FB: American Southwest Conference

headlinesman · October 23, 2006, 03:41:16 PM

Just a casual quere: if UMHB loses to Wis.Whitewater, but goes ahead and wins the ASC, will the loss hurt the Cru in any way when it comes to seeding for the playoffs, or are they destined to play Trinity and H-S U the first two rounds no matter what?

minni · October 23, 2006, 03:44:17 PM

the three will play each other for the state championship no matter what. It just depends on the crazy commitee to decide who plays who when and where. In my opinion UMHB is playing for homefield advantage this weekend and a bye in the first round!!! If the lose it should be very interesting with the pairings come playoff time.

Ralph Turner · October 23, 2006, 03:53:32 PM

Minni, when the NCAA expanded to 32 teams from 28, the bye went away.

crufootball · October 23, 2006, 04:04:09 PM

In regards to billybaroo saying that the city should help the Crusaders get a home field advantage by promoting the Whitewater game. As a student at UMHB I wish the city as a whole would support us more and hype this game and other games but it seems to me the city is more willing to support the high school team that I believe has not won a game this year, than the university that is ranked #6 in the nation.

minni · October 23, 2006, 04:07:36 PM

Sorry Ralph, I forget.....old habits die hard!!!

headlinesman · October 23, 2006, 04:57:24 PM

Crufootball, its really an age old problem. Aside from the large universities, with large alumni bases, high school football is still king in Texas. There are a whole lot more people in Belton with ties to Belton High School (alums, kids go there, kids in band, kids are cheerleaders, pep squads, they teach there, etc) than there ever will be a local connect with UMHB. Actually, I've attended the last thee UMHB games (I'm new to the area), and it seems like you guys get a better local turnout than H-S U or McMurry football games used to get from the Abilenians.

crualum75 · October 23, 2006, 05:31:39 PM

All of this conversation reminds me of an article that the (I believe) the Waco paper ran in 2004. Another college team (in Waco) was having a rough year and they ran an article on another local team who was doing quite well, UMHB of course. This article definitely brought UMHB to the forefront of the local news, but it is still hard to contend with Big colleges and high school ball. I went to high school in central Texas and must say that I had crowds every week that were thousands of people (and we were 2 losses below .500). Anyways I think that small college football will grow in popularity, but I am not sure how much before it peaks. More importantly the supporters of small college football, particularly Division III are very loyal and devoted to keeping the student in student-athlete while continuing to have competitive football played throughout the nation. I am proud to be a supporter of Division III football and UMHB. Thanks I will now gracefully dismount from my soap box...and thank you to the City of Belton for your support I will always remember the signs of support seen throughout the town every week in 2004.

Pat Coleman · October 23, 2006, 06:36:33 PM

Saturday's game is the D3football.com Game of the Week. Keith and I are flying in on Friday night. Looking forward to it.

Stephen1452 · October 23, 2006, 07:05:55 PM

I cannot wait for the game saturday. I have had this one marked as I am sure everyone else has since the beginning of the season. I will be in attendance saturday wearing my purple and rooting on the cru.

As far as the town of belton-temple-killeen supporting the team.... I know last season umhb worked out a deal with Ft. Hood and they sold them season tickets. I think that was a great start. But I really haven't heard of much more of that going on. Usually they do get a decent amount of air time on the news, but w/o any other college or pro team in the area it really helps. Well I guess except for Baylor....

Ron Boerger · October 23, 2006, 07:11:47 PM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on October 23, 2006, 06:36:33 PM
Saturday's game is the D3football.com Game of the Week. Keith and I are flying in on Friday night. Looking forward to it.

Have a great trip down, Pat (and Keith)! Looks like perfect fall football weather and one of the most compelling D3 matchups in Texas history.

Of course, this would be the weekend of our fall concert in Sherman. Maybe I will head over to AC during our break and tap into the open WLAN there to listen to the broadcast!

Ralph Turner · October 23, 2006, 08:14:17 PM

Quote from: headlinesman on October 23, 2006, 04:57:24 PM
Crufootball, its really an age old problem. Aside from the large universities, with large alumni bases, high school football is still king in Texas. There are a whole lot more people in Belton with ties to Belton High School (alums, kids go there, kids in band, kids are cheerleaders, pep squads, they teach there, etc) than there ever will be a local connect with UMHB. Actually, I've attended the last thee UMHB games (I'm new to the area), and it seems like you guys get a better local turnout than H-S U or McMurry football games used to get from the Abilenians.

headlinesman, this might surprise you at first, but comparing Abilene with 3 schools to divide their fan support with Belton-Killeen-Fort Hood-Temple where UMHB is the only local college game in town is a little like comparing grapes with a watermelon!

D2 Abilene Christian, D3 HSU and McM are competing in a fan base of 158,000 people in the Abilene Metropolitan area. On the other hand, UMHB can draw from 355,000 fans. If you are expecting one fan for every 100 people to have an interest in college football, then you anticipate about 3500 UMHB college fans, alumni, friends, and local business people who want to associate their marketing activities with the local college team.

On the other hand, you are dividing 3 schools among 1500 in Abilene. That is why I say grapes to watermelons.

They are both fruit, but there is a pretty big difference in how much you get!

dsc · October 23, 2006, 08:56:41 PM

Ralph, I was going to say about the same thing. The three colleges in Abilene have a fan base 1/3 the size of Abilene...maybe 40,000.

HSU is averaging 3,185 at "home" and 2,364 "away." (Which includes 2,977 in Belton in perhaps the biggest ASC game of the year.)

Even HSU-McM games sometimes aren't much bigger than the average "home" attendance. Sometimes it is 6 or 7 thousand, but in 2004 it was 3,875. (Couldn't locate the 2005 figure.

HSU will probably max out this Homecoming weekend at 4,000. Then we'll have a much larger crowd for the McM game...unless there is bad weather...or it may be broadcast.....etc.

Who knows...and who does the counting?

Anyway...

Go Cowboys!!!

kickhoe · October 23, 2006, 10:58:48 PM

Who's going back to HSU for Homecoming this weekend??? My wife and kids are driving up from SA on Friday....and will go to the game Saturday afternoon.....

Zmotion10 out on 2 · October 24, 2006, 12:23:54 AM

My wife and I will be at the HSU game!

dsc · October 24, 2006, 12:54:13 AM

From Washington, D.C.

I'll be at Homecoming in Abilene at HSU this Saturday. I'll be the crazy guy waving the biggest flag...as always at the game. (Been doing it for years!!!)

GO COWBOYS
GO COWBOYS
I'll also be at all the events...the Sing, the Veterans Meetings, the BOD, BBQ, etc...etc...