FB: American Southwest Conference

[Westside]

Here is the bracket: http://d3football.com/playoffs/2015/bracket

[UMHB03]

Credit to the selection committee. They actually did a pretty good, fair job this year IMO.

Yes, Linfield will be a tough potential opponent for UMHB or Hardin-Simmons in the 3rd round, but that's what happens when you don't take care of business in all your games. My issue was with pitting two Stagg Bowl contenders (Linfield and UMHB) against each other in the 2nd round last year, and the projected possibility of it happening again this year.

I have no issues with this year's bracket. Kudos to the committee for getting it right.

[crufootball]

Well we knew it would happen but let the countdown begin to the rematch between HSU and UMHB. Thanks to the NCAA for at least not making the winner go to Linfield until the 3rd round.

Wow to Mount Union, UWW, Wesley and several other not being on our side of the bracket at all!

[zipmac22]

Okay, now that the brackets are out I'm happy the UMHB was selected to move onto post-season. But, I'm still trying to figure out how Whitewater was able to host a first round game, but UMHB wasn't. I think that UMHB is the top four in the south bracket, but they are hitting the road.

On another note...for the sake of keeping teams close to each other why couldn't Whitewater and Oshkosh be paired in the first round? Or, maybe have Whitewater and Mount Union, I think those two are under the 500 mile limit.

At any event, I'll be at Hardin Simmons to cheer The Cru to their first round win!

[DFWCrufan]

Thank you

[crufootball]

Okay, now that the brackets are out I'm happy the UMHB was selected to move onto post-season. But, I'm still trying to figure out how Whitewater was able to host a first round game, but UMHB wasn't. I think that UMHB is the top four in the south bracket, but they are hitting the road.

On another note...for the sake of keeping teams close to each other why couldn't Whitewater and Oshkosh be paired in the first round? Or, maybe have Whitewater and Mount Union, I think those two are under the 500 mile limit.

At any event, I'll be at Hardin Simmons to cheer The Cru to their first round win!

They would only pair other teams like that if they didn't really have a choice (i.e. the Texas schools the NWC teams). As in this year since HSU/UMHB and Linfield/Withworth all would require flying multiple teams and its not going to happen without a lot of craziness.

[Toby Taff]

Some very sensible replies on this page, thankfully.

The selection committee isn't a bunch of cheapskates; they're working in a specific set of conditions to try to give some semblance of a fair bracket, while working within the constraints of a budget.  If you want to direct your ire at the NCAA, that's at least the right direction to point your anger, but it's still a little silly.  D3 only has a playoff of any kind because they're willing to give D3 sports some D1 basketball TV money.

jknezek is absolutely right: if D3 schools wanted to create a tournament where travel costs were not an issue, the schools would have to collectively agree that they'd pick up some (or all) of the travel tab for the flights necessary to have a true seeded tournament.  That's just not a realistic option for 98% of D3 schools.  The cost of one additional overnight flight-requiring trip (if you count flights, hotel rooms, bus transportation from the hotel to the stadium on game day, and team meals on the road) is probably more than the cost of the head coach's salary at most D3 schools. 

Until Division III schools collectively agree to do that (and they probably shouldn't, from an institutional standpoint - do you want to explain to the music department that they can't hire an additional tenure-track professor that they desperately need because we have to save an extra $100K in case the football team makes the playoffs this year?) we will have the current structure.

So eliminating the music department would solve this issue? Ok, count me in

imagine the backlash if the UMHB music department was scheduled for elimination 

[wally_wabash]

Okay, now that the brackets are out I'm happy the UMHB was selected to move onto post-season. But, I'm still trying to figure out how Whitewater was able to host a first round game, but UMHB wasn't. I think that UMHB is the top four in the south bracket, but they are hitting the road.

It's the geography, man.  UMHB and HSU were ALWAYS going to play in the first round.  HSU is ranked ahead of UMHB, so the game is going to be at HSU.  If UMHB wins, pretty decent shot they'll definitely host round 2. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

Okay, now that the brackets are out I'm happy the UMHB was selected to move onto post-season. But, I'm still trying to figure out how Whitewater was able to host a first round game, but UMHB wasn't. I think that UMHB is the top four in the south bracket, but they are hitting the road.

On another note...for the sake of keeping teams close to each other why couldn't Whitewater and Oshkosh be paired in the first round? Or, maybe have Whitewater and Mount Union, I think those two are under the 500 mile limit.

Geography is the simple answer to both of these things.  The only possible first-round opponent for UMHB was HSU, for reasons that have been hashed and rehashed many times here (yes, I think Hendrix was within 500 miles, but unfortunately Hendrix had to be paired with Huntingdon, who is on an island themselves). 

Once you accept that HSU and UMHB had to be paired together, UMHB should be on the road; HSU won the h2h game between the two, and has earned the right to host if they're paired up.

Re: UWW/UWO or UWW/Mount - there are plenty of other options for both of those schools.  The Midwest and East are the two regions of the country with the largest concentration of D3 schools - there are just more options there.  You don't have to pair 2 teams just because they're close to each other when there are other bus-able options.  You're only hamstrung into doing that when you're way down in Texas and virtually nobody else in the field is within driving distance.

[GillCJ1]

So eliminating the music department would solve this issue? Ok, count me in

imagine the backlash if the UMHB music department was scheduled for elimination 

Count me as part of the hypothetical backlash.  It would be a straight-up travesty, and it would ensure my wife and I not contributing to the UMHB Alumni Association.  Thankfully, this is not gonna happen.  In fact, they are about to break ground on a new performing arts center.

Back on topic, no surprise that the Cru will be facing the Cowboys again.  Should be another great game.  I don't know if I can make it (again...) but I'll definitely be there in spirit.

[DFWCrufan]

Post selection watch party interview with Coach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxlKN1U23rI

Pre Playoff Hype vid...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvzIQrY8HsY

[TLU02SA]

Congrats to HSU and UMHB on two fantastic seasons.  I attended the TLU-HSU game in Seguin this year and it was one of the most exciting football games I have attended in many years.  And TLU did not win!

I posted something similar on the SCAC board just now but wanted to repeat it here.  I find it unfortunate that Texas is relegated to 2 playoff entries and that those two playoff entries are relegated to playing each other in the first round.  I believe that UMHB and HSU are, at a minimum, top 16 teams.  They shouldn't have to face each other in the first round. 

I understand that travel, cost, geography and logistics are taken into consideration but I would like to see D3 NCAA could get a little more creative with their first round pairings.

[Kelly Boggs]

From what I can tell UMHB really wants the rematch with HSU. I believe there will be a very different outcome in Abilene on Saturday from what it was two weeks ago.

The CRU played with an intensity against ETBU that I've not seen since the regular season beat down of TLU in Seguine last year. Last Saturday's game was not as close as the score indicated, which was not even close. It was a dominating performance by The CRU.

It's my opinion the loss two weeks ago to HSU was a good thing for UMHB and the fan base. Both seemed to have become a bit complacent and lacked intensity. I expect a big CRU crowd in Abilene and a playoff win.

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." - Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto regarding the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by forces of Imperial Japan.

[Kelly Boggs]

Report from Killeen Daily Herald: UMHB receives playoff bid, will play rivals again  http://kdhnews.com/sports/college/umhb/umhb-receives-playoff-bid-will-play-rivals-again/article_e2c7097e-6ef1-57c0-9a92-adb866e6a9b9.html

[Ron Boerger]

Congrats to HSU and UMHB on two fantastic seasons.  I attended the TLU-HSU game in Seguin this year and it was one of the most exciting football games I have attended in many years.  And TLU did not win!

I posted something similar on the SCAC board just now but wanted to repeat it here.  I find it unfortunate that Texas is relegated to 2 playoff entries and that those two playoff entries are relegated to playing each other in the first round.  I believe that UMHB and HSU are, at a minimum, top 16 teams.  They shouldn't have to face each other in the first round. 

I understand that travel, cost, geography and logistics are taken into consideration but I would like to see D3 NCAA could get a little more creative with their first round pairings.

There is no set number of bids allocated to any state.   You have to get in based on team performance against the parameters set by the NCAA.   As we said all along, any two-loss team will have a very, very difficult time getting a pool C bid.  With TLU being either 1-2 or 0-2 against RROs (ETBU may have fallen out of the final regional rankings after the UMHB blowout) and teams in other regions having superior résumés as defined by the published playoff criteria it wasn't in the cards this year.  Texas has had as many as three teams get in previous years, or as few as one.

And this kind of stuff happens in other D3 sports; just last week in women's soccer we saw two Texas top-ten teams face off in the first round - despite having 64 teams selected - because there were no other travel-friendly options.    The NCAA loses money as it is on Division III; they're not interested in losing more.   That doesn't make the situation any less frustrating.    That said, if the D1 FCS or D1 basketball boys take their money and run, we may look back on these as the good old days, as it is their funding that allows us to have the playoff access ratio we enjoy today.