Here is the update on Top 10 South Region teams since the creation of the Pools system in 1999.
1) 2004 UMHB -- (13-2) Did it Ginger Rogers style. (Refers to the old joke, who was the better dancer...Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers? Rogers did everything that Astaire did, backwards and in high heels.) Was a Pool C bid, back when there were only 3. Beat #7 Trinity by 29, #3 HSU by 14, #5 W&J by 36 and #1 Mount Union by 3 on the road. Lost to Elliott's #2 Linfield in the Stagg, 21-28.
2) 2001 Bridgewater -- (13-1) #1 South Region seed. Made the trip down to Salem and lost to MUC in primetime on Saturday night, 27-30. That night, who would have thought this to be the pinnacle of ODAC football for the next decade plus? (Thank Heaven for Stone Station!)
3) 2012 UMHB -- (13-1) How close was this team to being the finest South Region team to date? How about a grind-it-out/smashmouth Cru-style clock-consuming scoring drive in the late 4th quarter? UMHB had 1st and 10 on the UMHB 22 with 3:34 left in the 4th quarter with the score tied 35-35. The team that "had the ball last" won. UMU forced a 3-and-out, got the ball "last" and then scored on a 6-play 71-yd drive to go ahead 42-35 with 0:05 left in the game. The 48-35 final score misrepresents the closest of this game. (This game was hailed as the "true #1 vs #2" when the brackets were released. UMU and UMHB finish 1-2 in the Final Top 25 poll. UMU beat St Thomas 28-10 in Stagg XL.)
3 4) 2007 UMHB -- (12-2) #4 South Region seed only because they had the "cojones" (a little Texas lingo there) to schedule a home-and-home with the 2005 Stagg Bowl runner-up two years before the game was played. Defeated a strong #6 seed (sic) Trinity team for the "Barbed Wire and Mesquite" (unofficial title of the Texas Sub-bracket), and annihilated a #8-seeded NCWC team that won its first playoff game ever at #1 seed Washington and Jefferson. (NCWC was only in its 4th year of play!) The Cru avenged their losses at Wesley, 27-10, in the Regional Finals. In the semi-finals, UMHB dug a big hole in losing the regular season UWW game and then lost to the 2007 Stagg Bowl champs, 16-7 in a great game notably for the "Texas unfriendly" conditions in Whitewater in the semis.
3, 4, 5) 2002 Trinity -- (14-1) Beat UMHB 48-38, W&J 45-10, won at Bridgewater 38-32, beat St John's 41-34. Star QB celebrates too hard on Paseo del Rio and Stagg is history. (MUC wins 48-7, on a very windy day).
5 6T) 2010 Wesley -- (12-1) #1 Seed overall. Beat Muhlenberg 53-14, Montclair State 44-14, and UMHB 19-9 before losing to Champion UW-Whitewater 7-27.
6T) 2011 Wesley -- (12-2) An early season loss to NJAC champion Kean 31-28 put Wesley into the #2 South Region seed. The Wolverines hosted Hobart 35-28 and Linfield 49-35 and then came to Texas and beat UMHB in the Region Finals, 27-24. Wesley lost at Stagg runner-up Mount Union (UMU), 28-21. Were their playoff opponents in 2011 better than 2010? I think so. Too close for me to call between the 2011 and the 2010 Wesley teams.
4, 5, 6, 8) 1999 Trinity -- (12-1) #1 Seed and gets bye. Beat Western Maryland and HSU (40-33) before losing to Stagg winner Pacific Lutheran, 28-49 in Semis.
5, 6T, 7T , 9T) 2000 HSU -- (12-1) Had the bye and #1 seed in South and is #2 in the playoffs. Beat Western Maryland 32-10 and Trinity 33-30. Lost to Finalist SJU, 14-38 in Abilene.
6T, 7T, 9T) 2008 UMHB -- (12-2) #2 Seed in the "Millsaps" (South) Region. Defeated HSU 20-18 in Belton in the regular season and then third team All-American Alan Munoz kicked a last-minute FG to defeat #3 seed HSU in another "Bracketgate" game, 38-35. UMHB then disposed of Wesley 46-14 and W&J 63-7 in the next two rounds. The Semi-finals will be forever remembered for the south wind that dramatically impacted the game. UW-Whitewater kicked off in the first half and netted a safety and field goal. A UMHB kickoff into the estimated 30+ MPH south wind to start the second half touched the ground at UMHB 41 and then was blown back to the UMHB 24, where UMHB covered it. This "legal kick" was missed by the officials. They gave UWW the ball at the UMHB 24. UWW quickly pushed the lead to 18-10 with 14:53 left in the 3Q, and the course of the game was changed. Stagg finalist UWW won 39-13.
8, 9, 11) 2008 HSU (9-2) I believe that I must slip #3 seed HSU into this slot, by virtue of the games that they gave UMHB on the road. UMHB's special teams made the difference in both games, and the margin of defeat is in the realm of "HFA", Home Field Advantage. I slip HSU ahead of the 2005 Wesley team because of how dominant UMHB was versus the rest of the bracket.
6, 7, 9, 10, 12) 2005 Wesley -- (12-2) Cinderella. Gets a Pool B bid. Beats Ferrum, wins at UMHB, beats Bridgewater and then messes up the shoe thing on the snow/ice at Whitewater, 6-58.
7, 8, 10, 11, 13 ) 2006 Wesley -- (13-1) #1 Seed. Beat Dickinson, CMU and UMHB before losing at UW-W (7-44) in the proper shoes.
8, 9, 11, 12, 14) 1999 HSU -- (12-1) Beat WashU and W&J before losing (33-40) at Trinity in South Region finals.
9, 10, 12, 13, 15) 2002 UMHB -- (10-1) "Bracketgate" game. UMHB is #5 in polls and #3 South Region Seed. Sent to Trinity (#4 in polls and #2 South Region seed) in the first round because of geographic proximity. Loses at Trinity 38-48.
10, 11, 13, 14, 16) 2003 Bridgewater -- (12-2) Squeaked out of a weak but very balanced South Region and then lost at MUC 0-66.
(Revised after the 2012 Stagg Bowl. Thanks for reading.)
