FB: American Southwest Conference

[umhb2001]

Stat of the night


KICKOFF RETURNS   NO   YDS   AVG   LG   TD
Mike Santucci   9   198   22.0   41   0

Looks like this will be a key point of focus this week.

[GillCJ1]

Yeah, I don't know why he keeps calling DT a senior.  He's definitely not, though.  We still have a lot to look forward to with him in the backfield.

[DFWCrufan]

Just a question on the board to stir up some conversation, beside the Cru (Of course for me) do you have another Team/School you keep your eye on or interest in?

I do watch TLU and HSU but that is out of interest in the league, but I found myself enjoying George Fox out of Oregon. A newer program out there and just seems to be fun to watch.

[GillCJ1]

Just a question on the board to stir up some conversation, beside the Cru (Of course for me) do you have another Team/School you keep your eye on or interest in?

I do watch TLU and HSU but that is out of interest in the league, but I found myself enjoying George Fox out of Oregon. A newer program out there and just seems to be fun to watch.

As far as D3 goes, my mother's family is from Ithaca, NY and both her siblings went to Ithaca College.  I try to follow the Bombers when I can.  Let's see... my mom went to Yale and dad went to University of Miami.  Both are obviously D1.  Brother went to a trade school.  I don't believe I have any other family members who went to a D3 school.  Almost all are D1 or FCS.

I'm still relatively new to the D3 scene, as I did my undergrad at D1 schools (Georgia State, Georgia Tech).  Currently a grad student at UMHB.

[Kelly Boggs]

Since I lived in McMinnville, Oregon, for seven years (1999-2006) and Pineville, Louisiana, for nine (2006-2015) I still keep tabs on both Linfield College and Louisiana College.

[GillCJ1]

Thanks to a post over in the SCAC thread, I remembered that Southwestern is another team/school I'm interested in following.  My allegiance will always be to UMHB first and foremost, but I wouldn't mind taking in a Bombers or Bucs game should the opportunity present itself.

[umhb2001]

Just a question on the board to stir up some conversation, beside the Cru (Of course for me) do you have another Team/School you keep your eye on or interest in?

I do watch TLU and HSU but that is out of interest in the league, but I found myself enjoying George Fox out of Oregon. A newer program out there and just seems to be fun to watch.

I like to keep track of TLU and HSU, but I also enjoy looking in on any other game that is happening. I plan on catching a few of the games this weekend since the Cru are off. Some very good games to be seen.

[zipmac22]

Just a question on the board to stir up some conversation, beside the Cru (Of course for me) do you have another Team/School you keep your eye on or interest in?

Growing up in upstate New York I like to keep tabs on Cortland State and Ithaca College!

[Andy Jamison - Walla Walla Wildcat]

Why is the ASC not combined with the SCAC? The latter only has four teams and if combined the two the result would be a single 12 team conference which could be broken down into two divisions... That would make scheduling a lot easier... I don't frequent the South boards much so if this has already been discussed please point me to the respective threads. Thanks!

[GillCJ1]

Just a question on the board to stir up some conversation, beside the Cru (Of course for me) do you have another Team/School you keep your eye on or interest in?

Growing up in upstate New York I like to keep tabs on Cortland State and Ithaca College!

Nice.  Would be cool to talk about the Bombers with another Cru fan from time to time.

[DFWCrufan]

I am not in the organization for ASC or SCAC but some short history, there were some teams now in the SCAC that were in the ASC, perhaps they wanted to move to the SCAC to not be in a league that has serious powerhouses in the football arena. But also, the conferences encompass more sports than football and perhaps that also has something to do with it. But at this time it looks like there will be zero plans for the two to merge and also to the fact that there are two new programs (Belhaven and McMurry) returning to the ASC next year. (They are playing there now but under a non conference status for this year)

[umhb2001]

Why is the ASC not combined with the SCAC? The latter only has four teams and if combined the two the result would be a single 12 team conference which could be broken down into two divisions... That would make scheduling a lot easier... I don't frequent the South boards much so if this has already been discussed please point me to the respective threads. Thanks!

I am not in the organization for ASC or SCAC but some short history, there were some teams now in the SCAC that were in the ASC, perhaps they wanted to move to the SCAC to not be in a league that has serious powerhouses in the football arena. But also, the conferences encompass more sports than football and perhaps that also has something to do with it. But at this time it looks like there will be zero plans for the two to merge and also to the fact that there are two new programs (Belhaven and McMurry) returning to the ASC next year. (They are playing there now but under a non conference status for this year)

I made this comment a few years ago, about them leaving for football reasons, and I was met with such disdain you would have thought I spoke out about something that really mattered. No matter how you look at it, football rules. Period. Winning is all that matters. Period. Leaving a conference historically dominated by HSU and presently UMHB gives your school a lot of opportunity to be successful, and it has. But the argument heard along side this and seen as the most important reason is school philosophy and educational direction. Now, whether that bucket holds water or not, I'm not one to make that distinction, but that is what they say.

[crufootball]

Interesting that this is brought up as I did something on Monday night that emphasized to me how crazy it is that we are so close yet don't directly compete against each other. I work at UMHB and had to go to San Antonio for work, on my way down I decided to check out the competition so in less than 2 and a half hours I took a mini driving tour of Southwestern, Texas Lutheran and Trinity.

With that said unless there are some dramatic changes of heart the SCAC and the ASC are not and will not combine.

Also I did find this on the ASC website which does highlight want DFWCrufan said that numerous current SCAC were members of the ASC (some were even charter members). For quick reference I will bold the current SCAC members that left the ASC.

ASC MEMBERSHIP TIMELINE

(Year approved for conference membership or withdrew from league)

1996   Founding Members:
Austin College, University of Dallas, Hardin-Simmons University,
Howard Payne University, McMurry University, Mississippi College,
University of the Ozarks, Sul Ross State University
1997   University of Mary Hardin-Baylor joins ASC
1998   East Texas Baptist University, LeTourneau University,
Schreiner College (now, University), University of Texas at Dallas join ASC
1999   Concordia University at Austin (now, CU Texas) joins ASC
2000   Louisiana College, Texas Lutheran University join ASC
2001   University of Dallas withdraws membership
2002   University of Texas at Tyler joins ASC
2006   Austin College withdraws membership
2011   Centenary College joins ASC
2012   Centenary College, McMurry University withdraw membership
2013   Schreiner University, Texas Lutheran University withdraws membership;
University of California, Santa Cruz joins ASC as affiliate member in women's golf
2014   McMurry University rejoins ASC, Mississippi College withdraws membership
2015   Belhaven University joins ASC

In terms of football only (a touchy subject in D3 land) it wouldn't make much sense for teams like TLU and AC to want to combine conferences when they just left.

[Ron Boerger]

No matter how you look at it, football rules. Period. Winning is all that matters. Period.

With respect, that may be how you see it, but obviously other folks, including those making the policy decisions at the schools in the SCAC, don't.   Fortunately Division III allows for a wide variance in each school's philosophy as to what role sport plays. 

[TLU02SA]

I take considerable exception to umhb2001's statement, "No matter how you look at it, football rules.  Winning is all that matters. Period."  No, absolutely not! I am fairly certain that winning is not the end all for a large majority of D3 schools.  The role of D3 athletics is to provide a true student-athlete experience where athletics is not the main emphasis of a student's experience at the school. Striving to win and to the best you can be is absolutely a part of the student-athlete experience.  Whether you ultimately win or not is, in my opinion, irrelevant.