MBB: American Southwest Conference

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph,
   Let's say the coaches decide to free up more out of conference games next year giving McMurry seven dates and MC eight and you are in charge of scheduling. Who would you try to schedule for each team? Just curious who you would like to see each team play to best help the QOWI and improve the national/regional perception of the ASC.

Good Morning Chris.  I think that the Chocs (with LaCollege as "co-host" or the other side of the bracket in a classic format) should pull exclusively from that list for the "Farm Bureau" Classic.  (I think that LaCollege and MissCollege should do this almost every year.  I am sure that your travel budget and schedule doesn't always anticipate your driving into downtown Alpine from the west!    )

I would like to see Maryville TN and the Chocs play, in a tourney on a neutral floor, e.g., at a Huntingdon or a Rhodes.

I think that Ozarks and Hendrix have possibilities together or Ozarks and Rhodes.

I don't think this has been an issue of "will" or "mindset".  I see this as an issue of only 25 games and only certain weekends available.

The other GSAC schools need games...Hutingdon, LaGrange and Piedmont.

I see opportunities for ETBU and LeTU to partner for tourney games, and UT-Tyler and UT-Dallas to work together.

UMHB make big noise and benefitted from their "14 QOWI point" win over VWC and their "12 QOWI point" win over Ripon.

I am not precluding teams scheduling a 19th or a 20th or a 21st game with an interdivisional opponent.  Having the dates on the schedule to do it does make these inter-regional games possible.

[Ralph Turner]

Chris, I also think that a good strategy is to take a team to other regions of the country to play D3's that may not count for or against you in the Regional rankings.

If you aren't certain what your team can do, but want to try to make noise,  then go out-of-region.  McMurry went to Johns Hopkins.  If they had beaten Rowan (currently tied for 2nd in the NJAC) they would have played Johns Hopkins in the Finals.  I think that Moreno's injury thru them off the radar screen the whole season (considering that they have not lost since his return), because you probably believe as I do that McMurry with Moreno does not lose by 5 to Rowan which loses to JHU the next night by 2.  That would have made Top 25 noise, but would not have helped with Tourney Selection.

The real benefit to the JHU tourney was that the McMurry players got to see Baltimore and to walk the Mall in Washington DC.

[Ralph Turner]

Because of proximity to good airports (Austin and San Antonio),  TLU, CUA and UMHB have the chance to host some national people. People can fly into Abilene, but my personal opinion and preference is for McMurry to fly to other parts of the country as an educational and recruiting tool. 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks to Coach matt Wallis for navigating UT-Tyler thru the provisional period.  That is a tough job, starting a team from scratch with no hope of the NCAA's.  He deserves a big round of internet applause!   

Good luck in your next endeavor!

That really changes the make-up on the east.  Where is UT-Tyler going with its new coach and his particular emphasis?

The question that is in the back of my mind is, "Does UT-Tyler want to move to D2 or D1-AA?"

Those are questions that the applicants will be asking about the job! 

[Bearkat00]

Thanks Ralph, I've been telling my coaches the same thing.  They listened to what Coach DeWeese had to say about playing some regional teams so I'm hoping we can get a few scheduled next year instead of playing Jarvis Christian even though they are ranked in the top 25 in NAIA, it doesn't really help at all.

Playing Jarvis Christian may be fun and cheap, but it helps absolutely no one.  If it is the annual Lions Club or YMCA fund raiser and it puts 1500 fans into the gym, that is one thing.  That is a mission and vision thing for community outreach.  It does nothing for the basketball program in the NCAA, tho'.   


Good luck...

There's nothing good about playing Jarvis.  That game lacked intensity for the whole 40 minutes as both teams knew they had nothing to prove to one another.  Jarvis just received a #21 ranking in the national poll and had a key conference game that Saturday.  LETU was still fighting for 2nd place in the conference and this agme only allowed players who hadn't played much in the season see some playing time.

The one reason why I think LETU did schedule this game was b/c of the long layoff they had.  With Ozarks not having a travel partner, LETU would've gone a week without playing anyone before heading up to Conway.  It would be fun to see us play some other regional teams besides Austin College.

[gccfan]

Ralph, I love your idea of nearby teams helping each other out to do a tourney... another thing that might be a good idea is to do something like the Big Ten and ACC every year with their challenge games early on.  Every year something like that would help out the conference that was stronger with their regional rankings and each conference could do some publicity with it that would probably help out recruiting as well.

[Ralph Turner]

I interpret the Top 25 to show some respect for UMHB and the ASC.  They sustained an OT loss at McM and had a narrow victory over HSU and only dropped from #23 to #25.  Both of those teams (McM and HSU) are unranked.

I am not sure how many votes they might have lost, but the respect for tthe conference is still there.

[David Collinge]

I interpret the Top 25 to show some respect for UMHB and the ASC.  They sustained an OT loss at McM and had a narrow victory over HSU and only dropped from #23 to #25.  Both of those teams (McM and HSU) are unranked.

I am not sure how many votes they might have lost, but the respect for tthe conference is still there.

UMHB lost 42 points, roughly half of what they had last week (82).  There was quite a lot of carnage below them (Johns Hopkins, Lake Erie, John Carroll, Carthage) that helped prop them up a bit IMHO. 

On the other end, however, Mississippi College gained 42 points, so it was a net wash for the conference. 

[Ralph Turner]

I interpret the Top 25 to show some respect for UMHB and the ASC.  They sustained an OT loss at McM and had a narrow victory over HSU and only dropped from #23 to #25.  Both of those teams (McM and HSU) are unranked.

I am not sure how many votes they might have lost, but the respect for tthe conference is still there.

UMHB lost 42 points, roughly half of what they had last week (82).  There was quite a lot of carnage below them (Johns Hopkins, Lake Erie, John Carroll, Carthage) that helped prop them up a bit IMHO. 

On the other end, however, Mississippi College gained 42 points, so it was a net wash for the conference. 

In the perfect Top 25, #23 earns 75 votes.  #25 earns 25 votes.  I think that UMHB did okay.  They were a strong #23, they are a stronger #25!   

[golden_dome]

Looking over the recent QOWI numbers that Pat Coleman posted, I think there is a great chance UMHB will make the NCAA Tournament even if they do not win the ASC tournament. The ASC had a good week to end the year with several of the bottom teams bumping up a spot so that their wins are worth an extra two points.

MC is now 8th nationally with a QOWI of 10.667 so they are in no matter what. If UMHB were to reach the championship game and lose to MC they would have a QOWI of 10 accumulating 280 points in their 28 games. Last year that would have put them right in the middle of the Pool C teams that were selected.

Here is the list of teams Pat posted earlier.

2006 Pool C Teams
Tufts    11.000    20-5 No. 3 NE
Gordon    10.560    22-3 No. 4 NE
Augustana    10.478    19-4 No. 2 MW
Cortland State    10.440    22-3 No. 2 E
York (Pa.)    10.400    22-3 No. 1 MA
Trinity (Texas)    10.316    16-3 No. 2 S
Carroll    10.087    19-4 No. 4 MW
Wooster    10.042    21-3 No. 1 GL
Carleton    10.000    18-5 No. 3 NE
Baruch    9.958    21-3 No. 1 NE
Illinois Wesleyan    9.952    15-6 No. 5 MW
Widener    9.920    20-5 No. 4 MA
UW-La Crosse    9.880    18-7 No. 6 W
UW-Stout    9.870    18-5 No. 1 W
Randolph-Macon    9.840    19-6 No. 4 S
Occidental    9.750    12-4 No. 4 W
Calvin    9.733    13-2 No. 2 GL
Utica    9.692    20-6 No. 4 E

Nine of the teams were over 10 and nine were under. Getting to the championship game should be enough for the Crusaders giving us two teams in the NCAA tourney. If they win one game and lose in the semi's they would have a QOWI of 9.81 placing them right on the bubble.

Of course, I am comparing them to pool C teams from last year and this year could be different. Hopefully, things will work out so that we can at least get two teams in the tournament. If McMurry wins the tournament or UMHB gets an at large, there is also a good chance the NCAA would not send them to MC due to the plane flight giving us a chance to have two teams advance without facing each other.

[golden_dome]

I should have included McMurry as a potential Pool C team in the post above after looking over the numbers. Even though they currently have a QOWI of 9.636, that number could be as high as 9.96 with two ASC wins and loss in the title game. They could have 249 points in 25 regional games.

I can't remember a year when the ASC had three teams with legitimate chances to earn Pool C bids.

I think there is a scenario in which all three get in though it is a longshot. Should McMurry upset MC and UMHB also reach the finals, we would have three teams with QOWI's high enough to earn a bid.

Things would have to go perfectly, but the ASC could have one team earn the automatic bid and have two more teams with QOWI's over 10. Based on last season, that would have been good enough to get in.

[CUAfan]

Because of proximity to good airports (Austin and San Antonio),  TLU, CUA and UMHB have the chance to host some national people. People can fly into Abilene, but my personal opinion and preference is for McMurry to fly to other parts of the country as an educational and recruiting tool. 

Maybe I'll bring that up with coach Bonewitz. Any suggestions for highly regarded opponents that (1) might come and (2) we'd stand a chance of beating?

[Ralph Turner]

Because of proximity to good airports (Austin and San Antonio),  TLU, CUA and UMHB have the chance to host some national people. People can fly into Abilene, but my personal opinion and preference is for McMurry to fly to other parts of the country as an educational and recruiting tool. 

Maybe I'll bring that up with coach Bonewitz. Any suggestions for highly regarded opponents that (1) might come and (2) we'd stand a chance of beating?

CUA fan, any (D3) "Concordia" schools from the western region are my first thoughts, and do it on a yearly rotational basis.  Are Concordia-Moorhead (MIAC), Concordia IL (NAthCon), Concordia-WI all in the same Concordia system?  Play it Classic style; TX and MN versus the NAthCon teams.

All matchups count as in-region!


 

[gccfan]

Here is an article on LETU head coach Bob Davis.

http://www.d3hoops.com/pressreleases.php?release=1198

[McM Blue Devil]

A little surprised about another coaching change in the ASC

http://www.d3hoops.com/pressreleases.php?release=1197

Sorry I don't know how to link stuff.