the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month and Monday, Sept. 16, a national holiday in which Mexico celebrates its independence. In allowing a closer look at the Mexican teams, LSC officials hope the event will enhance the numerous Mexican Independence celebrations throughout North Texas, while also contributing to the NCAA Division II membership effort to become more familiar with Mexican intercollegiate athletic programs.
In addition to the games, a Hispanic Heritage kickoff event will be held at Cowboys Stadium with live music performances, radio talent hosting events on-site, food, and fun on Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. and again Saturday from 9 a.m. to Noon.
“Division II has a forward-thinking membership, as evidenced by our recent expansion into Canada, and having the Mexican teams at our event allows the Lone Star Conference to do its part in exploring whether or not expansion into Mexico is the right thing for our division,” LSC Commissioner Stan Wagnon said. “An initial vote was defeated narrowly in January, and we’ve been approached by leaders both in the NCAA and in Mexico to help find ways to bring clarity to the concept.”
At the NCAA Convention in Grapevine this past January, a proposal to allow institutions located in Mexico to join the Division II membership failed in a close vote among delegates, with 137 against and 133 in support. There was no debate on the proposal before voting.
“Clearly a good portion of Division II members wish to explore and support the possibility members from Mexico, and the LSC is positioned to help by taking some initial strides to learn more,” Wagnon said. “People in the LSC, as much as anybody, recognize the way our nations are linked geographically and economically, even culturally and socially. So even apart from the NCAA considerations, this is a chance to celebrate all of those commonalities.”
In Monterrey Tech, festival attendees will see the very best of Mexican collegiate football. The Borregos Salvajes, or Wild Rams, won 11 straight ONEFA national championships from 1998 to 2008 and have added consecutive CONADEIP national titles in the past two seasons.
“What is most attractive about Monterrey Tech goes beyond the success they’ve enjoyed on the football field, but certainly there’s been plenty of that,” Wagnon said. “The more you’re around the folks from Tech, the more you see they are committed as an institution to creating knowledge and advancing culture, both for their constituents and anyone else within their reach. It is inspiring.”
In addition to the Mexican teams, the festival again showcases some of the top NCAA Division II teams from around the country, after featuring eventual national champion Valdosta State (Ga.) in last year’s event. This year’s lineup includes four 2012 playoff teams – including a pair of first-time festival participants from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – and 2000 national champion Delta State (Miss.) of the Gulf South Conference.
Match-ups will include LSC co-champion and NCAA national semifinalist West Texas A&M facing Chadron State (Neb.) in a rematch of last year’s first-round playoff game. Also, Angelo State will play 2012 RMAC champion Colorado State-Pueblo, while Texas A&M-Commerce duels Delta State (Miss.) and Eastern New Mexico squares off with Sul Ross State of the Division III American Southwest Conference.
TAMUK meets Monterrey Tech in the event’s first-ever international game, while the teams from Mexico City and Puebla are set to play each other in a CONADEIP contest. But perhaps the highlight of the schedule will be the event’s only conference affair as LSC powers Midwestern State and Tarleton State tussle in a rivalry game that has been decided by five or fewer points in three of the past four meetings.
The Buffaloes and Eagles will play at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, on the CBS Sports Network. The game was selected as one of the six games to be broadcast as part of the NCAA Division II and CBS Sports Network’s regular-season football television schedule.
Friday’s lineup includes three games starting with Sul Ross versus ENMU at 1 p.m., followed by DSU against A&M-C at 5 p.m. The day wraps up with Mexico City and Puebla at 9 p.m.
On Saturday, the tripleheader starts at Noon with Monterrey Tech in opposition to TAMUK, followed
by a LSC clash between Tarleton and MSU AT 4 p.m., and CSU-Pueblo versus ASU at 8 p.m.
“The festival is a unique event within the NCAA that continues to be a great asset to our conference, and the 2013 lineup has a chance to be our best yet,” Wagnon said. “Beyond the opportunity to learn more about our neighbors from Mexico, we’ve arranged some intriguing regional matchups like the playoff rematch between West Texas and Chadron, plus bringing in a team that spent most of 2012 atop the national polls in CSU-Pueblo.”
Admission to the event will be offered in daily tickets along with an option for three-day festival passes, with tickets to go on sale later this spring. A single day ticket is $25 for adults and $10 for students. The festival pass, which is good for admission all three days, is $40 for adults and $15 for students.
The festival has attracted more than 58,000 fans for nine games in its first two years, making it one of the best attended football events in all of Division II. Seven of those nine games have been televised, bringing broad exposure to LSC member institutions and their football teams. The festival has also featured five NFL Draft picks and six NCAA playoff teams, including the 2012 Division II National Champion.
The LSC, founded in 1931, has a proud history as one of the nation’s greatest small college football leagues. The conference made its mark in the NAIA, especially from 1969 to 1979 when four LSC schools combined to win 10 national titles in that 11-season span. The LSC became affiliated with the NCAA in 1982 and now is annually well-represented in the Division II playoffs, with more than a dozen former players currently on NFL rosters.
2013 Lone Star Football Festival Schedule (All times Central)
Thursday, September 12, 2013
TIME: VISITOR vs. HOME
7:00 pm: Chadron State vs. West Texas A&M
Friday, September 13, 2013
TIME: VISITOR vs. HOME
1:00 pm: Sul Ross State vs. Eastern New Mexico
5:00 pm: Delta State vs. Texas A&M-Commerce
9:00 pm: Monterrey Tech Puebla vs. Monterrey Tech Mexico City
Saturday, September 14, 2013
TIME: VISITOR vs. HOME
12:00 pm: Monterrey Tech vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville
4:00 pm: Tarleton State vs. Midwestern State
8:00 pm: Colorado State-Pueblo vs. Angelo State