Quote from: Ralph Turner on March 27, 2026, 12:03:50 PMMcMurry's schedule is up. 9 games. Open dates are week #4 and #6.

At Southwestern, at Trinity TX, hosting Huntingdon and at Dubuque (IA). ASC games are in weeks 7-11.

Apparently, there were no open dates or "opportunity" to play a 10th game versus an SCAC team.

(Nice game to play Dubuque.) I cannot recall McMurry ever playing a team from Iowa.

Austin College or Centenary are definitely too busy when you play Westgate as they will be playing each other for what will be the second time (there could be a part 3) in 2026 and 5th time in just over a calendar year.

Quote from: Patrick Coleman on March 13, 2026, 07:40:48 PMSeems like there are some games to be played before then so I wouldn't worry too much in March.

But if Gallaudet doesn't play any SCAC teams in the regular season then those games won't do much to determine the seeds.

As far as I know Austin College is the only SCAC team to post their 2026 schedule which features a double round robin against everyone except Lyon so they aren't planning to play Gallaudet.

Quote from: Patrick Coleman on March 13, 2026, 04:40:36 PM

Quote from: crufootball on March 13, 2026, 03:30:51 PMHas there been any official announcement of Gallaudet being in the SCAC end of year tournament?

Gallaudet's schedule should be sufficient enough, right?
https://www.d3football.com/teams/Gallaudet/2026/index

Not for what I was looking for, I am curious how they are going to be seeded in that tournament.

Has there been any official announcement of Gallaudet being in the SCAC end of year tournament?

I actually hope they did leave because of basketball, softball and tennis because that would be more fitting with the D3 model and I couldn't argue with them. There is no denying that the bulk of the conference championships have been won by, in order, HSU, UT Tyler, UMHB, McMurry and UT Dallas. Schools such as Concordia, LeTourneau and Ozarks didn't win much and if they believe they are a better fit across the board with the SCAC I can't blame them but I am not sure that is going to change if they don't as you said GET BETTER.

As for ETBU dominating a sports, its not 1-27 but the Tigers are 62-15 against UMHB and 49-11 against HSU in softball and if wasn't for UT Tyler they would have won almost ever ASC title for the last 20 years.

No matter what I am glad that UMHB is staying in D3 and am very intrigued to see what can happen in football because the logistics of travel and playoff bids put the SCAC in a bind and the ASC isn't much better.

Quote from: Mavchamp on March 05, 2026, 12:32:44 AMIf the SCAC was truly wanting to get out from under the domination of the 2 purple schools....AND have long term survival as a football conference with an AQ..... they should have at least considered taking HPU and ETBU with them.  That's even assuming either would have even left the ASC if offered.

Neither HPU nor ETBU would have dominated the SCAC in football like the purple schools,...and you would no longer have that "block vote" of the 4 Baptist schools together.  The conference would likely be sitting with 9 schools and no worries of scheduling and neither of the purple schools.

Choices were made.

The purple schools would have been forced to go D2 or whatever....and every one else would be going about their merry D3 way.

It would be dirty to be sure.  But we'd at least have one stable conference.

We'd have a solid D3 conference made up of mostly Texas schools.... while UMHB and HSU would likely be almost immediately competitive in the LSC.

But looks like we will string out this age of uncertainty for a few more years for both conferences.

I don't see the SCAC gaining much stability in the near future in football.

And anyone that thinks the ASC is in good shape at 6 is fooling themselves IMHO.

I am not sure anyone thinks the ASC is in good shape at 6, it is just in much better shape then it was 4.

Just to add one thing though, with the all the talk about the purple dominance, ETBU won the most conference titles last year with 6 (Baseball, W Basketball, Softball, both Tennis, and Volleyball) followed by HSU at 4 (M Basketball, Football and both soccer's)  and then UMHB at 3 (W CC and both golfs).

Quote from: Ron Boerger on February 27, 2026, 09:32:47 AMThe only place they are "antagonistic" is football.  The two conferences play each other freely in basically all other sports.

The SCAC has pitched itself as a more academic conference - certainly Colorado College, which only accepts 20% of applicants, is one that is - but the distinction is not what it once was, first with the SAA schools splitting off 13 years ago and then Southwestern and Trinity leaving last fall.  McMurry was on the more exclusive side (58% acceptance rate), Schreiner the less (88%) so not much changes with their departure to the ASC.  Other schools in the SCAC range all the way from 47% (Austin) to 95% (TLU).  The ASC "core 4" accept from 60-68% (ETBU, HPU) to 95-97% (UMHB, HSU) of applicants.

Schools choose conferences for any number of reasons.  When the SCAC was in danger of disbanding it made a pitch that obviously appealed to the schools that left the ASC.  When the ASC was in danger of losing its auto bids it made a financial pitch that appealed to Schreiner and McMurry.  What will be interesting is what happens with the five schools left playing football in the SCAC now that their path to an autobid is, for the foreseeable future, a fantasy.  None of the five could compete for one in the ASC anyway (absent structural and expensive program changes) so maybe they'll just be happy to play each other and hope to pull what TLU did a couple of seasons ago.  And I've heard that Gallaudet, of all schools, will be participating in the SCAC season-ending tournament to allow all five schools that are left to have that tenth game.   

It would not surprise me to see more movement by non-football playing schools from the SCAC back to the ASC now that the conference's future seems secure. 

Could there be a world where we all combine in a similar way, the MIAC did for a few years where some teams don't have to play the upper tier? With Gallaudet that would be 12 teams, split us up 6 to a side with a few crossovers and we almost all have a full schedule already.

Quote from: The Third Division on February 14, 2026, 01:15:30 PMUMHB's two year scheduling agreement with Keystone screams desperation. It is not a good look for the program.

We are desperate, last year we were told loudly and repeatedly to find D3 games. Last year every member of the ASC played at least one non countable game to get 10 games and this year we need MORE non conference games.

I've always said I'd take whatever the ASC and UMHB offered since it didn't cost anything. The feeds are generally okay — nothing special, but fine for free. If I'm going to be paying for it now (which I will), I'll expect more, and  from everything we have heard from other schools/conferences I won't get more.

With that said, yes, please to on-demand; that would make it worth it right there, especially if we could go back in time and see some of the bigger games of the past.

Quote from: tigerguy on December 02, 2025, 03:03:11 PM

Quote from: Ralph Turner on December 01, 2025, 03:36:18 PMI looked up Trinity's games against the ASC in post-season play.
2025 Update

Year........	Team......	Score....	W/L....
1999	HSU	40-33	Win
2000	at HSU	30-33	Loss
2001	UMHB	30-6	Win
2002	UMHB	48-38	Win
2003	at ETBU	41-42	Loss
2004	UMHB	13-32	Loss
2005	UMHB	6-35	Loss
2007	at UMHB	23-52	Loss
2011	McM	16-25	Loss
2021	at UMHB	3-13	Loss
2022	HSU	14-7	Win
2022	UMHB	17-24	Loss
2023	HSU	20-6	Win
2024	UMHB	22-29	Loss
2025	HSU	(27+pick six 7 = 34)-24	Win

How many other games were "closer than the final score"?

2021: Trinity's 13-3 loss to UMHB in first round. For 58 minutes Trinity held the national champs and #3 offense in the country to only two field goals (I think they missed a third). Down 6-3 with 2:13 left, Trinity held UMHB to what would have been an attempted field goal on 4th and 6 from Trinity's 22, which would have given Trinity one last drive to try and tie. Trinity's player jumped offsides attempting to block the field goal, making it 4th and 1, so UMHB went for it and scored on the ensuing play. I'm pretty sure Urban instructed them to let him score so they could get the ball back, but it made the final score look less close than the game was played. The entire game was a defense masterpiece by both squads.

That is probably the saltiest I have ever been when it comes to the unfair Texas-teams playoff matchups. Trinity's defense was probably the best in the program's history and #2 overall in D3 that year. Their offense was also very good, but it was Tucker Horn's first year as a starter and they couldn't get anything going against a great UMHB front.

After Trinity, UMHB steamrolled through the playoffs and put up 42 against #13 defense BSC, 49 against #12 defense Linfield, 24 against #22 defense UW-Whitewater, and 57 against Defending Champ North Central in the national championship. I know most people know all of this since the game was fairly recent, but I thank you for bringing up this painful topic to allow me to vent some more.

The Texas Sub Bracket is not fun but what makes it worst is it is usually followed by the Island School/ best of the West Region bracket.

Lets say Trinity beat UMHB that year, their prize, getting to play Birmingham Southern again. After that it was going to be Linfield or St. Johns who were the #1 and #3 in Region 6 followed by UWW the #2, all for the right to play the reigning national champion.

Quote from: Ralph Turner on December 01, 2025, 03:29:48 PMIf one could turn the TUTx-HSU game into a movie, it would be dramatic slugfest, each team countering the other's blows. HSU would be seen rising up from the adversity and driving to place the killing blow in the last minute of the movie. TUTx responds in that moment and the tipped pass on 4th & 5 turns into the pick-six. This would be the cinematic dynamic blow, with blood squirting all over the face of the screen, and obliterating HSU's chance for a dramatic ending!  Okay, bring on the CGI crew now and we will submit it for an ESPY. (Wouldn't that be TUTx's 2nd ESPY?)

Sadly for HSU fans this is a horror movie they have seen before

Quote from: Etchglow on November 25, 2025, 09:33:13 AM

Quote from: crufootball on November 25, 2025, 08:34:11 AM

Quote from: D3Navy on November 24, 2025, 07:35:54 PM

Quote from: CruFrenzy on November 24, 2025, 12:59:27 PM

Quote from: Etchglow on November 23, 2025, 09:39:40 PMSince I was bored, I went and looked at the folks who have announced they were transferring from UMHB.  Only 9 of the 29 have offers.  7 of the offers are D3, 3 are NAIA, 2 are FCS, and 1 is for a community college.

Yup. Some of the guys I'm not mad at. The JV guys that saw the writing on the wall and just want to play somewhere, no problem. Then you have a guy like D Morris who likely lands on a good FCS or a low end FBS roster, I still don't like it but it's somewhat understandable. JJ Davis probably lands on a mid to low end FCS... I kind of get it but still think it's a mistake. Then you have guys like Battle III that had no business transferring out. Could have stayed and been a damn good corner on a really good defense but instead he jumped on the portal wagon after D Mo and JJ did and he's got no offers. Not saying he's not good enough to get offers but he doesn't have the same body of work yet as Morris or Davis did.. reminds me a lot of Dorien Hill playing 4 games last year in the playoffs and hitting the portal. He showed a ton of promise and might've been our best LB if he had returned this season but instead he hit the portal and got East Central and Trinity and went to Trinity.. that's basically Battle this year... maybe he will come back.

On the positive side of things it looks like we've kept everyone else so far. If that's all we lose we return a way more cohesive group than we have in a few years and will just need to find a few secondary guys to step up.

You got BJ Stewart, we got Dorien Hill.  Both fine athletes who found better fits.

Well I can't speak for everyone but I hope Dorien has a great game this weekend. 

Event if Dorien wasn't down there, I'd be rooting for Trinity this weekend

But I do think Dorien and his defensive friends are the key for a Trinity victory. I don't think they can win a high scoring game but I think a low scoring game plays more to Trinity.

Quote from: D3Navy on November 24, 2025, 07:35:54 PM

Quote from: CruFrenzy on November 24, 2025, 12:59:27 PM

Quote from: Etchglow on November 23, 2025, 09:39:40 PMSince I was bored, I went and looked at the folks who have announced they were transferring from UMHB.  Only 9 of the 29 have offers.  7 of the offers are D3, 3 are NAIA, 2 are FCS, and 1 is for a community college.

Yup. Some of the guys I'm not mad at. The JV guys that saw the writing on the wall and just want to play somewhere, no problem. Then you have a guy like D Morris who likely lands on a good FCS or a low end FBS roster, I still don't like it but it's somewhat understandable. JJ Davis probably lands on a mid to low end FCS... I kind of get it but still think it's a mistake. Then you have guys like Battle III that had no business transferring out. Could have stayed and been a damn good corner on a really good defense but instead he jumped on the portal wagon after D Mo and JJ did and he's got no offers. Not saying he's not good enough to get offers but he doesn't have the same body of work yet as Morris or Davis did.. reminds me a lot of Dorien Hill playing 4 games last year in the playoffs and hitting the portal. He showed a ton of promise and might've been our best LB if he had returned this season but instead he hit the portal and got East Central and Trinity and went to Trinity.. that's basically Battle this year... maybe he will come back.

On the positive side of things it looks like we've kept everyone else so far. If that's all we lose we return a way more cohesive group than we have in a few years and will just need to find a few secondary guys to step up.

You got BJ Stewart, we got Dorien Hill.  Both fine athletes who found better fits.

Well I can't speak for everyone but I hope Dorien has a great game this weekend. 

Quote from: Etchglow on November 22, 2025, 07:53:30 PM

Quote from: Mavchamp on November 22, 2025, 04:09:59 PMChristmas wish list.....

ASC recruits two-three schools to join the conference in the off-season

Wayland Baptist
Louisiana Christian
Sul Ross State
Nelson University
Centenary

I don't think Louisiana Christian will come back.  They just won 1/3 of the conference championship over in the sooner athletic conference. 

Holy cow, just looked at Sul Ross's football record... 0-11, only two close games, 3 point loss to a 2-9 team and a 6 point loss to a 3-8 team.  Outside of those two losses, average margin of victory was 58 2/3 points...  48.8 points total.  Outscored 129 to 666 :O...

What did LC win besides football? No matter what, yeah I can't see them coming back considering they did share the title in the SAC but still got crushed by HSU.

As for Sul Ross, I would assume playing at UTRGV and at SFA paid for the rest of the season so while it was a hard season, it is the life of a low tier D2 team.

Quote from: ziggy on November 17, 2025, 11:54:58 AM

Quote from: crufootball on November 16, 2025, 10:46:59 PM

Quote from: Ralph Turner on November 16, 2025, 07:55:59 PMI would like to see an NPI iteration for UMHB with wins over a 5-5 McMurry, a 6-4 TLU and a 2-7 Austin College, giving UMHB an 8-2 record.

I asked Logan Hansen a similar question and he said if UMHB had played teams with a final NPI of greater then 40 (and won) we would have been over the bubble. Since McMurry and TLU are 52+ but Austin is 37 then I assume we would be dancing right now.

Dial settings that lean more into strength of schedule would have also gotten UMHB in: https://d3datacast.com/2025/11/17/how-does-changing-the-dials-change-the-2025-d3-football-playoff-field/

Yes it seems like every other setting gets us in  Wasn't that true last year as well when you experimented with our dial settings?