FB: American Southwest Conference

[dballa]

back to football,

congrats to this weeks conference players of the week.

http://www.americansouthwestconf.org/m-football/awards.htm

[Bill McCabe]

ETBU-HSU will be a huge game.  My expectation is that HSU wins.  However, ETBU beating TLU tells me they've got a pretty good team.  Frankly, I was surprised by that result. 

SRSU could give UMHB trouble the way they throw the ball.   Should be another fun weekend.

[Josh Bowerman]

Watch out for #1, Steven Richardson, Bill.  He made 13 catches for 141 yards and 3 TDs against our guys this weekend.  And, according to the HSU announcers, several of his catches were pretty spectacular.

I think he deserved consideration for the ASC Offensive POW, personally.  He pretty much single-handedly kept SRSU close the entire second half.

[dballa]

What happened to Tony Troup for Sul Ross? I didn't see him on the stat sheet in the game against HSU.  He had a huge game for Sul Ross against HPU.

[Spirit_of_66]

What I meant to say is "why don't you kiss my ass, punk?"

Josh I thought you were a classless individual then you posted and removed all doubt.  Hey Pat I didn't know we could cuss on this site.  I know that you and Bowerman are tight but that comment he made is rediculous.  By the way I am not associated with ETBU as a fan or any other way.  I just thought it was necessary to take up for an SID who does one hell of a job.  Some people do not know how much work most of the SID's in ASC do on a daily basis.

If you want to get on Josh about grammar, then work on your own. The word is ridiculous. You can look it up.

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=ridiculous

As far as the SID situation, my take is this: Whether it is the "official" ranking or not, if it has added value to the release then use it. But what the SID must do is use it in its proper context and note the source. If you want to be honest, the "official" ranking is what comes out of the AFCA, because realistically, it is what is published in newspapers across the nation. It has the most mass distribution. Though, I agree that the D3football.com ranking is more accurate, it is not published in newspapers across the nation. The average fan is going to read its paper, but not everyone comes to this web site. Don Hansen's poll is not scientific or voter-based. It is one publication's opinion. But if I were at that school, I could see using it. The purpose of the SID is to disseminate information and accentuate the positive of the university's athletic program.

There. I have said my peace. Both sides have a semblance of being right, it is just all in the perspective isn't it?

[Ralph Turner]

Bonzo, we ASC fans thought that TU's depth was such that the 3rd string QB was almost as good as the first!

And why would TU need anything more than a functional snap-taker for TU to stomp a newbie like Huntingdon?

This is an interesting season!  I wonder how easily Huntingdon will be able to get games, if they continue to stomp people like they likely will thru the end of the season.

Next 2 questions involve Coach Mike Turk.

The guy won a NAIA national championship in college, and is clearly turning some heads in the football-crazy South.

Does he buy into the D3 Student-athlete model and build a strong program,  including getting other Southern schools to move to the GSAC and D3?

How long does he stay at Huntingdon?

[Pat Coleman]

I'm not sure you can even make that claim -- a search in Google News pulled up 13 references for D3football.com Top 25 and nine for the AFCA's Top 25.

We're distributed nationally by SportsTicker and The Sports Network. I think we do a pretty good job getting the word out. Just because the AP has different standards for disseminating information doesn't keep us from getting into the right papers.

[Spirit_of_66]

Pat,

I am not making a personal attack, but an observation. This site is the center of the universe for Division III sports. It is a needed commodity. It is not about splitting hairs, but as a former SID you know that you would have used any poll if it puts CUA in a positive light. Valid or not, it is positive. I think you do a great job of promoting it, but at the same time, like you said, AP does not distribute it like it should. If you ask me both should be sent out, just like the AP and Coaches polls in DI. In your search did you notice that it primarily circulated in the east? Don't you also work for the subsidiary of USA Today? Why is it not utilized there? I know I am going to take a karma hit for this post, but what is in the national newspaper?

[proudmcmdad]

I want to echo Bill McCabe's and roocru's comments.

This weekend was great for ASC football. It should prove that we are no longer 2 strong brothers with a bunch of weaker sisters.  The weaker sisters are growing hair on their chests.

HPU beating MHB was a huge upset.  HPU got some press with Adam King as QB (best athlete I have seen in the conference), but I never really thought that HPU strongly contended for the conference championship.  King made them very dangerous and able to beat any team in the country on that particular day.

ETBU's win was less of a surprise in that they have a whole lot of talent but still a very noteworthy win against an up and coming program.  It appears TLU may have taken a (hopefully) small step back this year, but I still believe that TLU will win a conference championship sometime in the next 2 or 3 years.

And those talking about MHB and ETBU winning out to end the season with 1 conference loss and hopes for a championship, you left out McM.  We only have 1 conference loss too (and who in the world would have been crazy enough to have thought that).  Sellers is as close an approximation to King as there is in the conference today and I think the rest of the team is raising their ability to match his.

[hpudad]

Here are some of my thoughts on the HPU/UMHB game.

I think HPU's defense played inspired football for the entire 60 minutes.  They did exactly what you need to do to defend the option attack, string it out to the side lines.  HPU's offense is having trouble running the ball, but they have the ability to complete passes on about anyone.  Like I said in another post this is a team that has the personel for the spread/passing offense trying to become more balanced.  I was impressed by the never quit attitude of the HPU team over the last two weeks (HSU & UMHB games).  The team went into this game believing that they could compete and win.  UMHB was the only team that the senior class of HPU had not beaten over the college careers.  HPU's Special Teams kept Williams in check on the kick-offs and punt returns.  

My thoughts on UMHB is that I don't think they went to Brownwood prepared for a tough contest.  I think they thought that with a new coach/system and HPU record that it would be an easy game.  I'm confused on why when the option attack was being shut down that UMHB didn't try something else but they continued to try and force the option attack.

Anyway it was a great game for the "Yellow Jackets."  I do not think any of their remaining opponents will be overlooking HPU.  Now HPU need to continue to play at this level the rest of the season.

[Pat Coleman]

Pat,

I am not making a personal attack, but an observation. This site is the center of the universe for Division III sports. It is a needed commodity. It is not about splitting hairs, but as a former SID you know that you would have used any poll if it puts CUA in a positive light. Valid or not, it is positive. I think you do a great job of promoting it, but at the same time, like you said, AP does not distribute it like it should. If you ask me both should be sent out, just like the AP and Coaches polls in DI. In your search did you notice that it primarily circulated in the east? Don't you also work for the subsidiary of USA Today? Why is it not utilized there? I know I am going to take a karma hit for this post, but what is in the national newspaper?

66,

I believe if you read my past posts you would find that I agree with you. Don't read tripled's reaction -- read my actual posts!

Yes, I do work for USA TODAY, which has a contract with the coaches association regarding polls for all four NCAA divisions. End of story. They run the poll because of a contract, not because it's absolutely better. Nor am I willing to put my day job on the line to push for inclusion of our poll in USA TODAY. Let's be realistic here!

Distribution for both polls were essentially the same. East coast and midwest -- where the Division III schools are.

[Josh Bowerman]

I think it may be a week or two too early to make that assertion, mcmdad.  Based on my observation of this year's McM team, you might very well be right.  But, it also might also be indicative of UMHB coming back to earth (like Oklahoma this year) after such a strong, extended run. 

The next three weeks with ETBU, HSU, UMHB and McMurry all squaring off against each other in various combinations will be fun and interesting to watch. 

[Toby Taff]

Josh,

Every plane touches down occasionally.  I hope the HPU game was just a touch and go.

[cover2]

I do know that UMHB was without several players this weekend @ HPU...I just wonder what the outcome may have been if they'd all been there. 

[Ron Boerger]

I do know that UMHB was without several players this weekend @ HPU...I just wonder what the outcome may have been if they'd all been there. 

When you're ranked #2 in the country you need to be able to find a way to defeat a 1-3 squad.