7 SCAC teams plus Berry to form new conference

[Knightstalker]

I've seen that number throw around lately. Anyone put actual eyeballs on that to know how accurate it is?

I did look at the trends. They were at about 1,000 very early in the 2000's. At least they're consistent in reporting.

They could be counting Dogs, Cats, Snakes and Squirrels too.

[108 Stitches]

Any additional news on SCAC additions?

[litig8r187]

Still very quite!  When does anyone expect to hear rumblings about next season?

[Ron Boerger]

Well, we know none of the UAA schools are coming to the SCAC now.   

[Ralph Turner]

Well, we know none of the UAA schools are coming to the SCAC now.   

And Hendrix and Oglethorpe are not pressured to add football for the sake of the AQ!

[litig8r187]

Whats up with the UAA schools?

[litig8r187]

NM, I saw it.   

[Ron Boerger]

Schreiner is joining the SCAC in '13-'14:

http://scacsports.com/news/schreiner_joins_scac

[litig8r187]

    Hmmmmmmmm, I didn't see that one coming!  Based on that, could we see another ASC school jumping ship?

[Ron Boerger]

If Texas Lutheran came along for the ride, you'd end up with a very compact conference with an almost ideal travel partner situation:  Trinity/Schreiner, Southwestern/TLU, Austin/UD, and the only odd pair, Colorado College and Centenary.  Mot sure TLU wants to be in a conference without a football AQ; SCAC football would be a like the current UAA situation with four teams.  The UAA just took care of their football problem by splitting between the SAA and PAC.

[108 Stitches]

Is there a chance that some of the schools without football programs, might be considering adding them?

[Ron Boerger]

When looking at starting a new program you have to look at a number of things.  Colorado could easily start a program whenever the leadership there decides they want to.   They already have facilities and plenty of money ($460M endowment per 2010 NACUBO study).  During the financial crisis it was cut as a cost-savings move and there doesn't seem to be much going on towards restarting things.    The Washburn Foundation met with the CC president last fall and at the time her concern was the viability of the SCAC going forward; perhaps now that the league is back to a full (-enough for Pool A bids) complement she might reconsider.  Taking flights only to TX/LA should be cheaper than having to go further back east...

As for the other schools, they would need to build facilities and have some overriding desire to get a program going (like wanting to balance the m/f ratio, wanting to add enrollment overall).   Also to consider would be that, due to Title IX, at least one and possibly two women's programs would need to be added, so financial position is going to factor in. 

UDallas:  $25M endowment (Wiki), 1337 undergrad students (USNews) (+1400 graduate), 51% female
Schreiner:  $46M endowment (US News), 1043 students (US News), 56% female
Centenary:  $102M endowment (US News), 1993 students (US News), 63% female

Centenary used to have football back in the day (like pre WW-II) similar to Southwestern.  Given that, and given their gender imbalance, they could be a decent candidate to add it someday.   

[108 Stitches]

I would think that the SCAC will continue to poach a few ASC teams and I am sure that getting to the required 6 football programs will be the driving factor in whatever action they take. Most of the other sports now will now have enough programs for their AQ's, so I would imagine that getting two more football programs will be the driving force. Even at the DIII level, football tends to be self-funding, with the downside possibly being Title IX issues and start up costs. I have not heard what the "vision" is for the new SCAC so I am actually not sure, other than I am quite sure they will not stay pat with 7 members.

[Gray Fox]

Ron,
CC was playing games with SCIAC teams regularly.  Oxy had a very long series with them.

[Ralph Turner]

Ron,
CC was playing games with SCIAC teams regularly.  Oxy had a very long series with them.

Schreiner had good football teams back in its JUCO days...long long ago.

Why UDallas, the "only" Catholic D-III in Texas could not put together a football program in the last decade was a surprise to me.

ASC is down to a nice comfortable 8-team football conference. The problem is that you need 10 teams down here to be comfortable, because finding games is so-o-o-o hard.

My sources say that Colorado College has considered the D-II RMAC and would likely enter as a non-football member.  There are two other private schools in the conference, Colorado Christian and Regis, both non-football.  The RMAC allows up to 28 football scholarships (D-II max in 36.)

I am wondering who looks at what McMurry does in the next few years, if we can pull it off, and jumps to the D-II model.

TLU might jump, if the SCAC became a football conference.  Travel would be a lot nicer, especially if a non-football Colorado College moved out.