Quote from: Ralph Turner on March 19, 2025, 03:49:19 PM... maybe this was a win-win for mutliple reasons for the 6 schools involved.

The SCAC's losing TU was the SCAC losing its panache.

I think this is a huge point.

Schreiner was a middle-of-the-pack school in terms of athletics in the SCAC using the President's Trophy standings and McMurry has the 3rd most ASC championships behind only HSU and UT-D (so yes more than UMHB). In the ASC there is no reason to think Schreiner can't be middle of the pack and McMurry can't go back to dominating T&F which is where the bulk of their championships came from.

So from a purely athletic viewpoint, their position hasn't changed much and apparently one conference is offering millions of dollars, this is an easy business and athletic decision.

So will the scac have an auto bid with 6 teams this upcoming season?

Quote from: The Third Division on March 21, 2025, 06:33:59 PMSo will the scac have an auto bid with 6 teams this upcoming season?

Iirc, they're only at 5 still because Schreiner is only playing JV in 2025 with 2026 the first official year of DIII competition.

McM finished 8th in the Indoor T&F Nationals.

Quote from: Etchglow on March 21, 2025, 07:03:55 PM

Quote from: The Third Division on March 21, 2025, 06:33:59 PMSo will the scac have an auto bid with 6 teams this upcoming season?

Iirc, they're only at 5 still because Schreiner is only playing JV in 2025 with 2026 the first official year of DIII competition.

I could very well be wrong but I think the struggle is actually Lyon in 2025 as I don't believe they count yet. I think for 2025 they will have Austin College, Centenary, TLU, McMurry and Hendrix.

Quote from: crufootball on March 21, 2025, 09:31:14 PM

Quote from: Etchglow on March 21, 2025, 07:03:55 PM

Quote from: The Third Division on March 21, 2025, 06:33:59 PMSo will the scac have an auto bid with 6 teams this upcoming season?

Iirc, they're only at 5 still because Schreiner is only playing JV in 2025 with 2026 the first official year of DIII competition.

I could very well be wrong but I think the struggle is actually Lyon in 2025 as I don't believe they count yet. I think for 2025 they will have Austin College, Centenary, TLU, McMurry and Hendrix.

I had forgotten that Hendrix joins in 2025.  Lyon showed up on the conference standings page but I'm not familiar enough with the minutiae to determine if they count. 

Lyon completed their transition to d3 last fall so they will officially have 6 teams in 25.

Prehaps something has changed but this statement was in the story that D3sports.com put out when Hendrix joined the SCAC.

"Austin, Centenary, McMurry, Texas Lutheran, Lyon and Hendrix will sponsor football in 2025, with the start date of Schreiner's promised football program not yet clear. The SCAC should be eligible for an automatic bid in 2026, based on Lyon's affiliate membership triggering a two-year waiting period to receive an automatic bid in football." https://www.d3sports.com/notables/2024/06/hendrix-goes-back-to-scac

Again I could be wrong but everything that was coming out pointed to the SCAC having a bid in 2026 when Schreiner came on board. My understanding was since Lyon is an affiliate member that don't get the same automatic treatment that Schreiner will get when they fully join the ASC in 2026.

I think affiliates count towards an AQ...... provided I'm reading this article from Pat Coleman correctly
 
https://www.d3sports.com/notables/2022/01/d3-reduces-aq-requirements

It states that it was 7....but reduced to six schools for the AQ.

"extending automatic qualification status to essentially any group of.....schools offering a sport"

The question is.....

Can the ASC and the SCAC both move forward with six for 2026?

SCAC:  Austin College, TLU, Centenary, Lyon, Hendrix

ASC:  UMHB, HSU, ETBU, HPU, McMurry, Schriener

Can the SCAC get Trinity or Southwestern to stay instead of moving to the SAA?  Can they get someone from the Sooner Conference to come over?  Louisiana Christian?  Nelson?  Maybe Belhaven?

Can the ASC lure more from the SCAC?  Will Sul Ross return to D3?  Can they get LCU or Nelson?  Belhaven?

Found some quotes from SCAC commission in Texas Football in March of 2024 before Hendrix joined. (https://www.texasfootball.com/article/2024/03/04/the-scac-is-in-a-position-of-strength-heading-in-2024?ref=related_title)

Dwayne Hanberry: We're very excited. There was a time when I wasn't sure we'd have football in the SCAC again. 2016 was the last year we tried to make a go of football and finally decided it was in the best interest of our programs to seek affiliate opportunities. The tipping point for us bringing football back was when Centenary announced they would add football. You couple that with the NCAA's decision to lessen the number of members needed for an automatic bid from seven to six, and suddenly, we had a pathway again. We wanted 10 core members, and it made sense to bring McMurry on board to get that number. We expect to be at six football schools in 2026 if everything goes according to our plan. Then, we start a two-year waiting period to get the AQ, so it'll be the 2028 season before our champion earns an automatic bid.

Q: It is interesting that roles between the SCAC and the American Southwest Conference are reversed this time. Considering you won't have an AQ until 2028, is there a chance your members are interested in forming an alliance with the ASC for football to give your schools a chance at an AQ until then?

Dwayne Hanberry: That's a fair question, and we have thought about that. I've had conversations with David Flores, the Commissioner at the ASC, because they're exploring many different options on things they need to do with football and membership. I've had very candid conversations with our football members. The only way we can have AQ status before 2028 is to become affiliate members with the ASC. The overall sentiment right now is that our members feel that if we're going to have SCAC football, we need to take away the ambiguity that a transition would entail. Our group wants to reestablish the SCAC connection, and playing an SCAC schedule is more important than trying to find a temporary fix. Access to an AQ is important, but we're committed to reestablishing SCAC football, and all of our decisions will move in that direction.

Since Hendrix joined for 2025-2026 school year I would assume that moved everything up a year but still means their 2 year waiting period would start so they wouldn't get the AQ until 2027-2028.

Quote from: Mavchamp on March 23, 2025, 04:36:38 PMI think affiliates count towards an AQ...... provided I'm reading this article from Pat Coleman correctly
 
https://www.d3sports.com/notables/2022/01/d3-reduces-aq-requirements

It states that it was 7....but reduced to six schools for the AQ.

"extending automatic qualification status to essentially any group of.....schools offering a sport"

The question is.....

Can the ASC and the SCAC both move forward with six for 2026?

SCAC:  Austin College, TLU, Centenary, Lyon, Hendrix

ASC:  UMHB, HSU, ETBU, HPU, McMurry, Schriener

Can the SCAC get Trinity or Southwestern to stay instead of moving to the SAA?  Can they get someone from the Sooner Conference to come over?  Louisiana Christian?  Nelson?  Maybe Belhaven?

Can the ASC lure more from the SCAC?  Will Sul Ross return to D3?  Can they get LCU or Nelson?  Belhaven?

If I'm reading the 2023-2024 DIII Manual correctly, it appears the SCAC will have to have 6 football members for two years before they get an AQ?

Taken from: NCAA Publications

The SCAC looks like a good conference for a team to add football and be competitive quickly.
St Thomas comes to mind but do they have questions of available land?
Anybody know?

Quote from: Mavchamp on March 23, 2025, 04:36:38 PMI think affiliates count towards an AQ...... provided I'm reading this article from Pat Coleman correctly
 
https://www.d3sports.com/notables/2022/01/d3-reduces-aq-requirements

It states that it was 7....but reduced to six schools for the AQ.

"extending automatic qualification status to essentially any group of.....schools offering a sport"

The question is.....

Can the ASC and the SCAC both move forward with six for 2026?

SCAC:  Austin College, TLU, Centenary, Lyon, Hendrix

ASC:  UMHB, HSU, ETBU, HPU, McMurry, Schriener

Can the SCAC get Trinity or Southwestern to stay instead of moving to the SAA?  Can they get someone from the Sooner Conference to come over?  Louisiana Christian?  Nelson?  Maybe Belhaven?

Can the ASC lure more from the SCAC?  Will Sul Ross return to D3?  Can they get LCU or Nelson?  Belhaven?

I punched the numbers for Belhaven on joining.
 
USAC Average: 608.1
Brevard 549
Greensboro 713
Huntington 248
LaGrange 343
Methodist 763
North Carolina Wesleyan 847
Southern Virginia 794

SCAC Average: 375.4
Austin 440
Texas Lutheran 605
Centenary 221
Lyon 324
Hendrix 287



From strictly a travel standpoint, it's a no brainer but there is more to these decisions than just a map. 

Thx Hickory. Interesting!
Would the CCS mind if one of its members (Belhaven) split allegiances?

That average distance definitely would seem enticing for football, but for sports like basketball and men's soccer, there's the other elephant in the room: travel to Colorado College. Obviously, given Colorado College doesn't have football or softball or baseball, that cuts down quite a bit, but that's still some airplane travel that would need to be considered by their administration.

(Man, wouldn't it be nice for the SCAC if Colorado College hadn't dropped football, or considered bringing it back right about now?)