FB: American Southwest Conference

[Etchglow]

Yep definitely a big time athlete. I think Tingler (Spring Ball QB1) certainly has some arm talent and other skills so I don't want to discredit him. But you're right there is no proven starter at this point, so QB job is fairly open. Maybe we see a two QB approach for a while? Gonna be interesting!

I didn't see any spring practice, but watching film of transfers, but Jordan Oldoerp's HS film was pretty impressive. 

Some notable news on the transfer front:

Former Killeen Ellison QB and district MVP Breezion Spiller has announced his transfer from Tarleton State to UMHB on twitter.

Looking at his spring film highlights at Tarleton he played some QB and some WR and looked blazing fast and talented at both positions. Listed at 6 foot 180 and 4.3/4.4 speed on his Tarleton bio. Could be a weapon for the Cru and according to his updated twitter bio he intends to play QB at UMHB, not WR. But we'll see what happens, promising addition either way.

That's blazing speed for D3. He can definitely contribute somewhere, and considering that King is gone and I'm not aware of any high quality candidates to replace him, there's no reason Spiller can't be in the mix at QB.

He ran a 10.77 100m at Killeen, that's only .2 slower than Aaron Sims's fastest.  I think we all remember how explosive he was in 2018...

[Reverendbiker]

I could definitely go for a version of the Jase Hammack/DeNerian Thomas rotation from 2018.

I'll second that motion.  Until DeNerian was injured late in the 2018 season, that QB rotation had opposing defenses shaking in their boots. If you played Hammack as the passer and Thomas as the runner, DeNerian would wind up and toss a 50-yd TD.

[Ron Boerger]

McMurry elevated its Director of Athletic Operations, Larry Dockery, to acting AD for the upcoming year.  It's a bit concerning that they haven't been able to find a permanent replacement since the previous AD left last fall.

https://ascsports.org/news/2023/6/15/general-mcmurry-names-dockery-interim-athletics-director.aspx

[Pat Coleman]

Sam Ferguson just left a few weeks ago, didn't he?

[Mavchamp]

What is the benefit of moving to D2?
Increased cost for (roughly) the same exposure as D3?

It seems like the number of D2 football schools is dwindling because they are either making the jump to FCS for the big(ger) money, or dropping to D3 to eliminate the expense of athletic scholarships. At least that's the view from the upper midwest.

The only alternative to D2, it appears, would be staying in a 4-team (non-AQ) conference where each school would have to find 7 non-conference football opponents every year. A move to D2 would be one of necessity rather than outright benefit. Teams in our neck of the woods do not have as many options as schools in most other parts of the country. The only other conferences that would be geographically viable for the four schools in question would be the SAC or the SCAC, and neither of those are options due to the fact that most of the programs in those conferences can't/won't compete with the likes of UMHB and Hardin-Simmons or the fact that they don't like the Christian values of the Baptist schools.... or possibly both.

The SCAC tried the four-team thing for a few years and played a double-round robin schedule due to the difficulty lining up OOC games.  Nobody was terribly happy about the result.  I have a "SCAC LAST GAME" challenge coin somewhere as a result.

There are also (perceived or actual) differences in academic standards which can contribute to a decision to change conference affiliations.

The double round robin schedule definitely doesn't sound ideal. Plus the non-AQ status should make remaining in a four (football) school conference a nonstarter.

I was sort of rolling the "academic standards" issue into the "opposition to Christian education issue". I think the two issues are intertwined. After all, I don't see where any of the SCAC schools are significantly better academically than the Baptist Four.

I'm not going to go too deep down this rabbit hole, but UMHB accepts 99.3% of the kids that apply. If you can (or someone you know is willing to) write a check and you can fog a mirror, UMHB is going to let you try college. That's not a bad thing if you don't take on much debt to do it or you make through to a degree and get a job using that degree. It gives tons of first generation college students a chance to go to college, and lots of kids who maybe didn't mature until a bit late still have chance to get a higher education. UMHB and schools like it fill a valuable spot as far as I'm concerned, again given the students pull through (about a 50% chance at UMHB, which is close to the national average).

However, with a few exceptions, the SCAC schools are more selective. TLU is about a 63% acceptance rate, Austin is in the 40s, Centenary is in the 60s, Colorado College is 14%, Lyon is in the 20s, U of the Ozarks 55.4%, U of St. Thomas is 75%. CTX is in the low 90s, Schreiner is right there with UMHB in the upper 90s.

And quite frankly, Austin and CC both are "significantly better academically than the Baptists Four" and it's not even close. I'd say Lyon and U of Ozarks are also academically on a different tier, though a lot closer than Austin and CC. Then TLU, Centenary, St. Thomas, CTX, Schriener.... yeah you've got a point as it's much more of a toss-up.

ETBU acceptance rate is about 64%.  They are highly competitive for academic scholarships.  They consider those scholarships investments....so they don't hand them out to just anyone.  But almost everyone at ETBU....athlete or not is getting financial assistance based on academics.

[Mavchamp]

Good to be back on Post Patterns....haven't been around in a LONG time.

All the ASC turmoil being in the news and part of the local buzz has brought me back.  I'm interested in seeing where ETBU lands.

------------

Hard to imagine the ASC will survive with only the "Baptist four" remaining.

What are the chances of Wayland, SAGU, Texas Wesleyan, or Texas College making the jump from NAIA to D3? 

Geographically it makes sense for all of them.  Maybe financially too.  Or do they have no interest in competing with HSU or UMHB.... which I'm assuming are better than most of the teams in their current conference.

------------
I've heard some saying they wouldn't mind seeing ETBU go NAIA and join the Sooner Conference football conference with the above schools.

Personally I have mixed feelings about it.  I do think the Tigers would be competitive in that conference......but I just have a hard time believing the NAIA....brings the "glitter and glory" of the NCAA.

Obviously D2 is not really an option for ETBU at this time.  Enrollment is expected get very close to 2,000 this fall, which would be a school record.  But IMHO....that's just too small when you look at the enrollments at most of the schools in the Lone Star conference or the Great American Conference.

------------
Talks of them going to the SAA seem to be floating around.  There would be some long road trips to be sure.... but it looks like a conference they could be competitive in immediately.  They have room.....but would that be best?

------------
Last but what I think most ETBU fans are hoping for....is that the Tigers land in the SCAC.

Obviously having so many former ASC rivals is appealing....not to mention they make geographic sense.  Centenary College being only 45 miles away from Marshall is appealing too.  The possibility of a neighborhood rivalry so to speak.

If UMHB and HSU end up in the SCAC too.... big happy reunion.

But it seems like most of the conference seems reluctant to have either..... which leaves ETBU and HPU as the next possibilities. 

-------------

I think personally....my preference would be:

1.  ETBU to the SCAC....with or without UMHB and HSU and the fom
2.  ETBU to the Oklahoma Sooner Conference in the NAIA with La College, Texas Collge, Wayland, SAGU, etc
3.  ETBU to the SAA

I honestly don't think going D2 is on the table for ETBU...in spite of some of the chatter I've heard.  UMHB might be ready for that jump....but there's no way it would be a good idea for the Tigers.

Fingers crossed for a big announcement from ETBU in the coming weeks.

[Ralph Turner]

McMurry elevated its Director of Athletic Operations, Larry Dockery, to acting AD for the upcoming year. It's a bit concerning that they haven't been able to find a permanent replacement since the previous AD left last fall.

https://ascsports.org/news/2023/6/15/general-mcmurry-names-dockery-interim-athletics-director.aspx

Yes. The current administration has a different emphasis on intercollegiate athletics from the 2 previous presidents.
I am very happy that Josh Lee is the head baseball coach.

[Ron Boerger]

Welcome Mavchamp to the board.  Good topics.

It's interesting to consider where ETBU might end up if the ASC continues to basically sit on its hands and force the football-playing schools to make a decision.  As someone who's been around since before the SAA came into being I don't see that as an option; they are focused on "national" liberal arts colleges (as classified by Carnegie) as the only school not in that category is Berry, who they needed to found the conference.  Additionally it would complicate travel (even more than the recent addition of Southwestern and Trinity) by forcing the eastern schools into a Hendrix-ETBU weekend for many sports - which would be a nasty long bus ride for the schools on the eastern side of the conference.  For Birmingham-Southern that would be over 1100 miles on buses in a weekend; for Berry, close to 1400.  The SAA broke from the SCAC for two reasons*:  (1) travel (2) academics.  Adding ETBU would impact both.  Adding Trinity and Southwestern was partially a survival move when it looked like Birmingham-Southern would be gone any day now, and still might not survive in the long run, but they both meet or exceed the academics that the conference prides itself on.  The combination of the two outweighed the travel considerations, and it's easy to fly in and out of either Austin or San Antonio.

I think the most likely SCAC scenario would be as a football affiliate if the ASC continues to be viable, though adding the Tigers as an 11th school wouldn't be too disruptive to scheduling and the SCAC has shown a recent willingness to accept schools that it wouldn't have in the past.  The SCAC needs a seventh football-playing school badly and there are still some questions in my mind at least about Schreiner actually getting its program going in time to earn a bid in 2025 or 2026 (I can't find a football coach there yet and you'd kinda think that would be one of the first things you'd announce).   Centenary, OTOH, has not only a coach and some assistants but a full blown JV-type schedule with scrimmages and some actual games for the upcoming season.  As far as HSU, HPU, UMHB, not sure the SCAC would want to add more than one more school as you start to see some scheduling challenges once you get past ten opponents.  But SCAC Commissioner Dwayne Hanberry continues to be innovative and surprising so I'd never say never. 

The most surprising thing about all this is the deafening radio silence from the ASC and the lack of any kind of noise from the remaining schools regarding the future of the conference.  Maybe the presidents are being told things we aren't, becase the drip ... drip ... drip of schools leaving and the continuing lack of a commissioner speaks volumes otherwise. 

* - some add a third, Trinity's dominance of the all-sports standings.

[The Third Division]

ASC has finally hired a commissioner.

https://ascsports.org/news/2023/6/20/mens-cross-country-david-flores-named-american-southwest-conference-commissioner.aspx

[crufootball]

ASC has finally hired a commissioner.

https://ascsports.org/news/2023/6/20/mens-cross-country-david-flores-named-american-southwest-conference-commissioner.aspx

In the end though, to go from nothing to new commissioner in 3 months doesn't seem that bad. On paper this guy sounds better than I would have expected, good luck to him as I think he is going to need it.

[The Third Division]

ASC has finally hired a commissioner.

https://ascsports.org/news/2023/6/20/mens-cross-country-david-flores-named-american-southwest-conference-commissioner.aspx

In the end though, to go from nothing to new commissioner in 3 months doesn't seem that bad. On paper this guy sounds better than I would have expected, good luck to him as I think he is going to need it.

I hope his appointment didn't come too late considering the SCAC has been stealing ASC teams by the week. His biggest challenge certainly will be to save the ASC football conference.

[Ron Boerger]

Vice President for Governance at the Big 12 ?  That's a damn good hire and gives me hope the ASC will not only survive but recover from its recent ills.   I do hope that he can "get" D3 quickly as it's a way different world than the one he is used to.   I see nothing in his background indicating any experience with non-scholarship athletics but it speaks volumes that the conference was able to bring him onboard.

Radio silence over 

[The Third Division]

Does anyone reckon he gets a pay cut considering he is working with a lower division of college sports? I don't very often see those working from d1 down to d3.

[Ralph Turner]

ASC has finally hired a commissioner.

https://ascsports.org/news/2023/6/20/mens-cross-country-david-flores-named-american-southwest-conference-commissioner.aspx

In the end though, to go from nothing to new commissioner in 3 months doesn't seem that bad. On paper this guy sounds better than I would have expected, good luck to him as I think he is going to need it.

I am trying to figure out his age.

Here is what stats show for a "David Flores" at UTEP, 2 seasons as a backup QB in 1988 and 1989. That David Flores is probably 57 years old.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/david-flores-1.html


If that is David Flores, then this is his 10 year job to culminate a long career in the athletic administration.

"Conference Commissioner" looks good on any resume.

[crufootball]

Does anyone reckon he gets a pay cut considering he is working with a lower division of college sports? I don't very often see those working from d1 down to d3.

Have to think he took a pay cut but it seems like UMHB has snagged a few coaches with the mindset of still wanting to be very competitive but just not on the D1 stress level. Also couldn't have hurt that the Big 12 offices are in Irving so he doesn't have to move to take the job.