FB: American Southwest Conference

[Mavchamp]

I'm thrilled that things seem secure....if only for a moment.

I hope that McMurry and Shreiner had to sign an agreement to remain in the ASC for X amount of time.  Be it 2 years..4 years....whatever.

The ASC cannot stand pat.  We are still on the cusp of being exactly where we were before this.  We need to go hard core after Hendrix, Lyon, Centenary and even Belhaven if they will come  I can't imagine them being thrilled with the travel of the USA South.  I'd even reach out to Louisiana College....even though they seem content with the success they have had in the NAIA.

I know A&M Texarkana has expressed interest in D2....but I'd reach out to them as well.  Same with Wayland Baptist. Nelson University, Texas Wesleyan.  Heck....even Sul Ross.  Anyone that will listen....

Also......

The Baptist Four got caught with their pants down.  If they are wise.... they are building towards the POSSIBILITY that this could all crash and burn and put them right back where they were before.

If that means NAIA or D2 or FCS....whatever.... they need an exit strategy.

Maybe this timeline will help all four secure their futures in....or outside of the ASC and D3.

Don't get caught unawares again.

Clearly everyone else has back up plans...... so should we.

I have a feeling this is a temporary band-aid.  Not a long term solution.

[jknezek]

D3 Texas college football is like a snake eating it's own tail.

[Mavchamp]

D3 Texas college football is like a snake eating it's own tail.

They better learn to work together or else most of them end up in much worse situations than they currently find themselves.

They will  end up D3 conferences that make no geographical sense..... or be forced to NAIA or D2.

Work out your differences... cooperate... negotiate. It shouldn't be about surviving... but thriving.

We aren't like some parts of the country with a saturation of D3 conferences overlapping and adjacent to one another.

We basically have 2.... And really only 1 for football. 

Make. It. Work.  Put political and social issues aside for the sake of coexisting.

The non purple schools need to step up their game.  Maybe the purple schools need to make some concessions to keep the others happy. I don't know. But everyone can't get everything they want.

Just make it work.

[TLU05SA]

Just make it work.

No concern about how this came together? Is this another contemporary example of the ends justifying the means? So long as it "works", it is ok?

I want DIII athletics to thrive in Texas and I have not liked how things have been trending in recent years.  That said, paying schools to join your conference....Is that what we want DIII to be?

[ziggy]

Just make it work.

No concern about how this came together? Is this another contemporary example of the ends justifying the means? So long as it "works", it is ok?

I want DIII athletics to thrive in Texas and I have not liked how things have been trending in recent years.  That said, paying schools to join your conference....Is that what we want DIII to be?

As many have said throughout this saga, if there were any easy or convenient solutions they would have happened long ago. It seems to me that any of the much-discussed paths forward for the remaining ASC four would have come with a significant financial impact of one form or another. This way at least the dollars flow to create a solution to let them be where they want to be. Hard to see this as anything other than a last-ditch effort that hopefully we don't see again in Division III because no one gets in such dire straights.

[Mavchamp]

Just make it work.

No concern about how this came together? Is this another contemporary example of the ends justifying the means? So long as it "works", it is ok?

I want DIII athletics to thrive in Texas and I have not liked how things have been trending in recent years.  That said, paying schools to join your conference....Is that what we want DIII to be?

Of course I have concerns.  I already stated in an earlier post that bribing people to join the ASC for money is a bad look.

Accepting money to join might look worse.

And maybe even  the worst of it...is that after all the nastiness.... others may return to the ASC to avoid an SCAC football implosion.

Why was the Baptist Four so unwilling to make concessions to keep the ASC intact?  Maybe their were some legit concerns and ways to work differences out.

Why were the schools that left so willing to go scorched Earth policy the second they had the upper hand?  Maybe their were some legit concerns and ways to work differences out.

The Baptist Four were complicit in the ASC's demise by being unwilling to listen to concerns.

Those that left are complicit in their situation now with the SCAC with their scorched Earth.

TBH....there's no reason that both the SCAC and the ASC couldn't coexist as football conferences.  Sure....one for football makes more sense....but until these schools can learn to work together instead of against one another... the cannibalization will continue.

[crufootball]

Just make it work.

No concern about how this came together? Is this another contemporary example of the ends justifying the means? So long as it "works", it is ok?

I want DIII athletics to thrive in Texas and I have not liked how things have been trending in recent years.  That said, paying schools to join your conference....Is that what we want DIII to be?

I am curious what did you expect the remaining members of the ASC to do? From everything I have gathered none of the options for them would have been free so if money on the front end saves them money in the long run that actually makes sense to me.

[UMHB03]

Just make it work.

No concern about how this came together? Is this another contemporary example of the ends justifying the means? So long as it "works", it is ok?

I want DIII athletics to thrive in Texas and I have not liked how things have been trending in recent years.  That said, paying schools to join your conference....Is that what we want DIII to be?

It's not ideal, but with so many of the other D3 schools in Texas determined to run away and hide from competition rather than stepping up and improving their programs, it's a last resort to survive at this level.

[Mavchamp]

I still think this is a band-aid for a gaping wound.

This buys the ASC a couple of seasons....maybe.

Come 2027 or 2028..... I think we will once again be talking about UMHB and HSU going to D2 or FCS.  People will be fleeing the Purple Schools again.  They will be looking for a conference again.

The D3 future for HPU and ETBU will boil down to the other D3 Texas schools' willingness to take them wherever they go...be it the SCAC or another conference.  If they aren't willing to take them.... I think talk of HPU going NAIA returns and ETBU going NAIA or moving up to D2 and the GAC talk returns.

The difference is that everyone has 2-3 years to get prepared for the next implosion.

With the Pacific Northwest schools likely about to be kicked out of the LSC...... they will be looking for members.  HSU?  UMHB?

With all the Oklahoma schools possibly forming a single Oklahoma D2 conference.... the GAC will be looking for members.  ETBU?  A&M Texarkana?

[TLU05SA]

Just make it work.

No concern about how this came together? Is this another contemporary example of the ends justifying the means? So long as it "works", it is ok?

I want DIII athletics to thrive in Texas and I have not liked how things have been trending in recent years.  That said, paying schools to join your conference....Is that what we want DIII to be?

I am curious what did you expect the remaining members of the ASC to do? From everything I have gathered none of the options for them would have been free so if money on the front end saves them money in the long run that actually makes sense to me.

How about recognizing its ambitions seem beyond the DIII ethos of the student athlete, the student athlete experience and non-scholarship athletics and move to a division that is more in line with their ambitions.

Is what the ASC (for lack of clarity as to where the payments are coming from) is doing common in DIII? This is why I said, does the ends justify the means? 

While I appreciate that the members of the ASC want to stay in DIII, I question what they are doing.  Is this DIII behavior or should certain members recognize that their programs are more suitable for another division? If you are willing to pay other schools to come to your conference to be conference filler, is this adhering to the ethos of the student athlete, the student athlete experience and non-scholarship athletics?

I think the ASC is stepping all over that line and, likely, beyond it.

[Ron Boerger]

The ASC announcement is up.  It's a ten-year deal so looks like they got good value for their money.

https://ascsports.org/news/2025/3/18/general-american-southwest-conference-celebrates-10-year-agreement-and-membership-expansion.aspx

[Mavchamp]

The ASC announcement is up.  It's a ten-year deal so looks like they got good value for their money.

https://ascsports.org/news/2025/3/18/general-american-southwest-conference-celebrates-10-year-agreement-and-membership-expansion.aspx

Ten years???  I would have been shocked if was longer than 4.  I definitely didn't expect 10.

You have to wonder how iron-clad that agreement is.  Could another conference offer to pay their "exit"?  It's not like it isn't happening in other divisions.

If the SCAC is unable to get Trinity or Southwestern to stay..... will others bail?

[Ron Boerger]

When the big boys do this there is always a buyout clause.  Not sure here since there are no details provided other than it being "ten years". 

[Mavchamp]

Just make it work.

No concern about how this came together? Is this another contemporary example of the ends justifying the means? So long as it "works", it is ok?

I want DIII athletics to thrive in Texas and I have not liked how things have been trending in recent years.  That said, paying schools to join your conference....Is that what we want DIII to be?

I am curious what did you expect the remaining members of the ASC to do? From everything I have gathered none of the options for them would have been free so if money on the front end saves them money in the long run that actually makes sense to me.

How about recognizing its ambitions seem beyond the DIII ethos of the student athlete, the student athlete experience and non-scholarship athletics and move to a division that is more in line with their ambitions.

Is what the ASC (for lack of clarity as to where the payments are coming from) is doing common in DIII? This is why I said, does the ends justify the means? 

While I appreciate that the members of the ASC want to stay in DIII, I question what they are doing.  Is this DIII behavior or should certain members recognize that their programs are more suitable for another division? If you are willing to pay other schools to come to your conference to be conference filler, is this adhering to the ethos of the student athlete, the student athlete experience and non-scholarship athletics?

I think the ASC is stepping all over that line and, likely, beyond it.

I 1000% agree with what you are saying.

While I'm happy the immediate future is secured (for now)..... I'm not thrilled with the idea that someone was bribed to join.

Even less keen that someone accepted the bribe.

And I do understand the desire of some to get away from the dominance of UMHB and HSU.......

I have to wonder.....if the SCAC had extended an invite to HPU and ETBU....whom have NOT been football Powers by any stretch of the imagination.... then the SCAC would have been 100% solidified and HSU and UMHB would have been forced to go elsewhere.

Locking out HPU and ETBU.....in hind-sight......might have been their undoing.

[Bmo]

So the most likely outcome at this point, barring something completely unforeseen.  Hendrix pulls back and rejoins the SAA.  TLU, Austin, and Centenary are forced to join the ASC as football affiliates.  Who knows what happens to Lyon.  SCAC is again non-football.  Everything resets back to 2022 in the ASC, and the SAA resets back to the old SCAC in core alignment.