FB: American Southwest Conference

[Ralph Turner]

Just read this on the Sul Ross website. Get's me pretty excited!

http://www.sulross.edu/pages/6271.asp?ssid=0&nid=1277

Do you know the SRSU schedule yet?

Isn't this it?

http://www.sulross.edu/pages/6219.asp?ssid=1295

Thanks.  I always have trouble navigating the SRSU web site.  It must be some type of brain block.

We note the old TLU/SRSU home and home this season.  SRSU has had to employ this with McMurry, HSU and HPU in the last decade as well.  It is just tough to get games on the periphery of the country.

[SR97]

Sorry Ralph and thanks Gray Fox.  I didn't get back on here to check the posts so I didn't get the schedule up in time.  The SRSU website changes every few months and becomes more confusing as the technology supposedly is upgraded.  Glad to see everything was squared away.  Three road games to start the season...  how fun.  And six road games in all.  I hope my old body can hold up for that many road trips.

[Ralph Turner]

SR97, don't apologize!  Thanks for notifying us!

Good luck this year!  Glad to see some excitement in Alpine!

[Ralph Turner]

McMurry goes to Huntingdon on September 1st and then hosts Austin College on September 8th.

Feature Article

[Toby Taff]

I haven't found an article anywhere on the HSU site, but Jordan Neal is headed to Europe to play ball.  I talked to Jordan yesterday and he told me that he is leaving next Wednesday for Sweden where he will play for Malmo's club team.  He will return in June to get married and after the honeymoon, the newlyweds will live in Sweden.  Jordan said he will likely be ther for at least a year and his duties will include him coaching one of the younger teams and serving as Offensive Coordinator on the team he's playing on.  His profs are letting him finish the semester up early.  Good Luck and God bless you Jordan.

[Bill McCabe]

Happy Easter to everyone.  I'm looking forward to the season getting here. 

[Josh Bowerman]

According to the front page, the AA has seen the error of its ways, and reverted back to 2005 rules for when to start the clock.  Good news, me thinks.

[HSWho2007]

Any word on any recruits or commitments from around the ASC?

[Ron Boerger]

Interesting news from San Antonio, where the University of the Incarnate Word is going to start a D2 program, possibly as early as 2009.  No stadium at the campus, so they are going to build a 3000-seat job at the site of the current soccer field, which seems small for a D2 program.  Given UIW's profile I wonder why they go D2 (where they aren't all that competitive) instead of D3.    Since the Heartland doesn't offer FB they will have to move to another conference that does, probably the LSC. 

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/football/stories/MYSA041707.01D.FBC.uiw.football.35bc845.html

University of the Incarnate Word president Louis Agnese will announce today the school is starting a football program, sources told the San Antonio Express-News on Monday.

UIW officials declined comment, but the school has scheduled a news conference for 2p.m. today at the McDermott Convocation Center.

New Orleans Saints owner and UIW booster Tom Benson will attend the news conference with his wife Gayle and several Saints players to help Agnese make the announcement.

Sources said Benson, whose business empire is headquartered in San Antonio, is donating money to get the program started. The plans, sources said, call for the school to kick off its first season as early as 2009.

Tentative plans also call for a facility with approximately 3,000 seats to be built on campus on the site of the soccer field, adjacent to the McDermott Center, sources said. Benson's name likely would be attached to the facility.

[more at the URL above]

[Ralph Turner]

Ron, what if?

What if UIW wanted to move up to D3?

Do you think they would be more compatible with the SCAC or the ASC?

Thanks.

[Bill McCabe]

Ron and Ralph, Could they be D3 in football and D2 in everything else?  Any word on if they are going to be a scholarship football program?  That would definitely put them in D2.  Conference affiliation could be a problem. 

St. Mary's tried some years ago to start up a program, but it never got off the ground.  UTSA is also seriously considering starting football in the near future.  I would like to see all of them make that choice.

[Josh Bowerman]

Bill--

UIW cannot compete in DII in some sports and DIII in others.  DIII is restricted to completely non-athletic scholarship granting schools.

Interestingly enough, though, DI allows schools to offer athletic scholarships in certain sports but not others--the Patriot League where I came back to TX from comes immediately to mind.  Most are DI-AA schools.

I don't know if DII has similar provisions.

[Bill McCabe]

Thanks Josh.  I imagine they will stay D2 in all sports.

[Warren Thompson]

Were UIW to go D3 in football (and everything else), they'd be a "natural" rival with Trinity. The two venues are a stone's throw from each other on Hildebrand Avenue.

Unfortunately, UIW seems hell-bent on staying in D2. In the long run, this just may be anything but a happy experience for the institution.

[Ron Boerger]

New article:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA041807.01A.uiw.3ae2862.html

They have Tom Benson paying the bills for now (initially $3-$4 million) - but as a school with a relatively small endowment football costs will be a problem when that stops.   I could see them being a smaller version of Birmingham-Southern if Tom B. loses interest.   Spending the equivalent of 10%+ of your endowment (US News says it's $33M) to start a football program seems pretty stupid IMO.   Then again, if Tom is giving them this kind of money now they will probably get a good chunk of his estate when that time comes. 

They would probably be a decent fit in the ASC if they wanted to go the D3 route, but not sure the ASC would admit them and maybe that is a factor in the D2 v. D3 decision.  UIW's academics are marginal, certainly not up to the McMurry, HSU, or TLU standards, or that of most of the schools in the conference. 

Also of interest is this post from UIW's site.  It looks like they are enthused with "onlies" and are trying to use FB as a differentiator to attract more students/attention/etc. 

Cardinals Team With Benson for Beginnings of UIW Football

The Cardinals at the University of the Incarnate Word will tee up the football in the fall of 2009 as today University officials announced a comprehensive plan to field a gridiron squad as part of the school's continuing efforts to offer a well-rounded experience to its students.

Football at Incarnate Word will provide San Antonio fans their first look at the only scholarship, NCAA team in the entire metropolitan area.

In making the announcement, UIW President Louis J. Agnese also said the Cardinals, with major backing from San Antonio businessman and New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, will construct, on campus, a 3,000-seat football facility including field house and offices.

Benson, a longtime University supporter and ardent sports person, will underwrite the facility with construction slated to get underway in June of 2007.  It will be known as Gayle and Tom Benson Fieldhouse.

Dr. Agnese, in making the announcements of the UIW football program along with the Benson-endowed facility, said the timeline begins with the hiring of a head coach this summer followed quickly by employment of the first staff persons.  The new coaches then will begin the scouting and recruiting process for the first class of players to enroll at the University in the fall of 2008.

One year later, the Cardinals will play their first-ever game, in September of 2009.

The new football program fits with the mission of the University which is to provide a total experience for students.  In keeping with its reputation as a trail-blazer in higher education, UIW in the recent past introduced its new Feik School of Pharmacy to go with other named areas of study such as the Dreeben School of Education and the HEB School of Business Administration.

Now, with the addition of football, Dr. Agnese stressed that Incarnate Word's athletic programs are near full circle with 19 teams representing 12 different sports, more than any other NCAA Division II school in the state.  Incarnate Word also becomes just the second Division II, faith-based institution in the state of Texas to offer scholarship football.

For more information, contact the UIW Office of Public Relations at (210) 829-6001.