MBB: American Southwest Conference

[#1ascfanman]

It has been an interesting year thus far.  Some teams winning we are not used to the last couple of years and then teams not winning we are used to the last couple of years.  Strarting to look like the favorites are just what they are.  We haven't played HPU yet but sounds like they are much better than last year.  They handled easily what I thought was a much improved Ozarks and ETBU teams.  They split with Sul Ross.  Hard to say how good they are.  Ozarks starts the year off with some big wins and then has struggled a bit the last couple of games.  ETBwho is sitting at 3-2 with a close loss to HSU in Abilene.  HSU plays well so far beating MCM, ETBU and my boys, LC.  I believe so far ETBU at HPU have to be the surprise teams from each side as of now.  ETBU has a tough road trip to UMHB and Concordia if I am not mistaken and then HPU has Dallas and Tyler, games they probably will both win at home while ETBU could easily lose both on the road.  Then my boys play Lutheran and Schreiner on the road, toss up there.  Looking at the schedule Tyler and Dallas could be in trouble making the HPU Sul ross trip and then turnaround and play McMurry who will be hungry and hardin simmons.  Could put them in a hole.  It will be intersting to see what happens from here on out.

[gccfan]

Dballa, I also saw the LETU-HPU game... A very good game of short 6-8 point runs each way... Hermann was great like Bearkat said.   Definitely a weird game with Evers only playing 11 minutes and LETU having to rely upon two players who had combined to play six minutes this year (Eric Clark, Will Smith) for 20+ minutes and D. Smith going scoreless for the first 32 minutes of the game.  HPU will definitely be back in the tourney if they continue to play how they are right now.

[golden_dome]

Was able to see the Mississippi College 78-71 loss to Greensboro today at Hampden-Sydney. Have to be honest, probably one of the worst efforts I have seen from the Choctaws in the last few years, just a very sloppy game.

MC fell behind by as many as 18 in the first half with 13 turnovers which was probably a generous total. Greensboro came out motivated and MC didn't answer their tough, aggressive play and trailed by 13 at the half. MC played better in the second half shooting 55 percent but couldn't get over the hump.

Greensboro has a good team and played hard, particularly defensively where they pressured MC into mistakes all night. I can certainly see how they beat Guilford earlier this season, they apply a lot of pressure defensively and shot a ton of layups on MC which was disappointing for a team which led the nation in defense last year. UMHB also shot a lot of layups earlier this season in their win over MC so hopefully that will get corrected.

I'm anxious to see how the games play out tomorrow with MC playing SUNY-Old Westbury and Greensboro playing Hampden-Sydney. This is another very talented MC team in my opinion, but they looked uninspired today and didn't execute very well on either end. A lot of turnovers forced by Greensboro, but also a lot of careless mistakes from MC. The Choctaws ended up with 20 turnovers, but I would have guessed closer to 30.  A lot of new players on the roster who are still learning how to play together and a lot of season left to be played.

[golden_dome]

Mississippi College looked like a completely different team on both ends of the floor today when they beat SUNY Old Westbury 97-78 in the Hampden-Sydney Tourney. They slept through the first half against Greensboro yesterday and looked like a mess to be honest. Totally different today.

I'm sure many don't know what to make of MC this year and it's still probably too early to tell, but they dismantled an Old Westbury team that gave Hampden-Sydney a pretty good game yesterday, trailing by four at the half and seven in the last minute. MC led 48-23 at the half and 62-31 with 13:00 to play.

Senior forward Prince Trotter earned All-Tournament honors hitting 21-24 shots and averaging 23.5 points, 9.5 rebounds in the two games.

This is another very talented team, but with just three players back from last season some inconsistency should probably be expected right now. They also picked up a big transfer at the break, Richard Worthy, a 6'4" forward who was starting at Oklahoma City, the defending NAIA national champions and preseason #1 team this year. The potential is there for this team to be tough to beat in February-March and make another run at an ASC championship.

[golden_dome]

I saw a post on the ODAC board about their 34-18 record against out-of-conference opponents, so I looked up the ASC's on this site. We are 16-5 against out-of-conference Division III opponents and 7-33 against other out-of-conference teams.

To put into perspective, the ODAC has only played four out-of-conference opponents who are not Division III this season going 2-2.

[Bearkat00]

LETU - 57
Austin College - 55
Final

LETU's Jesse Hayes is fouled with 3.8 seconds left in the game and the 'Jackets trailing by 1.  He camly sinks both free throws, then steals the in-bounds pass to seal the win for LETU.

Dewones Smith had 17pts and 11rebs.  Marcel Louimeus had 9pts, 6 rebs. 

Tough road trip looms with UMHB Thursday and Concorida Saturday.  Need to split. 

Happy New Year!

[Bearkat00]

I saw a post on the ODAC board about their 34-18 record against out-of-conference opponents, so I looked up the ASC's on this site. We are 16-5 against out-of-conference Division III opponents and 7-33 against other out-of-conference teams.

To put into perspective, the ODAC has only played four out-of-conference opponents who are not Division III this season going 2-2.

Chris, do other schools play smaller D1 schools like the ASC does?  I know LETU seems to schedule a Lamar or Sam Houston State every year, while in the past I know teams like UTD and UTT have played UTSA, UNO, etc.

Just curious......

[golden_dome]

Bearkat, several conferences play a few but no other conference I've found comes close to the number the ASC plays. 2/3's of our out-of-conference games are DI, DII, NAIA or NCCAA which is by far the largest percentage in the country to my knowledge.

There's no question it hurts our conference's reputation a bit just because we play fewer DIII opponents to earn respect in this division. The good thing about it is that the 7-33 record against other divisions does not even count against us when the regional rankings come out. Only regional games are taken into consideration where we have a pretty good record.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Chris, that's the almost inevitable result of being so isolated re: d3.  I would imagine that the SCIAC and Northwest would be fairly comparable, plus such individual 'orphans' as Maine-Presque Isle and Finlandia.

Barring a massive travel budget (or a huge effort to lure in 'snowbird teams'), I can't suggest any solutions - but, as you note, it really doesn't hurt (much, at least) come pool C time.

[golden_dome]

Mr. Ypsi, the west coast and deep south have a lot of similarities in scheduling and obstacles in DIII. There just aren't very many DIII teams in Texas outside of the ASC to play. There are a few around MS that are options, especially with Birmingham Southern moving to DIII. Millsaps, BSC, Rhodes, Huntingdon and Rust. There are several 6-7 hours away.

Even though we lost to Greensboro, I liked the coaches scheduling Christmas games somewhere similiar to our NCAA destinations. Regardless of how we do this year, we will have to make that type trip should we be fortunate enough to get in the NCAA Tournament again. That has to help prepare us.

I am anxious to see how the NCAA ends up handling DIII and the possibility of splitting it up somehow. I am sure it will bring about more problems, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see some NAIA schools in this part of the country deciding to join the NCAA in some fashion.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Chris, I don't know if you've been following the "Future of DIII" thread, but Titan Q had a very intriguing post today.  If what he heard was correct, some of those NAIA games may yet become in-region.

[Ralph Turner]

These remarks are directed to my fellow ASC fans, and I want to thank Mr. Ypsi for mentioning the consideration of the new alignment.

I am not recommending mergers or adding schools to the ASC.  Where the D-III/D-IV discussions inside the NCAA and the NCAA/NAIA talks will go, one can only imagine.

Please remember that D-III involves 5 sports for men and women including one sport in each season.

I think that the remaining NAIA schools are committed to the NAIA (scholarship) style of intercollegiate athletics.  In the Red River Athletic Conference, a NAIA-1 conference, one finds these schools:

Huston-Tillotson University in Austin sponsors Baseball, Volleyball and M&W Soccer, Hoops, T&F, XC and Golf.  That is enough for D-III, 6 & 6.

Bacone College in Muskogee OK has enough sports for D-III like profile.  They sponsor, FB/VB, Baseball/Softball, and M&W XC, Soccer, Hoops, Golf and Tennis.  They also sponsor Men's Wresting and Men and Women's Rodeo, 8 men's and 7 women's NCAA sports.

College of the Southwest (Hobbs, NM) presently doesn't have a winter sport, unless they "ramp up" Indoor Track and Field to NCAA standards.  They do plan to sponsor men's and women's basketball in 2008-09.  CSW sponsors Baseball/softball, women's volleyball and M&W XC, T&F, Soccer and Golf; 5 men's and 6 women's.

The remaining schools do not have the required numbers of sports to meet D-III criteria.

Texas Wesleyan, the 2006 Men's hoops National Champions.  TWU really doesn't have the number of sports to qualify for D-III, unless you count Table Tennis.  Texas Wesleyan spent an exploratory year in the ASC in 2001-02 as they would left D-II, and moved to the NAIA.  (4 men's and 4 women's sports: M&W Soccer and Hoops, Women's Volleyball, Baseball/Softball and Men's Golf.)

Northwood Institute in Cedar Hill doesn't have a winter sport! Not basketball, not indoor track and field, not swimming, men or women.  Northwood has not participated in indoor track and field meets.  (Northwood sponsors 5 men's and 5 women's sports.)

Southwestern Assemblies in Waxahachie does not have enough sports (4 men and 3 women).  This is not D-III.

Langston University in Langston, OK only sponsors FB, MBB, MT&F, WXC, WBB, WT&F and softball.  Not enough sports, only 3 men and 4 women.

Paul Quinn College in Dallas only sponsors 9 sports:  5 men's -- MXC, MBB, Men's Outdoor T&F, Men's Golf, Baseball, and 4 women's -- Volleyball, WXC, WBB, Women's Outdoor T&F.  PQC disbanded football, again, last year.

Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins sponsors 8 sports:  M&W Hoops, T&F, Baseball/Softball, Men's golf and Volleyball.  (4 & 4).

Wiley College in Marshall sponsors only 6 sports:  M&W Hoops and T&F, Baseball and Volleyball.

Texas College in Tyler sponsors only 8 sports:  M&W Hoops and Soccer, FB/VB and Baseball/Softball.

UT-Brownsville sponsors 6 sports:  M&W Soccer and Golf, Baseball and Volleyball.

Houston Baptist has left the Red River AC for D-I.
UT-Permian basin has left the Red River AC for D-II.
Texas A&M International has left the Red River AC for D-II.

What the Red River AC would look like under a new NCAA/NAIA organization and where it would lie are the big questions that remain in those discussions.

[Ralph Turner]

The "other" NAIA-1 conference in "our area" is the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.  Only Belhaven, Spring Hill and University of Mobile sponsor the number of sports that D-III schools do.

Belhaven in Jackson MS sponsors 7 men's and 6 women's sports.  Men's FB, XC, Soccer, Hoops, Tennis, Golf and Baseball.  Women's VB, XC, Hoops, Softball, Tennis and Golf.

Spring Hill College in Mobile AL sponsors  6 men's sports and  7 women's sports: M&W XC, Soccer, Hoops, Golf, Tennis, Baseball/Softball and Women's Volleyball.

University of Mobile sponsors 5 men's and 7 women's sports. M&W XC, Soccer, Hoops, and Golf, and Women's Tennis and Volleyball, Baseball and Softball

Dillard University in New Orleans sponsors 3 men's and 4 women's sports: M&W Hoops, XC and Tennis and Women's VB.

Loyola University New Orleans sponsors only 3 men's and 3 women's sports.  Baseball and Volleyball and M&W Hoops and XC.

LSU-Shreveport only sponsors 2 men's and 2 women's sports:  Baseball, Volleyball and M&W Hoops.

Southern University of New Orleans only sponsors M&W Hoops.

Tougaloo College in Tougaloo MS only sponsors 5 Men's (XC, Hoops, Tennis, Golf and Baseball) and 3 Women's (XC, Hoops, Tennis).

William Carey University in Hattiesburg, MS sponsors 4 men's sports and 3 women's sports:  M&W Soccer and Hoops, Baseball/Softball and Men's Golf.

Xavier University of New Orleans sponsors 3 men's and 3 women's sports: M&W XC, Hoops and Tennis.

These are clearly different emphases on athletics, and this gives us an idea of the challenges that will be faced in any NCAA/ NAIA talks.

[golden_dome]

Ralph, if you pooled the NAIA and DIII schools in MS and Alabama together, it would make for some interesting rivalries. The problem is only Belhaven has football.

[golden_dome]

MC beat TLU 77-59 tonight. Tyler Winford had a great game with 21 points. Prince Trotter had 14 and Kiki Christmas 11. Prince Trotter has hit 26-31 of his field goals in the last three games.

It's still early, but in trying to compare the SCAC and ASC, MC and Trinity have two common opponents. MC beat TLU by 18 and Hardin-Simmons by 19, while Trinity pulled out two point wins against both at home.

Looking a the results though, I don't know if Trinity is one of the top 2-3 SCAC teams. I will get a chance to see them Saturday at Millsaps. I have seen Millsaps and I can tell you they have an excellent team this year. I would expect Millsaps to win by ten or more, but I haven't seen Trinity yet, just basing that on their scores.

Looks like the UMHB-LeTourneau game was a great one. Dewones Smith missed a free throw to tie the game in the final 30 seconds. UMHB the missed two free throws with ten seconds left, but LeTourneau turned the ball over on their final possession. LeTourneau is 6-4 with two close losses to the 7th-ranked Cru.