MBB: American Southwest Conference

[Ralph Turner]

The good thing about UT-D's schedule (for those of us playing in the tourney) is that that they have an ASC record of 13-7, but they played Austin College, home-and-away, and UDallas.  Those extra 3 wins for UT-Dallas means that they are 16-7 (South Region).  Whomever beats them in the tourney will have a 15 point win (except home team Miss Coll).  UT-D's worst in-region record can only be 16-8 (.667)!

That is why the conference benefits from scheduling South Region D3 games.  (UT-D's wins over UT-Arlington and SWAG mean very, very little at this time of the year.) 

[carlweathers]

Sorry to see Tom Oswald leave TLU and D3.  Coach Oswald is a good guy and he nearly turned the corner at TLU.  He had a couple of pretty good teams but they got a couple of tough breaks on the court and in recruiting.  Best of luck to him in the future. 

[Ralph Turner]

Sorry to see Tom Oswald leave TLU and D3.  Coach Oswald is a good guy and he nearly turned the corner at TLU.  He had a couple of pretty good teams but they got a couple of tough breaks on the court and in recruiting.  Best of luck to him in the future. 

Welcome Carl, and thanks for the kind words for Coach Oswald!

[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?

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!

Yeah, we are, but to make it worth the trip for the others we'd probably have to guarantee two games each. Wouldn't be so hard to set up, play TX v. IL and MN v. WI, then let the winners and losers play each other the next day. Everyone gets two in-region games, and we could all rotate being the host site. Thanks Ralph!

[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. 

CUA, i was thinking that TX plays WI and IL and MN plays IL and WI.  I would hate for IL and WI to meet one another in the tourney, for the 3rd time in a season.  Or an acceptable 4th could be invited on individual years.

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!

Yeah, we are, but to make it worth the trip for the others we'd probably have to guarantee two games each. Wouldn't be so hard to set up, play TX v. IL and MN v. WI, then let the winners and losers play each other the next day. Everyone gets two in-region games, and we could all rotate being the host site. Thanks Ralph!

Or schedule TX vs WI and IL, and MN vs IL and WI.  That way the NAthCon teams don't play one another a 3rd game.

[CUAfan]

Thanks again, Ralph. Soon as the team gets back from Clinton I'll talk to Coach Bonewitz about this.

[Ralph Turner]

Congratulations to MC's Lacey Kennedy, and to UMHB's Kevin Guyden, Jostens nominees! 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks again, Ralph. Soon as the team gets back from Clinton I'll talk to Coach Bonewitz about this.

CUAFAN, I think that almost any attempt to get wins out of conference helps the conference.

Even beating a .400 (8-12) team on the road is worth 11 points by the QOWI.  That also makes the difference on winning percentage.

I don't know how the move to opponents' opponents' record impacts this next year, but I believe that CUA is better than more than half of the schools in the NCAA.  Please look on the Pool C board for the QOWI's of the Top 200 for a rough estimate of strength. 

[CUAfan]

Congratulations to MC's Lacey Kennedy, and to UMHB's Kevin Guyden, Jostens nominees! 

Guyden was one of the smoothest players I had the pleasure of watching this season.

Will do, Ralph! ... Or, I would, if I could find the right page.....link please? 

[Ralph Turner]

Congratulations to MC's Lacey Kennedy, and to UMHB's Kevin Guyden, Jostens nominees! 

Guyden was one of the smoothest players I had the pleasure of watching this season.

Will do, Ralph! ... Or, I would, if I could find the right page.....link please? 

Top 200  Enjoy!   

[golden_dome]

Three ASC teams in this week's south region rankings. Hope there is a way for MC to win the tournament and all three teams still make the NCAA tournament.

South Region
1. Mississippi College 22-2 20-1
2. Va. Wesleyan 22-3 21-3
3. Guilford 21-3 20-3
4. DePauw 21-4 18-3
5. Mary Hardin-Baylor 21-4 21-4
6. Maryville (Tenn.) 19-6 19-3
7. Centre 20-4 14-4
8. McMurry 19-6 18-4

MC has held the #1 spot in every regional ranking for the last three years, nine weeks in a row. I am not sure what the record is for that nor do I feel like researching it, but it is quite an accomplishment.

As a fan I'm really looking forward to this weekend, should be a great tournament.

[Pat Coleman]

Congratulations to MC's Lacey Kennedy, and to UMHB's Kevin Guyden, Jostens nominees! 

Better yet, finalists.

[Toby Taff]

Congratulations to MC's Lacey Kennedy, and to UMHB's Kevin Guyden, Jostens nominees! 

Guyden was one of the smoothest players I had the pleasure of watching this season.

Will do, Ralph! ... Or, I would, if I could find the right page.....link please? 

Top 200  Enjoy!   

And here is a link to the article about Guyden in the Temple Daily Telegram.

[Bearkat00]

What a great year from our beloved American Southwest Conference!  With National Powerhouses (MC & UMBC), to big wins (MC's Cali trip, UMHB's win against VW to UT-Dallas's win over UTA), it's been a lot of fun to watch this season.  I am hoping to make it up to the tournament on Saturday to catch a couple of games.  Hope everyone has their bracket filled out!

[gccfan]

Any last minute predictions on the tourney?  I had a dream that LeTourneau made it to the finals, but then no clear answer on the championship game.  Anyone else have any such dreams:)