FB: American Southwest Conference

[TLU02SA]

Absolutely. Also, as Cory Hogue has reported before, there have been some disagreements on matters relating to institutional politics that I've been told have played into it as well. The schools that are leaving to the SCAC-McMurry, Ozarks, Concordia, Austin, TLU- are all institutionally aligned with the SCAC. And everyone wants a playoff spot in football. That won't happen playing in the same league as UMHB and HSU.

My prediction (which shouldn't be taken very seriously because my predictions are almost always wrong) is that UMHB, HSU, HPU and ETBU end up in the SCAC and the SCAC is, essentially, the ASC circa 2000 - 2010 and the SAA is the SCAC circa 2000 - 2010.  At some point the eastern schools in the SAA will get tired of Trinity beating them up again and will figure out how to get this carousel going again.  Just history repeating itself.

I can basically guarantee you that will never, ever, ever happen barring something extremely unexpected. The only current ASC team that might still wind up in the SCAC is LeTourneau, at this point, based on what I've heard. Obviously it comes down to the college presidents, but I can tell you that basically everyone below that level is an emphatic "NO" to those other schools.

I am likely wrong on that but it just makes sense to me. Maybe, as suggested by Ralph Turner, it is UMHB and HSU go D2 and HPU and ETBU get invited to SCAC. That makes sense too.

Question, why does HSU get lumped in with UMHB when it comes to this discussion?  I completely respect HSU's athletic programs and enjoy seeing them on TLU's schedules because they are a great opponent and a good measurement of where TLU's teams stand in the annual pecking orders.  I just don't see HSU dominating any sport in the way that UMHB has dominated football.  Is this only because of the presence of UMHB or are there other sports that HSU dominates within the ASC? 

If competition is the problem, I don't see how that applies to HSU.  Seems like HSU would be a very solid D3 athletic program that you would want in your conference.

[TLU02SA]

Did those people know Trinity was leaving when they rejoined or joined the SCAC? That seemed to surprise people which would indicate they are fine with Trinity being in the SCAC which they have dominated in a fashion unlike any ASC school. Trinity has won the SCAC President's Trophy for 12 straight years and and according to a press release "Beginning with the 2012-13 season and excluding 2019-20, the Tigers have won 15, 13, 10, 12, 10, 10, 11, 13, 10 and 10 conference titles over the last decade plus".

Now Trinity is leaving but the only way to justify this is the mission component because neither HSU or UMHB has dominated the ASC in all sports the way Trinity has the SCAC.

Good point.

[Etchglow]

Absolutely. Also, as Cory Hogue has reported before, there have been some disagreements on matters relating to institutional politics that I've been told have played into it as well. The schools that are leaving to the SCAC-McMurry, Ozarks, Concordia, Austin, TLU- are all institutionally aligned with the SCAC. And everyone wants a playoff spot in football. That won't happen playing in the same league as UMHB and HSU.

My prediction (which shouldn't be taken very seriously because my predictions are almost always wrong) is that UMHB, HSU, HPU and ETBU end up in the SCAC and the SCAC is, essentially, the ASC circa 2000 - 2010 and the SAA is the SCAC circa 2000 - 2010.  At some point the eastern schools in the SAA will get tired of Trinity beating them up again and will figure out how to get this carousel going again.  Just history repeating itself.

I can basically guarantee you that will never, ever, ever happen barring something extremely unexpected. The only current ASC team that might still wind up in the SCAC is LeTourneau, at this point, based on what I've heard. Obviously it comes down to the college presidents, but I can tell you that basically everyone below that level is an emphatic "NO" to those other schools.

I am likely wrong on that but it just makes sense to me. Maybe, as suggested by Ralph Turner, it is UMHB and HSU go D2 and HPU and ETBU get invited to SCAC. That makes sense too.

Question, why does HSU get lumped in with UMHB when it comes to this discussion?  I completely respect HSU's athletic programs and enjoy seeing them on TLU's schedules because they are a great opponent and a good measurement of where TLU's teams stand in the annual pecking orders.  I just don't see HSU dominating any sport in the way that UMHB has dominated football.  Is this only because of the presence of UMHB or are there other sports that HSU dominates within the ASC? 

If competition is the problem, I don't see how that applies to HSU.  Seems like HSU would be a very solid D3 athletic program that you would want in your conference.

HSU gets lumped in as they're the far and away leader in conference championships. Since 96 they've accounted for 86 conference championships across all sports including 24 in women's soccer (19 year winning streak). UT Tyler is second with 66 then UMHB with 56, I mean 54 lol. McMurry has 53, but hasn't really won much outside of cc/t&f in a decade+.

[TLU02SA]

Question, why does HSU get lumped in with UMHB when it comes to this discussion?  I completely respect HSU's athletic programs and enjoy seeing them on TLU's schedules because they are a great opponent and a good measurement of where TLU's teams stand in the annual pecking orders.  I just don't see HSU dominating any sport in the way that UMHB has dominated football.  Is this only because of the presence of UMHB or are there other sports that HSU dominates within the ASC? 

If competition is the problem, I don't see how that applies to HSU.  Seems like HSU would be a very solid D3 athletic program that you would want in your conference.

HSU gets lumped in as they're the far and away leader in conference championships. Since 96 they've accounted for 86 conference championships across all sports including 24 in women's soccer (19 year winning streak). UT Tyler is second with 66 then UMHB with 56, I mean 54 lol. McMurry has 53, but hasn't really won much outside of cc/t&f in a decade+.

Did those people know Trinity was leaving when they rejoined or joined the SCAC? That seemed to surprise people which would indicate they are fine with Trinity being in the SCAC which they have dominated in a fashion unlike any ASC school. Trinity has won the SCAC President's Trophy for 12 straight years and and according to a press release "Beginning with the 2012-13 season and excluding 2019-20, the Tigers have won 15, 13, 10, 12, 10, 10, 11, 13, 10 and 10 conference titles over the last decade plus".

Now Trinity is leaving but the only way to justify this is the mission component because neither HSU or UMHB has dominated the ASC in all sports the way Trinity has the SCAC. 

After seeing these numbers, this whole situation makes less sense to me than before.

I just don't think that HSU and UMHB are dominating the conference. 86 conference championships over 27 years is just 3 conference championships per year.  Trinity is winning 10, at a minimum (I note that Trinity participates in more sports but that doesn't explain the difference of more than 10 vs. 3).

I just don't understand why the sentiment is HSU and UMHB need to be avoided or that they are too good for the level of competition.  Maybe in a sport or two but not across all sports.   

[Riley Zayas]

I think the problem is that having a winning football program can bring in 70-100 new kids a year (especially if you have a JV team like UMHB). That's probably more than baseball, men's basketball, and men's soccer, for example, will bring in combined. Financially, a successful football program means more than a successful program in another sport.

[Ron Boerger]

Remember that the people making these decisions aren't your ADs, they're your presidents.

At some point the continued inaction by the ASC front office to address the shrinking conference became a giant snowball nobody was willing to step in front of.  The conference having no leader for so long once Amy Carlton left certainly didn't help.

Schools want to be part of something with a future.  It's less of a problem to join a conference dominated by one school if you can be sure you'll still have a conference and Pool As which other schools *do* win than one that won't.  And now that the elephant is leaving the room year after next, it'll be a great opportunity for everyone else to have a better chance to win in a conference that has consistently done what needed doing to first survive and now thrive.

[Ralph Turner]

Trinity also brought panache and prestige to the conference. When a coach or admissions recruiter talk about the teams in the conference, then everyone smiles at "Trinity". Do they elicit a smile when they tell the prospective high school student that "McMurry" or "Concordia" or any of the other 10 teams are in the conference?

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity also brought panache and prestige to the conference. When a coach or admissions recruiter talk about the teams in the conference, then everyone smiles at "Trinity". Do they elicit a smile when they tell the prospective high school student that "McMurry" or "Concordia" or any of the other 10 teams are in the conference?

I really don't think Trinity's coattails are that long or appealing to schools looking for a conference home, and if they were, Colorado College's would be longer. 

[Crubacker]

Noticed a bunch of changes with the UMHB roster.  Who was #0?

[Crubacker]

Figured it out, K. Deal--------------don't see him listed on the roster anymore at all???

[Etchglow]

Figured it out, K. Deal--------------don't see him listed on the roster anymore at all???

Now that you mention it, he has been deleted from UMHB's site. That generally doesn't happen...

UMHB's defense made some good adjustments yesterday, offense was sort of meh. But getting 16 points via special teams + defense is always great.

In other scores, anyone got some details on HSU only beating TLU by 5?  Glynn did play so

[Riley Zayas]

Figured it out, K. Deal--------------don't see him listed on the roster anymore at all???

Now that you mention it, he has been deleted from UMHB's site. That generally doesn't happen...

UMHB's defense made some good adjustments yesterday, offense was sort of meh. But getting 16 points via special teams + defense is always great.

In other scores, anyone got some details on HSU only beating TLU by 5?  Glynn did play so

To avoid speculation on Khyren Deal, I'll say this. It was confirmed to me (and has already been reported in the Temple Daily Telegram by Eric Drennan as well) that he left the team to focus more on academics. Balancing being a PT major and playing football (or any sport) for that matter isn't easy. This is not the first time this has happened with a UMHB student-athlete deciding to step away from their sport to focus on being a PT major. It was tough on him to step away, but he had to make a decision that he felt was best for his long-term future.

[UMHB03]

On a side note, they need to find some way to remotely cut Skeeta's mic during the game. He's always forgetting to turn it off. He seems like a nice guy and I get a kick out of his enthusiasm, but I prefer to hear the announcers during the game action rather than his cheering and conversations on the sideline drowning them out.

[Ron Boerger]

In other scores, anyone got some details on HSU only beating TLU by 5?  Glynn did play so

Just not sharp on either side of the ball.  Figure it will take Glynn a game or two to get back to full speed, but if TLU doesn't let the clock run for 30-40 seconds after one play instead of taking one of the three timeouts they still had on the last drive they would have had an excellent chance of pulling off the upset.

[CRULive1845]

On a side note, they need to find some way to remotely cut Skeeta's mic during the game. He's always forgetting to turn it off. He seems like a nice guy and I get a kick out of his enthusiasm, but I prefer to hear the announcers during the game action rather than his cheering and conversations on the sideline drowning them out.

Some folks I know love it! Especially when you get the enthusiastic "HOLDING" call haha but personally it's pretty cringe worthy from a professional broadcast standpoint and really does bring down the quality of a broadcast that already deals with suspect quality.

I think we heard a whole phone conversation from Skeeta this past Saturday haha