FB: American Southwest Conference

[Ralph Turner]

There was a change in leadership at McMurry. We will see what happens under new President Dr Lynne Murray to see if part of the movement to and from the SCAC was a mission /vision thing with the respective administrations. I was personally saddened by how often McMurry had to play games on Sunday in the SCAC. Playing on Sunday may not have been an issue at Trinity, Southwestern or Colorado College, but I sure that it was for the Baptist 4, and maybe LeTU.

[UMHB03]

Nope. If Whitewater can afford to make the trip, surely others can too, especially the other schools in our region.

I know you guys like to cosplay as the Boise State of D3 and pretend that everyone's just too scared to play you. The reality is different:

1. In D3, athletics are a huge component of the overall campus enrollment strategy

2. Most D3 schools have largely regional student recruitment footprints, not national ones.

3. As such, a major purpose of scheduling out of conference games is to aid your coaching staff in getting into an area of the state or region where your institution recruits heavily.

4. Because of the northeast/midwest skew of D3 institutions, Central Texas is in few schools' campus-wide recruiting footprints.

All this means that the reality is, UMHB is of no use to most of the schools in D3. They're not looking to build up a bulletproof Pool C resume, get home field through the semis, prepare their team for a Stagg Bowl run. And even if they are, the thing they're trying to do first is ensure that 40-50 guys show up on campus every fall. And playing you doesn't help with that goal. These institutions all have bigger things to worry about than if UMHB fans think they're scared to take an L.

Your fundamental misunderstanding of this dynamic is embarrassing.

I wasn't aware that Whitewater's recruitment of the Central Texas area was so extensive, because they always seem willing to make the trip down. No, there's obviously more to it than that. Nice try though.

Also, you apparently missed my response to wally_wabash where I specifically referenced teams in our region, for whom it would make sense to schedule UMHB given your criteria. I also notice that those programs, all of whom have been significantly less formidable than UMHB in recent decades, always find non-conference opponents. This includes opponents from other regions. Bottom line is, many schools are willing to travel 1,000 miles for a win against Southwestern or Austin College, but not for a beatdown by UMHB.

In short, your reading comprehension and reasoning skills appear to be what is embarrassing here.

[Riley Zayas]

I think there's a missing part of this conversation too. With NPI, you simply cannot afford to lose games. There's less emphasis on SOS with the current dials and more emphasis on win percentage. If you're advising a team with playoff hopes on who they should play (especially in a league with at least one other true playoff contender), you're absolutely going to advise playing Southwestern over UMHB. It's simple math.

The reward for beating Southwestern compared to beating UMHB is less (if we're just looking at it based on expected season performance). But you run a much lower risk of taking a loss. For as much as the scheduling struggles disappoint me, you can't fault head coaches of other programs for just doing what puts their team in the best position to earn a playoff bid.

[Pat Coleman]

Nope. If Whitewater can afford to make the trip, surely others can too, especially the other schools in our region.

I know you guys like to cosplay as the Boise State of D3 and pretend that everyone's just too scared to play you. The reality is different:

1. In D3, athletics are a huge component of the overall campus enrollment strategy

2. Most D3 schools have largely regional student recruitment footprints, not national ones.

3. As such, a major purpose of scheduling out of conference games is to aid your coaching staff in getting into an area of the state or region where your institution recruits heavily.

4. Because of the northeast/midwest skew of D3 institutions, Central Texas is in few schools' campus-wide recruiting footprints.

All this means that the reality is, UMHB is of no use to most of the schools in D3. They're not looking to build up a bulletproof Pool C resume, get home field through the semis, prepare their team for a Stagg Bowl run. And even if they are, the thing they're trying to do first is ensure that 40-50 guys show up on campus every fall. And playing you doesn't help with that goal. These institutions all have bigger things to worry about than if UMHB fans think they're scared to take an L.

Your fundamental misunderstanding of this dynamic is embarrassing.

I wasn't aware that Whitewater's recruitment of the Central Texas area was so extensive, because they always seem willing to make the trip down. No, there's obviously more to it than that. Nice try though.

Also, you apparently missed my response to wally_wabash where I specifically referenced teams in our region, for whom it would make sense to schedule UMHB given your criteria. I also notice that those programs, all of whom have been significantly less formidable than UMHB in recent decades, always find non-conference opponents. This includes opponents from other regions. Bottom line is, many schools are willing to travel 1,000 miles for a win against Southwestern or Austin College, but not for a beatdown by UMHB.

In short, your reading comprehension and reasoning skills appear to be what is embarrassing here.

Sheesh, both of you, come on. I know in the real world you are both professionals who ought to be able to communicate better in this forum.

[Pat Coleman]

I think there's a missing part of this conversation too. With NPI, you simply cannot afford to lose games. There's less emphasis on SOS with the current dials and more emphasis on win percentage.

This is true, but it's a recent development, and I hope it's a temporary one.