FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[oldmoose]

While I understand the provisional period for BSC, it's kind of unfortunate that they are ineligible for championships.  Most of their scholarship athletes (and some coaches) bailed out after the D3 announcement.  Some sports were not even able to field teams for a season.

[Major Rev]

Follow up question regarding BSC - why does the provisional status apply to football since it was never a D-1 sport and has no scholarship players?  I realize this is a moot point as far as a football championship is concerned this year - just a question.  The answer would also apply to their lacrosse, track, and cross country teams ...

[Ron Boerger]

My guess would be that the NCAA says that since the school as a whole was D1 last year, it is provisional D3 in all sports until the transition period is complete.  In theory this avoids the problem where a scholarship athlete in one sport plays another. 

Maybe Pat can clarify because I wondered the same thing.

[edit: in rereading this Sunday AM I realized the bolding of "theory" might make some think that I was implying that BSC has some other sport scholarship athletes playing football, which was not at all the case.  Apologies to anyone who might have read it that way.]

[Pat Coleman]

I agree that this is a different situation as it regards football specifically, but the department as a whole needs to be in compliance with Division III rules before any of its teams can qualify for the postseason.

[evacuee]

Boy, Millsaps is awfully good.  For them to have to end their season next week would be such a shame and don't think I'm patronizing anyone.  I'm pretty sure they could win at least one if not more games.  That said, I read a few pages ago that everyone agrees that the miracle play was a fluke.  I would have to say that "fluke" is oversimplifying it.  A hail mary would have to be called a fluke.  15 laterals, 62 seconds, and 5 guys quitting?  Uh, no.  Let's give credit to those who didn't quit and believe they should win every game they play, all the way to the last snap.     

As it pertains to Dubose, I really would not like to see him go.  It would probably make things easier for Trinity, but it's harder to take pride in what you're doing if it's easy.  It's kind of like when the SEC coaches all wanted Spurrier to stay at Florida.  He makes the conference better.  It's that simple. 

[frank_ezelle]

TU, I did use the word fluke which was never meant to demean the efforts of the Trinity players.  I meant it in the same way that the word "Miracle" has been used, namely that it was a highly improbable way to win a game, much more improbable that a tip on a Hail Mary.  If it wasn't so improbable, unlikely, miraculous, freaky, flukey, quirky, etc., it would have never been on Sports Center.  Maybe I'm wrong on this, but from simply a pure football perspective, I think most Trinity fans would have rather seen Trinity convert the 2-point conversion with 2:11 left and then win the game in overtime.

Regarding the rise of Millsaps under Coach DuBose, I think that's good for Trinity and the rest of the teams in the SCAC.  For the rest of the teams in the SCAC, it shows that competing with Trinity is something that can be done.  For Trinity, they need a stronger SCAC to push them to the level they were at when they reached the national semi-finals in 1998 and 1999 and the finals in 2002.  For those willing to meet the challenge, better competition is always a plus.

A few pages back Tex mentioned that Coach DuBose has been amongst the names mentioned for the SMU job.  I'll admit that having DuBose at Millsaps might be the same as someone like me dating a super model--it's great while it lasts, but you have to wonder how long it can last.  We all know the reasons why a coach might move from D3 to D1, or even from Millsaps College to a bigger and better financed program at a D2 or D3 school.  Here are some reasons why I hope Coach DuBose will stay at Millsaps:

--Jackson, MS is close to his Alabama roots.

--Being in his mid-50's, maybe the idea of staying in one place and building a program is more appealing that getting back into moving up the coaching ladder.

--Coach DuBose talks about building a program.  Well with Millsaps, he took over a team that was 4 points away from a winless season in 2005 and a program that had basically sputtered since the mid-90's.  If you want a legacy of taking a program and building it into a national power, then doing it with a non-power like Millsaps is more impressive than being hired into an existing national program.

--And my biggest hope for Coach DuBose staying at Millsaps would be the coaching legacy of Bear Bryant and Harper Davis.  Coach DuBose played at Alabama under Bear Bryant back in the days when a D1 coach could be more of a role model for his players and coaches stayed in place long enough to inspire an entire generation of fans at a school.  Those days seem to be well behind us.  Lesser known Harper Davis (http://www.msfame.com/artman/publish/printer_220.shtml) was somewhat of a Bear Bryant type at Millsaps College, coaching the Majors from 1964-1988. 

I was at this year's Millsaps Sports Hall of Fame banquet and two of the inductees were former players for Coach Davis.  They talked at great length about the influence Coach Davis had been in their life, not just as a coach, but as a role model, a mentor, and a person they could turn to in the years after college.  Maybe it is wishful thinking, but I get the impression that Coach DuBose is a man who would like to fill that role with both his players and his assistant coaches, and I'd love to see him stay and build a Bear Bryant/Harper Davis type legacy at Millsaps.

[Ralph Turner]

I honestly don't see how going to SMU helps Coach DuBose get back to the big-time.  By the time that he accomplishes that he is 60 years old.  Then, which big time program is looking for a big time 60-year old coach?  Or, he has made SMU big time, in an non-BCS conference.

If he can see the joy of coaching real "student-athletes" for whom the egos are not the big problem, then he can have that success.

With Joey Jones at BSC, then SCAC football becomes big-time!  We also may see the same thing with Ronnie Gage at AC.

I think that he stays at Millsaps where he can coach for another 10-15 years, if he really lives coaching as Jimmy Keeling does at HSU, "Coach Fred" at UMHB, etc.

[Ron Boerger]

It would be hard, having once had the brass ring that is represented by a major college gig, to not reach for it again if someone offered the chance.  There is a whole lot more money, publicity (good and bad), etc. in D1 than D3.  If Coach DuBose has reached the point in his life where's he's fulfulled by making better young men via coaching football at Millsaps, more power to him and may he have a long and successful career there.   

[AF4]

i enjoy yalls discussion about scac.... and appreciate yall humoring my stupidity...

Ralph mentioned Joey Jones.... an excellent coach at oak mtn... never got the brass ring... but still was an excellent coach... he was coaching in a tough are with vestavia, homewood, hoover (not all the same classification)....and took oak mtn to the playoffs a bunch .. and by ALL accounts a good guy... he WILL do very well

as for dubose... yall love him... but very few folks in this state do.. at least based on the editorials of the papers, the forums, the call in shows when he coached for the tide or when he went to highschool around dothan and lost there (after the tide)

it tooka while for bama (who i have no love  for) to rebound post dubose... spin it like u want... that is real (can anyone here say albert means ?)

as for him staying at milsaps.... i hope he stays and cn get a measure of redemption

when he played the miss col game the way he did... it was covered in the local paper and radio call in shows (as an oddity from bammer and AU discussions).... and no one... no one was supprised

keep the faith

[Tex]

I agree with the competition thing making everyone better.  Extreme example is the district my son's HS team plays in.  In 2005, we were pushed by well over half the teams in the district.  Our only district loss was to the eventual district champs, but we had to earn just about every other victory right down to the wire including one where we were down 4 TD's going into the fourth Q.  We ended up in the TX 5A final four that year, losing to the eventual state champs. 

In 2006, we rolled over everyone in district, starters coming out in the 3rd Q in just about every game it seemed.  Only one team really pushed us hard.  We never really learned how to play four full quarters of football.  We got knocked out in the first round by an underdog that played in a tough top to bottom district.

In both years and this year, we played top 10 state ranked foes in the pre-district schedule.  Why?  To figure out what our flaws were and to get better going into district.

Relating to what was said above about Millsaps/Dubose pushing Trinity.  I concur.  Keep pushing each other so when you get to the playoffs, you know how to play four full quarters of football.  It appears that several other teams in SCAC are stepping up their levels of play as well.  It's only going to make the entire conference a lot better for years to come. 

Dubose did state publically at the start of the season that he's looking to get back into D-1 ball.  I got that link from this blog back in August. 

I'm not pushing for parity.  Far from it.  I just want to see the entire conference raise the bar across the board. 

Mediocrity sucks, as does being irrelevent. 

[cush]

I don't think SMU will go after Dubose but for the ? if he is gonna leave millsaps... hmmm...i suppose he could double,triple, or who knows x 5 or 6 his salary with the right move or  he could stay at millsaps and be Mr. chips type football coach and enjoy life. Well, i don't really know what kind of program would go after him, he does have baggage, maybe a sun belt type school, which from a football point of view, offers alot more than d3 scac teams.

[frank_ezelle]

It's amazing how much talk the DuBose subject has gotten, especially with the season still a week away from completion.  I guess the bottom line is that having a coach that generates this type of speculation is better than having a coach that no one else would be interested in having.

[Tex]

It's amazing how much talk the DuBose subject has gotten, especially with the season still a week away from completion.  I guess the bottom line is that having a coach that generates this type of speculation is better than having a coach that no one else would be interested in having.

To the average Joe, what he's managed to do in two seasons is pretty amazing.  Big credit to the players for buying into it and executing the plan. 

[HunterT]

well my embarassment from this weekend has subsided, and I'm back in town finally. Can't really say anything about this game other than I'm glad it's over. Rhodes couldn't move the ball and had mental mistakes all over the field.

and once the defense is on the field for that long, they're bound to bend some late in the game, which is what happened. Credit to the D for not breaking though, they still were able to put up some stops on the Depauw offense and keep it from getting way out of hand.

The offense had better wake up this week though. Even though Sewanee is not the best team in the conference (literally now), they always come to play when the Cup is on the line. I'm not going to lie about this one, it could be a very interesting match up this weekend in Memphis.

[DePauwDad]

well my embarassment from this weekend has subsided, and I'm back in town finally. Can't really say anything about this game other than I'm glad it's over. Rhodes couldn't move the ball and had mental mistakes all over the field.

and once the defense is on the field for that long, they're bound to bend some late in the game, which is what happened. Credit to the D for not breaking though, they still were able to put up some stops on the Depauw offense and keep it from getting way out of hand.

The offense had better wake up this week though. Even though Sewanee is not the best team in the conference (literally now), they always come to play when the Cup is on the line. I'm not going to lie about this one, it could be a very interesting match up this weekend in Memphis.

HunterT,

Nothing to be embarrassed about. The Rhodes defense was strong. They held DePauw from scoring several times in the red zone. Offensive errors put Rhodes defense in some really tight spots, and for the most part they were up to the challenge. You are correct that had the defense not been solid this could have turned into a much larger margin. The Lynx defense was tough- possibly as good as any we have seen this year.

I think the Hi/Lo hit by the Lynx offense was a bit sketchy, but the appropriate flag was thrown and hopefully the players were chastised by coaching for the error in judgement. I was equally impressed that both teams checked their revenge after that play and kept it clean. I heard the DePauw coaches demanding restraint and I assume the same happened on the Lynx sidelines. Kudos to the coaches and captains for keeping the game positive.