FB: USA South Athletic Conference

[kickerdad]

Having two sons play at CNU (one graduated the other will be a Jr) I think CNU's biggest rival is Ferrum. My older son once said SU, because they won at Pomoco, but it seemed every year that last game of the season against Ferrum had conference championship ramifications. Now with my younger son NCW has won the last two meetings, so I know he wants that win this year. But with the NCW coach leaving, and the way the Ferrum game got ugly at the end, I would still have to Vote Ferrum.

CNU Dad,

Are you local and if so where did you son's play high school ball. We are from Suffolk and I had one son play an Nansemond River and the other at Lakeland.

[hasanova]

See my post on the ODAC site, but I think it's Guilford for Greensboro.  MU and Guilford have a nice thing going, too.  They've played every year since the Monarchs started football, but Guilford's won more often - maybe 2/3 of the time.

[Ryan Tipps]

I agree that Greensboro and Guilford see themselves as each other's top rival. It's a good one, yielding a game that's usually pretty close.

Another inter-conference rivalry seems to be Ferrum and Emory & Henry. Speaking with the sports folks at those two schools, I've heard a lot of love -- and a fair amount of history -- about that matchup.

[kickerdad]

Last night I pulled out last years media guide program from the Averett vs Maryville game and was impressed with Maryville's history dating way back. Over the years they have played some major teams across the country. I am assuming that Maryville at one time was bigger than DIII.

Are there any Maryville folks out there that can add some enlightment to this?

[Ryan Tipps]

Last night I pulled out last years media guide program from the Averett vs Maryville game and was impressed with Maryville's history dating way back. Over the years they have played some major teams across the country. I am assuming that Maryville at one time was bigger than DIII.

Are there any Maryville folks out there that can add some enlightment to this?

How far back were you looking? Most schools that have a long history of football have played the modern-day big dogs.

Sorry, the USAC is relatively new, so I'm going to go outside the conference with my examples. But Hampden-Sydney used to line up against U.Va., a matchup that lasted into the 1940s. Washington & Lee has played Virginia Tech 25-30 times over their lifetimes. Muhlenburg used to play Penn State until the mid-1900s -- though that was prolly pre-Paterno days, if there is such a thing. 

I don't have Maryville's media guide to use as comparison to see exactly what you're looking at, but this might help give you some perspective on where other programs have come from.  Prior to the formation of Division III, I don't think it was usually that a D3 school was that much bigger but rather that the current D1 schools were somewhat smaller -- at least in terms of their athletic programs.

[narch]

i'd say gc/mu is a solid rivalry, but the pride have only beaten the monarchs twice, so it's kinda one-sided

cnu is the game everyone in the conference circles, but more often than not, they lose...so that's not really a rivalry for anyone

i wonder if mu/au will take on any new meaning with coach mccombs at mu?

the m'ville/mu games of late have been pretty hotly contested and that series stands at m'ville 6, mu 5

i'll be interested to see what plays out with the mu/campbell series that will begin next year - both teams have already been bumping heads for recruits and MANY students choose between mu and campbell...it has the makings of a classic rivalry...i'm hoping it will be pretty one-sided, though - it's amazing to me to read all the kids in the area who have committed to campbell talking about the lure of playing d1 football - i just want to smack them upside the head and say "campbell is d1aa non-scholarship...it's the same as d3, dummy, except they will NEVER compete for a national championship" - but i haven't really met any of them in person, and i'd probably refrain from smacking them in the head if i did...probably

and 'nova, the official count is gcq 13, mu 6 (ouch!)...

[kickerdad]

Last night I pulled out last years media guide program from the Averett vs Maryville game and was impressed with Maryville's history dating way back. Over the years they have played some major teams across the country. I am assuming that Maryville at one time was bigger than DIII.

Are there any Maryville folks out there that can add some enlightment to this?

How far back were you looking? Most schools that have a long history of football have played the modern-day big dogs.

Sorry, the USAC is relatively new, so I'm going to go outside the conference with my examples. But Hampden-Sydney used to line up against U.Va., a matchup that lasted into the 1940s. Washington & Lee has played Virginia Tech 25-30 times over their lifetimes. Muhlenburg used to play Penn State until the mid-1900s -- though that was prolly pre-Paterno days, if there is such a thing. 

I don't have Maryville's media guide to use as comparison to see exactly what you're looking at, but this might help give you some perspective on where other programs have come from.  Prior to the formation of Division III, I don't think it was usually that a D3 school was that much bigger but rather that the current D1 schools were somewhat smaller -- at least in terms of their athletic programs.

Ryan,

I don't have the program in front of me at the moment. But I am pretty sure it went back 30 or 40 years maybe even more. It showed Maryville had played Alabama several times, Georgia Tech and other modern day D1 schools of today. I am not as up to date on DIII history as most of the posters on these boards and I would guess that maybe at one time there was no DIII or DII or DI and everyone was considered equal. (even Mudville). I know the USA South is fairly new however I had heard that it was once called the Dixie Conference. Now how old that was and who played in that conference I don't know.

Maybe I have opened a box bigger than I can handle but I like history and football and when you put the two together you can have some interesting conversation. (no arguments, just good conversation) For example I found out last year when Averett went up against W&L that the Generals were once in DI and because of some issues, they shut the football program down for a few years and when they came back, they dropped to DIII. Now keep in mind this was second hand information where I got this. But I found it interesting that W&L stopped playing for a few years.

[willierobin]

Catholic has an interesting history...according to their media guide they were d1 until they dropped football in 1951...won the Orange Bowl over Mississippi in 1935 and tied Arizona State in the 1939 Sun Bowl...CUA is 3-1 all-time vs Miami, 2-1 vs South Carolina, 2-0 vs Wake Forest and dominated NC State (6-0)...the Cardinals did not fare as well against Maryland (1-8-2) or Boston College (0-7) and lost the only matchup with both West Virginia and Va Tech...they started football back up at the club level in 1965 and became a d3 program in 1977...they were in the ODAC for 1 year (1983) but went independent (in football) until rejoining the ODAC (football only) in 1999 (won their only championship).

[kickerdad]

Catholic has an interesting history...according to their media guide they were d1 until they dropped football in 1951...won the Orange Bowl over Mississippi in 1935 and tied Arizona State in the 1939 Sun Bowl...CUA is 3-1 all-time vs Miami, 2-1 vs South Carolina, 2-0 vs Wake Forest and dominated NC State (6-0)...the Cardinals did not fare as well against Maryland (1-8-2) or Boston College (0-7) and lost the only matchup with both West Virginia and Va Tech...they started football back up at the club level in 1965 and became a d3 program in 1977...they were in the ODAC for 1 year (1983) but went independent (in football) until rejoining the ODAC (football only) in 1999 (won their only championship).

Willierobin,

The only ODAC schools that I am familiar with is Guilford, Emory Henry, Bridgewater, Hampton Sydney and W & L. How has Catholic faired lately. You have something there to hang you hat on with that history. Especially the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl games.

[Ryan Tipps]

kickerdad,
I, and I'm sure everyone else on here, appreciates a healthy interest in history. It's one of my favorite parts of analyzing football. But you brought up something I took for granted that you knew: There certainly was not always a Division III. College athletics split into divisions in the late '60s or early '70s (I don't remember off the top of my head). Prior to that, there was a lot more competition between teams that are currently big schools and ones that are currently small schools.

The matchups I mentioned in my previous post also point in part as to why the split in divisions took place. Sure, Hampden-Sydney was playing UVa for a good long while, but the games there toward the end of the series started being separated by 30, 40, 50 points. They became blowouts. Same with the other teams I menioned. The disparity was growing around that time, and the creation of athletic tiers was inevitable.

As a side note back in 1905, my alma mater beat Notre Dame at the Irish's home stadium, the last time the Irish lost there for about 20 years. A proud claim for Wabash fans. What's not always mentioned, though, is that Wabash and Notre Dame have played each other 10 times......ND won 9 of those games 

(I can't shake the feeling that sometime soon, this board is going to be getting a crash course in football history courtesy of the wisdom of Ralph )

[hasanova]

and 'nova, the official count is gcq 13, mu 6 (ouch!)...

Thanks, narch.  I knew I was in the ballpark with my 2/3 guess, so 13/19 is just a shade better.  lol  I also knew the Quakers and Monarchs have played every season since MU started football, so that means 1989.  So, are you coming to Greensboro in September for the night game?  My "tan" sure took on a reddish glow with a 1 pm start at your place last September! 

[hasanova]

Prior to that, there was a lot more competition between teams that are currently big schools and ones that are currently small schools.

Thanks, Ryan.  This is a point I was going to make a day or so ago and just got too busy to post.  I have the full football history of my alma mater, Guilford, somewhere and it's peppered with games you'd never see now:  all the NC Big Four (UNC, Duke, NCSU and Wake, for the uninitiated), ECU, Appalachian, South Carolina, Maryland, Clemson, etc.  Granted, they didn't win many, but they have beaten some of these schools.  Many schools that are now so-called mid-majors also used to be powers in others associations, such as the NAIA (Elon, for example, was in the Carolinas Conference with Guilford for many, many years).  To say the landscape of intercollegiate athletics has changed in the past 30, 40 and 50 years would be an understatement!

[Ralph Turner]

...
(I can't shake the feeling that sometime soon, this board is going to be getting a crash course in football history courtesy of the wisdom of Ralph )

Good morning.

In the modern era, the Dixie IAC began sponsoring football in 2001, and was awarded a Pool A bid in its first season. 

How about this blast from the past...

He has a neat haircut, doesn't he.   

[willierobin]

kickerdad - Catholic was a power in the late 1990's (three straight playoff appearances in '97,'98 and '99) but has struggled the past 7 years (5-5 last year was the only non-losing season). They do seem close to becoming ODAC contenders with their most experienced team in years and some coaching continuity (new head coaches in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006) as the current staff enters their 3rd year.

[CNU85]

kickerdad,

also check out the official usa south website. there is some history there...when the dixie started...charter members, etc.