While I'd prefer more D3 opponents, this is a very intriguing schedule all things considered. I'm not crazy about going 9 straight games without a bye week, but there are some pretty interesting matchups.

Quote from: TheChucker on May 19, 2025, 10:29:00 AM

Quote from: Reverendbiker on May 19, 2025, 09:54:42 AM

Quote from: CruFrenzy on May 18, 2025, 04:17:03 PM

Quote from: Reverendbiker on May 18, 2025, 02:57:13 PM

Quote from: CruFrenzy on May 17, 2025, 02:16:08 PMI think our non con should be a great test, should tell us a lot about where our program is at right now.

Agree 100%. I don't want to hear any more talk about the Cru's weak non con schedule. One D2 opponent, One D3 national powerhouse,and two of the best NAIA teams in the country (one of whom beat us handily last year). Coach better have this team ready to play...

Who is the second NAIA team we are playing?

I must've missed that. Other than Bethel TN.

Announcement to drop soon.

I'll play and guess. Texas Wesleyan? They're the only NAIA Top 25 team within a two-state trip.

RANK    INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES]    RECORD    FINAL POINTS
1    Grand View (Iowa) [16]    14-0    350
2    Keiser (Fla.)    12-1    336
3    Morningside (Iowa)    12-2    315
3    Benedictine (Kan.)    11-3    315
5    Montana Western    10-2    287
6    Indiana Wesleyan    11-2    276
7    Northwestern    9-3    270
8    Georgetown (Ky.)    9-3    259
9    St. Thomas (Fla.)    9-2    224
10    Montana Tech    9-3    218
11    Texas Wesleyan    10-1    215
12    Friends (Kan.)    11-2    201
13    Southwestern (Kan.)    11-2    173
14    Dickinson State (N.D.)    10-2    160
15    MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)    9-2    154
16    OUAZ (Ariz.)    8-2    115
17    Baker (Kan.)    9-2    109
18    Concordia (Neb.)    8-2    99
18    Southeastern (Fla.)    7-2    99
20    Dordt (Iowa)    8-2    92
21    Campbellsville (Ky.)    9-2    57
22    Pikeville (Ky.)    6-6    54
23    Saint Francis (Ind.)    8-4    47
24    Southern Oregon    8-3    44
25    Taylor (Ind.)    9-2    25

That's my guess as well, though I could also see it being OUAZ. They always struggle to put together a full schedule just as we do.

Whoever it is, they need to get a move on. It's less than a week until Memorial Day and we still don't have a schedule.

Quote from: Ron Boerger on May 12, 2025, 10:01:51 AMMost of the SCAC non-conference games have been published:

Austin: Kalamazoo, Centenary (non-conf); other games not yet available.
Centenary:  Westgate Christian (sigh), @Millsaps, ETBU, @Austin (non-conf)
Hendrix:  Maryville, @Huntingdon, Millsaps, and Rhodes.
Lyon: @ETBU (ouch), Arkansas Baptist, @Greenville, Westminster(MO).
McMurry:  Southwestern, @HSU, @Huntingdon, HPU
TLU:  Trinity, HPU, @Southwestern, ETBU. 

Unless this has changed, Austin's last two non-conference games are @Rhodes and Westgate Christian.

Austin 2025 schedule

Quote from: Inkblot on May 10, 2025, 06:22:07 PMSaw a rumor on Twitter that UMHB will visit Mars Hill (D2) on September 27.

Very interesting. I've always been curious to see how UMHB stacks up against teams from higher divisions.

Quote from: Crubacker on May 06, 2025, 10:38:27 PMStill can't believe the schedule is not out yet.  Wonder if they will only have 8 games??

An 8 game schedule would be unacceptable. Between D3, NAIA, and even D2 potentially, there's no excuse not to find 4 non-conference games.

On that note, as much as I hate the double round robin format, I hope they keep it even after adding the new schools. That would eliminate the need to find non-conference opponents.

Quote from: Crubacker on April 23, 2025, 01:03:17 PMThere's at least 8 confirmed already despite the fact that ETBU games are not showing.  Maybe they have avoided setting those dates with ETBU because they are still trying to work in the 2 remaining non-con games.  I know they have Bethel, TN and UW-W both coming to Belton plus the 6 conf games so still 2 to go.

Yes, thankfully we do know, or have a decent idea about 8 of the games. So far the conference schedule has had the same opponents on the same weekends with sites reversed, so if that remains consistent, we would be on the road against ETBU October 4 and face them at home November 1.

Here's what we know so far:

September 6        BETHEL
September 13       Open
September 20       UW-WHITEWATER
September 27       Open
October 4            @ ETBU ?
October 11         @ Hardin-Simmons
October 18         HOWARD PAYNE
October 25         Open
November 1          ETBU ?
November 8         HARDIN-SIMMONS
November 15        @ Howard Payne

Quote from: Crubacker on April 18, 2025, 01:04:40 PMDamn, I guess the schedule won't come out until August

At this point, I'm almost expecting them to just start announcing the games the week before they're played. 

Quote from: IC798891 on April 10, 2025, 11:17:14 AM

Quote from: UMHB03 on April 09, 2025, 03:57:24 PMNope. If Whitewater can afford to make the trip, surely others can too, especially the other schools in our region.

I know you guys like to cosplay as the Boise State of D3 and pretend that everyone's just too scared to play you. The reality is different:

1. In D3, athletics are a huge component of the overall campus enrollment strategy

2. Most D3 schools have largely regional student recruitment footprints, not national ones.

3. As such, a major purpose of scheduling out of conference games is to aid your coaching staff in getting into an area of the state or region where your institution recruits heavily.

4. Because of the northeast/midwest skew of D3 institutions, Central Texas is in few schools' campus-wide recruiting footprints.

All this means that the reality is, UMHB is of no use to most of the schools in D3. They're not looking to build up a bulletproof Pool C resume, get home field through the semis, prepare their team for a Stagg Bowl run. And even if they are, the thing they're trying to do first is ensure that 40-50 guys show up on campus every fall. And playing you doesn't help with that goal. These institutions all have bigger things to worry about than if UMHB fans think they're scared to take an L.

Your fundamental misunderstanding of this dynamic is embarrassing.

I wasn't aware that Whitewater's recruitment of the Central Texas area was so extensive, because they always seem willing to make the trip down. No, there's obviously more to it than that. Nice try though.

Also, you apparently missed my response to wally_wabash where I specifically referenced teams in our region, for whom it would make sense to schedule UMHB given your criteria. I also notice that those programs, all of whom have been significantly less formidable than UMHB in recent decades, always find non-conference opponents. This includes opponents from other regions. Bottom line is, many schools are willing to travel 1,000 miles for a win against Southwestern or Austin College, but not for a beatdown by UMHB.

In short, your reading comprehension and reasoning skills appear to be what is embarrassing here.

Quote from: CruFrenzy on April 09, 2025, 06:46:27 PMGetting the Bethel (TN) game set is really solid for me. I know they're NAIA but from a team building/experience standpoint it will be a fantastic opportunity for our guys to get their lick back and against a top 10 caliber NAIA team nonetheless.

The UTRGV concept is interesting, they'd probably make us travel to Edinburg (6 hour road trip) but we would likely win that game vs a first year FCS team. Either way that's probably going to remain a hypothetical - the idea is intriguing but I don't think it's likely to happen.

Yeah, I agree that it's unlikely they'd schedule a matchup like that. I just hope Harmon is considering all options to avoid some of the embarrassing matchups (including one that didn't even get played) that we had last year. Or even worse, having an incomplete schedule.


In related news, Howard Payne has released their schedule, so we now know two more parts of ours:


9-06  PACIFIC
9-13  @ TLU
9-20  WAYLAND BAPTIST
9-27  @ McMurry
10-04  @ Hardin-Simmons
10-11  ETBU
10-18  @ UMHB
11-01  HARDIN-SIMMONS
11-08  @ ETBU
11-15  UMHB

Quote from: wally_wabash on April 09, 2025, 03:32:24 PM

Quote from: UMHB03 on April 09, 2025, 03:06:39 PMSure, I would definitely prefer D3 opponents, but since we seem to be unable to find anyone willing to step up to the challenge outside of Whitewater, I figure an FCS opponent would be a lot more fun than watching them beat some community college or online school by 80 in a glorified scrimmage, where they're forced to have shortened quarters and a running clock in 2nd half, like they did last year.

Just never ever going to let go of this idea, are you? 

Nope. If Whitewater can afford to make the trip, surely others can too, especially the other schools in our region.

Not sure why you get so butt hurt about it.

Quote from: Riley Zayas on April 09, 2025, 02:30:20 PMThis is unpopular, but in the NPI era, there's zero reason to play teams outside D3. It counts for nothing other than your own record. Has no bearing on making the playoffs, getting a better playoff seed, etc. While it's good to get in-game reps and play a full schedule, the question becomes how much you want to risk injury to key players in a game that doesn't matter.

An FCS program would be a great test, no doubt. But what's the point of playing an FCS team right before you play what will potentially be your only D3 non-conference game 7 days later?

Sure, I would definitely prefer D3 opponents, but since we seem to be unable to find anyone willing to step up to the challenge outside of Whitewater, I figure an FCS opponent would be a lot more fun than watching them beat some community college or online school by 80 in a glorified scrimmage, where they're forced to have shortened quarters and a running clock in 2nd half, like they did last year.

A bit of an outside the box idea....

I notice that UTRGV, which is playing it's first season varsity football this year in the Southland Conference, was scheduled to play North American on September 13. With that school dropping football, the Vaqueros now need an opponent for that date. If UMHB is as desperate for opponents as they appear to be, I wonder if Harmon would be interested in contacting them and testing the water against an FCS program (albeit a first year one). It certainly beats another game against Westgate Christian, Dimmit County Community College, Northern New Mexico School for the Blind, etc.

Quote from: Etchglow on April 07, 2025, 03:35:29 PMUMHB schedule still not final.  Tickets won't go on sale until July :O

Does this mean the schedule won't be out until then? If so that's absurd.

Quote from: Crubacker on March 20, 2025, 11:26:38 AMIt's odd that we haven't seen UMHB schedule drop yet.  We usually see it by mid March.

I was thinking the same thing. This year I'm hoping to bring my son to the UMHB homecoming game to meet up with my sister (also a UMHB grad) and her daughters so the kids can enjoy the festivities.

This is around the time of year the schedule was released in 2024 and 2023, but in 2022 it wasn't released until mid April.

Quote from: ziggy on March 18, 2025, 12:39:05 PM

Quote from: Bmo on March 18, 2025, 12:01:45 PMSo the most likely outcome at this point, barring something completely unforeseen.  Hendrix pulls back and rejoins the SAA.  TLU, Austin, and Centenary are forced to join the ASC as football affiliates.  Who knows what happens to Lyon.  SCAC is again non-football.  Everything resets back to 2022 in the ASC, and the SAA resets back to the old SCAC in core alignment.

It seems to me the balance of power has shifted and how confident are we that the ASC would be interested in taking this group as affiliate only at this point?

It is awfully silly if the endgame in all this shuffling is one football conference (ASC) and one non-football conference (SCAC) considering how it all started yet it almost seems like the only arrangement that would bring some semblance of stability. Otherwise the carousel will just keep turning.

ASC teams still have trouble with scheduling, so the more conference games they can get, the fewer non-conference opponents they need to find. I'm sure they would welcome any D3 program that helped solve the scheduling dilemma.