SAN MARCOS -- Ten years ago, Don Fry came across an old, beaten-up blue school bus scrolling through Craigslist and envisioned the ultimate Texas State tailgating machine.

He and his son, Chris, drove to Del Valle and gutted the bus, replacing the deteriorating seats with fine leather, ditching the cracked blue paint job for metallic maroon and gold. Now, the bus is parked outside UFCU Stadium before every Texas State home game, and all Bobcats are welcome to drink frozen margaritas with Don and his three grown kids who graduated from the school. The Fry family has all the pregame necessities - a TV to watch the early slate, a pizza oven, a beer keg and a Big Green Egg grill. 

Fry always won the tailgate. Now, his favorite team is starting to win on the field. 

Head coach GJ Kinne led Texas State to an eight-win season and bowl victory in Year One, the best year in the program’s Division I history, which dates back to 2014. ReAnn Carter, a 1988 graduate, still has a First Responder Bowl Koozie to commemorate the day. When she attended school here, they didn’t even have tailgates. The pregame parties have filled steadily in the last decade, with a massive influx after last year.

 “Winning that (bowl) game, it truly was like winning the Super Bowl for us fans,” Carter said.

Kinne’s high-flying offense and reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year Jordan McCloud’s addition at quarterback launched the program to its highest preseason expectations ever. 

That’s why Texas State President Kelly Damphousse walks around the student tailgate with a little extra swagger. He’s got his signature brown cowboy hat (Yellowstone creator and Texas State alum Taylor Sheridan told him he associates black cowboy hats with bad guys, prompting Damphousse to switch) and a belt buckle that reflects the sun as he takes pictures with anyone who asks.

He’s reveling in the atmosphere that he, Kinne and Texas State athletic director Don Coryell created. But to cement the new era, they have to slay an old demon. 

Traffic has flowed one way in the I-35 Rivalry. UTSA came into Saturday’s highly anticipated matchup with a 5–0 record against the Bobcats. That doesn’t stop Texas State fans from participating in ‘UTSA Hate Week’ on social media. Hell, even Damphousse got in on the action.

“I always love in-state rivalries like this,” Damphousse said. “I love how the fans are getting after each other. The UTSA fans were even getting after me on Twitter. I clapped back at them a little bit; that’s all in good fun.”

This scene, this fervor, only occurs from a regional rivalry. It’s what college football was built on. The problem is college football’s new incentive, The 12-team Playoff, is ripping them away.

Texas’s departure to the SEC (and increased Playoff chance) simultaneously killed intrastate games with Baylor, Texas Tech and TCU. What realignment doesn’t touch, the programs themselves do a fine job taking away. TCU is pausing the Iron Skillet rivalry with SMU after the 2025 season. Houston and Rice mutually opted to cancel the Bayou Bucket. Losing to a regional opponent can affect recruiting and the chance at a Playoff. Better to swap it for an FCS opponent.

And yet, this edition of the I-35 Rivalry is so anticipated because only the 12-team Playoff gives both Group of Five programs the chance of an invite to the Dance with an undefeated season for the first time. The G5 was barred from the BCS National Championship, and the American Athletic Conference’s Cincinnati was the only non-Power Five school to make the four-team version.

And while the new format was created to funnel more SEC and Big Ten into the tournament, it also gives one guaranteed G5 spot, and hope to the previously hopeless.

“With the new playoff format, it seems like it gives the average team a chance,” Fry said. “Without it before, you knew who was going. It makes it exciting, something to fight for.”

And something to tailgate for. Because college football is losing regional rivalries and de facto Playoff games that happen in Week Two. But that’s exactly what happened today in San Marcos.

“We’re going to be 1–5 after tonight,” Damphousse said.”And I’m going to sleep so good tonight after it’s done.”

Texas State beat UTSA 49-10. Sweet dreams, Mr. President.