The rivalry dates back to 1991, when the University of Texas at San Antonio joined as a non-football member of the Southland Conference.

Southwest Texas State University, which had jumped in the conference only four years prior, is located less than 60 miles from the UTSA main campus.

Due to their proximity, conference membership, and status as emerging research universities, the rivalry began to develop.

[3] Eventually, a trophy was utilized in the mid-1990s to recognize the winner of the annual men's basketball game between the two universities.

With the addition of both UTSA and Texas State to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), the two schools met each other for the first time on a football field.