FB: American Southwest Conference

[Ralph Turner]

University of New Orleans is investigating moving to D-III.

Thanks to awadelewis for posting the link on the Future of Division III board.

Another team for the ASC or SCAC?

ASC.  The University of New Orleans is a cash-strapped member of the LSU system.

If you are following the politics of Rep Anh "Joe" Cao and his vote for Speaker Pelosi's health plan, he was counting on extra money from President Obama to fix Charity Hospital, the teaching hospital for the LSU School of Medicine.

Louisiana and the LSU system are cutting back on their services, and UNO cannot afford to be a D-I athletic program.

That could make for some interesting developments.  Would the ASC play only ASC teams in football if UNO and Concordia Austin brought FB to the table or would you go the East-West Route W I 35 as the dividing line for football.  That would mean you could have a Championship game + your division field and a rotation of 2 or 3 other division teams to account for 8 or 9 games in region and leave room for playing out of conference to fill out the schedule.

It also would add more DIII fill between Texas and Mississippi

I was imagining the conference being able to split in two.

It seems to me that the ASC-West is more stable and more homogeneous than the ASC-East.

The West has a steady corps of teams, including the AQ in all sports when CTX adds football.

IMHO, it is the East that has the odd mixture of teams.  That is why I considered adding Centenary, UNO and Belhaven to the East to make a 10-team conference.  I felt that a 10-team conference in the East gave much more stability.  As for the West, can you imagine one of the colleges in the West leaving D-III or going bankrupt?

Now this is still a half-decade away, but one can consider this on the horizon.

[Toby Taff]

I was imagining the conference being able to split in two.

It seems to me that the ASC-West is more stable and more homogeneous than the ASC-East.

The West has a steady corps of teams, including the AQ in all sports when CTX adds football.

IMHO, it is the East that has the odd mixture of teams.  That is why I considered adding Centenary, UNO and Belhaven to the East to make a 10-team conference.  I felt that a 10-team conference in the East gave much more stability.  As for the West, can you imagine one of the colleges in the West leaving D-III or going bankrupt?

Now this is still a half-decade away, but one can consider this on the horizon.

I thought about splitting the conference as well, but was thinking about AQ implications for football.  If East - West line was I35 the west has UMHB, CTX, HSU, HPU, McM, and SRSU; the east would be TLU, ETBU, LC, MC, and UNO (Centenary and Belhaven would be a great add here).  Divisions would maintain the AQ and I think bolster strength of schedule numbers for the conference since division champs would play a conference championship ensuring one of their last games of the regular season would have a decent record.  

Now if Centenary, Belhaven and UNO joined up and one more team was added, either in East Texas, LA, or MS so that there would be 7 east and TLU could come west for 7 in the west, (or get one more team West of I 35 to take up D3 football - maybe a school in OK?) then the conference could divide with 2 AQs.  An agreement to inter-conference match-ups for the first few years would also ad in region games.

As far as a west team going Bankrupt?  I really don't think so.  If I were to think one of the Baptist schools would it would be HPU,  but only because enrollment is consistently low and really, who wants to live in Brownwood?  On the other hand, this is oil country and that does have benefits.

As for leaving DIII -  that's a more interesting question.  I think it could happen, but I'm not sure which school would leave.  It would mean facilities upgrades at just about everywhere I've been (unless they just cut and run) so there would be a huge capital outlay I'm not sure any of the ASC schools have for athletics purposes

[Ralph Turner]

From what we are hearing CTX is adding football.  That makes 7 football schools in the West (all but Schreiner).

Travel for TLU would be extremely burdensome if we put them in the East. 

For ETBU, the closest West Division team is UMHB, which is 246 miles.  Abilene and Brownwood are 330+.

The East has to get to seven schools for the AQ.

The Divisional Playoff system would cut our regularseason by a week, and make it harder to fill schedules, and give a really good division champ another in-region loss when competing for Pool C bids.  (That is my "complaint with our not having two conferences now.  We basically have the first round of the NCAA's in the form of the ASC Championship game as a play-in game.)

[awadelewis]

Another scenario to consider:
Take the three (potential) Louisiana D3 schools (Centenary, Louisiana College, and UNO) + two (potential) Mississippi D3 schools (Mississippi College, Belhaven) and add Huntingdon and Lagrange to the mix.   Don't you only need eight schools for a conference to get an AQ to the playoffs?  I could see such a conference alignment being really interesting to schools like Maryville and other who have struggled recently to find a home in conferences here in the south. Then factor in that some of the schools in the SCAC that are struggling with travel costs in that conference.

I can see some interesting times ahead for both the ASC and SCAC over the next few years.

[SaintsFAN]

Ralph,  what is your take on UMHB getting an at-large bid?

I think that it is pretty good.

I don't see how UMHB can be bypassed 6 times at the table if they are the first Pool C.  I am not sure how much this week's game knocks down the OWP/OOWP.  It certainly would take a bunch of committee members overlooking the real aspects of the team in favor of computer-generated data to leave them out.

These are things that I think could go wrong for UMHB.

South Region
1. Wesley 5-0 9-0  -- No big change in the game vs Ohio Dominican
2. Hampden-Sydney 9-0 9-0  -- RMC might knock H-SC into Pool C.
3. Thomas More 9-0 9-0   -- Clinched Pool A bid, can move upor down on the MSJ outcome.
4. Huntingdon 5-0 8-1  - South Alabama game has little impact.
5. Mississippi College 7-1 7-2  -- Losing to TLU gives it to UMHB and Miss College probably sits at home.  OWP does take a hit
6. Mary Hardin-Baylor 6-1 8-1 -- OWP takes a hit versus SRSU (SRSU could have helped us with a win over Whittier, as well as every other conference team playing an in-region game.)
7. Dickinson 8-1 8-1  Loss to Ursinus hurts but there is very little boost to OWP
8. Washington and Jefferson 8-1 8-1  Non-conference schedule was too weak.
9. DePauw 7-1 7-1      Pool A SCAC.  Beating Wabash helps the Region.
10. Johns Hopkins 7-2 7-2  Can clinch Centennial Pool A with a win over McDaniel.  OWP doesn't change much.



--

Who does UMHB play for non-conference next year?

I don't see any way MHB gets left out... even with a Hampden Sydney loss --- I would think that would drop HSC behind MHB on the pool C for the South Region and puts MHB on the table before HSC --- because of who they lost to.

Who knows though -- 

right now, Pat and co is projecting a MHB trip to Thomas More.  We would welcome you guys with open arms to the campus... and suggest purchasing a few parking spaces for tailgate (currently go for $20), as you can watch the game from most of the spots (they overlook the field) or just for the pregame and postgame festivities... it truly is a unique atmosphere.  If the match up becomes a reality, send me a PM and I can get you contact info for the tailgate spots.

[Toby Taff]

I just read this article about a 61 y/o planning to kick for AC on Saturday against Trinity.  http://bit.ly/3q1uce

[umhb2001]

Ralph,  what is your take on UMHB getting an at-large bid?

I think that it is pretty good.

I don't see how UMHB can be bypassed 6 times at the table if they are the first Pool C.  I am not sure how much this week's game knocks down the OWP/OOWP.  It certainly would take a bunch of committee members overlooking the real aspects of the team in favor of computer-generated data to leave them out.

These are things that I think could go wrong for UMHB.

South Region
1. Wesley 5-0 9-0  -- No big change in the game vs Ohio Dominican
2. Hampden-Sydney 9-0 9-0  -- RMC might knock H-SC into Pool C.
3. Thomas More 9-0 9-0   -- Clinched Pool A bid, can move upor down on the MSJ outcome.
4. Huntingdon 5-0 8-1  - South Alabama game has little impact.
5. Mississippi College 7-1 7-2  -- Losing to TLU gives it to UMHB and Miss College probably sits at home.  OWP does take a hit
6. Mary Hardin-Baylor 6-1 8-1 -- OWP takes a hit versus SRSU (SRSU could have helped us with a win over Whittier, as well as every other conference team playing an in-region game.)
7. Dickinson 8-1 8-1  Loss to Ursinus hurts but there is very little boost to OWP
8. Washington and Jefferson 8-1 8-1  Non-conference schedule was too weak.
9. DePauw 7-1 7-1      Pool A SCAC.  Beating Wabash helps the Region.
10. Johns Hopkins 7-2 7-2  Can clinch Centennial Pool A with a win over McDaniel.  OWP doesn't change much.



--

Who does UMHB play for non-conference next year?

I don't see any way MHB gets left out... even with a Hampden Sydney loss --- I would think that would drop HSC behind MHB on the pool C for the South Region and puts MHB on the table before HSC --- because of who they lost to.

Who knows though -- 

right now, Pat and co is projecting a MHB trip to Thomas More.  We would welcome you guys with open arms to the campus... and suggest purchasing a few parking spaces for tailgate (currently go for $20), as you can watch the game from most of the spots (they overlook the field) or just for the pregame and postgame festivities... it truly is a unique atmosphere.  If the match up becomes a reality, send me a PM and I can get you contact info for the tailgate spots.

I am probably wrong, but how could this be possible with it being over 1,000 miles away? Perhaps a second or later round matchup, but with TPTB, they will put us up against MC first.

[Bill McCabe]

Ralph, as I understand it, UMHB does not have non-conference games locked up for next year.

[wildcat11]

Ralph, as I understand it, UMHB does not have non-conference games locked up for next year.

That is part of the curse of being a top tier program that is somewhat out of the way in terms of location for DIII. 

So I take it that the Cru and SOU are not going to go another two years?

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph, as I understand it, UMHB does not have non-conference games locked up for next year.

All the more reason to have a 10th conference member playing football.

[Bill McCabe]

Ralph, as I understand it, UMHB does not have non-conference games locked up for next year.

All the more reason to have a 10th conference member playing football.

What do you hear about Concordia adding football?  I would think they would be able to do very well.

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph, as I understand it, UMHB does not have non-conference games locked up for next year.

All the more reason to have a 10th conference member playing football.

What do you hear about Concordia adding football?  I would think they would be able to do very well.

I keep hearing that it is on the plan to expand enrollment and improve gender ratios now the campus has relocated.

[Bill McCabe]

I would think being in Austin would be a great draw. 

[Bill McCabe]

What are people hearing about the TLU coaching vacancy?

[SR97]

I'll be at the UMHB game Saturday.  My plan is to tailgate around noon.  Anyone want to join me?  I'll be making food to share.

Would like to do it. Right now some of the parents of seniors have tentative plans to tailgate as well. Let me know where you will be. We normally get on the front row of the parking lot. There is a group that meets over by the elementary school as well, but we have been late in arrival each Saturday for that. Since this is probably the last trip to Tiger Stadium I plan on getting there 11:00 ish depending on time management skills of my better half

Last time I set up in the front parking lot back by the grass strip between the 2 lots.  Plenty of space there and It's easier to get out after the game.  If we go to Killeen on Friday instead of saturday AM, I'll be there around 11.  If we leave abilene Saturday it'll be closer to 12.  Right now the menu plan is sausage wraps (in home made tortillas), bbq chicken legs (featuring my personal chipotle BBQ sauce), some form of smoked pork, a rice dish, and chips.  leftovers will be taken into the stands for game time snacks.  I'm going to be at the game by myself (unless a friend decides to come as well) and will probably have enough food to feed a few families.

MENU UPDATE

The HEB ad came out today and has Boston Butts and Pork Ribs for a dollar a pound, so the smoker will be in full force Friday.  I'll know the final menu Friday morning when I shop.  If you think you might stop by for some free grub, let me know.

What are the chances a guy can get in on this after playing four quarters?