FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[evacuee]

Allow me to break the silence.  It's given me time to think about next year a little more.  I know that very few took me seriously when I went out on a limb and penciled the Roos in as the new bully on the block.  Also, they didn't take it well on the OAC when I went over there and told them that the Mount was about to crumble and Austin College was going to take their place.  That's where I picked up all the negative karma.  Anyway, in hindsight now I'm not so sure about Austin College.  It just doesn't seem like their hands kickoff team is strong enough to grab the automatic bid.  My new pick:  The Tigers.

Let's face it- it could be the toughest place for an opposing team to play in the nation, so that's five automatic wins right there.  I think they have the guts to win all five of their road games as well.  Everyone on the team is smart, and they all know how to play football reasonably well.  Plus, I heard that most of the guys receive some sort of financial aid, so you know they have to be good.  If you watch, they work hard all year long, and that's really what it's all about- working hard.   It also helps to have great athletes and I heard the Tigers picked up some of the best non-scholarship players in the nation.  Having heard the same things about Rhodes, I was going to pick the Lynx, but they're just a different animal.  Go Tigers!

[roocru]

TU2698,

Come back, come back!!!!     I just knew I had my first convert.  Go with what your gut says and get on the Roo bandwagon !!!

2007 - Year of the ROO and the CRU !!!!   

[evacuee]

Tell them to recover an onsides kick.  Until then, I'm just not sold that they can win a big game.  I'm just convinced that whether they're playing in Colorado Springs, Greencastle, Sewanee, San Antonio, wherever- the Tigers can't lose. 

[frank_ezelle]

TU--So the effects of whatever crazy juice you had been drinking have finally worn off.  Without knowing anything about who Trinity is losing or who they are recruiting, I would be very surprised if Trinity didn't improve considerably from 2006 to 2007.  Looking at the big picture, losing their grip on the SCAC crown might be exactly what the Trinity football program needed in order to move forward.

That being said, I will also be surprised if Millsaps doesn't improve tremendously from 2006 to 2007.  You have to remember that Coach DuBose was named the head coach at Millsaps in February, 2006.  The timing of the coaching change didn't help the recruiting process and the results of previous seasons didn't exactly sell the football program to potential recruits.  With the success of the last season and the stability of the coaching staff, I expect a great recruiting class to come in and bolster a large group of returning players.  In addition, those returning players are going to be much more comfortable with the offensive and defensive schemes that Millsaps will run in 2007.

Knowing that DePauw will rebound (and that Austin will work to solve the problems with their hands team) and knowing that Millsaps will now have to prove that they can beat the top teams while on the road, I expect the 2007 season to be wide open.  I also think that the team that ends up with the automatic NCAA Playoff bid will be a team that is much better prepared to compete in the national playoffs.  But until them, we still have a lot of great sports coming up in the second half of this year and I'm excited about seeing how all of that unfolds.

[evacuee]

Frank,

While all of what you're saying is definitely true, there's no mention in your post about some key showdowns involving the Tigers:

Week 1:  Pomona-Pitzer at the Tigers
Week 3:  The Tigers play in Greencastle
Week 5:  Centre at the Tigers
Week 6:  The Tigers at the Tigers
Week 7:  The Majors at the Tigers
Week 8:  The Tigers at the Majors
Week 9:  The Tigers travel to Austin College
Week 10:  The Tigers play at Sewanee
Week 11: The Tigers play the Little Giants

Those are just my predictions for who plays when.  Adding the Tigers to the conference next year might shake up the scheduling a bit.  But really, the conference will depends on who works hardest. 

[frank_ezelle]

TU--I see now that you are hedging your bet, but we all know which Tiger is dearest to your heart. 

Since the opening kickoff for the 2007 season is now less than 9 months away, I'll go ahead and predict a perfect regular season for the Majors and a top 15 national ranking.  Being a fan, I don't need to wait on things like recruiting or seeing the schedule before making such a prediction.

Have a great Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2007.

Frank.

[historymajor]

Bold prediction Frank,,,,, That would mean that you're expecting the Majors to beat TU in SAT....  hmmm, when was the last time that happened?

[frank_ezelle]

I hope it came across that my prediction was meant to be a fan's wishes more so than based on facts and figures (since I don't know anything about recruiting, next year's schedule, etc.). 

As for winning at TU, that will be tough.  On the other hand, if I had said in 2006 that Millsaps was going to go undefeated in the SCAC you might have said:  "That would mean that you're expecting the Trinity Tigers to finish out of the top spot in the SCAC... hmmm, when was the last time that happened?"

As I tell my co-workers who ask for advice on the mutual funds in our company's 401(k) plan, I can give you all the stats about what has happened in the past but that is no guarantee that things won't change in the future.  That's true in the stock market, in sports, and in just about every thing else in life.

[Pat Coleman]

Bold prediction Frank,,,,, That would mean that you're expecting the Majors to beat TU in SAT....  hmmm, when was the last time that happened?

The SCAC schedule is changing significantly next year because of the addition of the two teams. Trinity returns to Jackson, Miss., in 2007.

[Bill McCabe]

Who are the 2 teams coming into the conference?

[Ralph Turner]

Colorado College and from Division I, Birmingham-Southern College.

B-SC

B-SC with additional material and hyperlinks

Bill, I encourage your review of both blogs for the general information of the dynamics inside D3 and in the SCAC, as the SCAC becomes a 9-team football conference.

This will impact the SCAC considerably, and in turn, the ASC and the South Region.

The biggest impact that I can see in football is how the expanded SCAC schedule has impacted the scheduling at LaGrange and Huntingdon.  The 2 extra conference games take up slots that LaGrange and Huntingdon could have filled for Sewanee, Centre, Rhodes and Millsaps.

Likewise, Trinity and Austin College lose dates as well.  This year, Trinity and AC scheduled 2 ASC teams each.

[Bill McCabe]

Thanks Ralph.  I seem to remember Colorado College was one of the last college teams to run the single wing. 

[Warren Thompson]

I seem to remember Colorado College was one of the last college teams to run the single wing. 

How nice it would be if they brought it back. That, or the "Wildcat Formation." 

[Bill McCabe]

Warren, with all the shot gun formations today, a lot of what teams are doing with their running game is a variation on old single wing plays.  My dad played in the single wing and he was showing me some plays they ran.  Lots of double teams at the point of attack and misdirections.  Looked like a lot of fun.

[Warren Thompson]

True, and it was a lot of fun, especially the Princeton-type single wing, unbalanced line, and bucklateral series. You never knew who had the ball or would end up with the ball.

BTW there are high schools in Virginia* and Michigan and one in eastern Pennsylvania that still use the single wing.

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*One Virginia school features the Wildcat Formation, a spin-off from the single wing.