FB: Southern Athletic Association

[tigerguy]

I was also surprised by Bishop getting so many plays back to back. He is a senior so it could have been Urban trying to get him as much playing time as possible in likely his last regular season game. Or they could have been testing some stuff for playoffs against what has been a generally solid Maryville defense this season.

I hope Maryville continues to have success in the SAA. Adding quality programs like them raises the competition top to bottom and will continue to give the SAA opportunities for multiple playoff teams each year under the new format.

[D3Navy]

Maryville's coach has nice things to say about Trinity: 
https://mcscots.com/news/2025/11/15/football-closes-season-with-31-14-setback-to-no-22-trinity.aspx

Classy remarks after a disappointing second half to their season.  Maryville was really tight in the first half - Rollins missing some passes he normally hits in his sleep and drops by his receivers that kept their drives from being successful.  Chris Cooper turned it up in the second half and if the Scots had been successful before self-destructing on their last drive in the first half it could have turned into a game.

Trinity turning into the Collin Bishop show in the second half was totally unexpected - the senior QB is normally inserted only for a play or two in short yardage situations near the goal line.  Ending up as the leading rusher on the day was a nice way to end his regular season career - you would imagine he'll return to spot duty in the playoffs.

Bishop has been a superlative team player.  Occasional use as a QB but he is the up man on punts and is on kick coverage - he just does what is needed of him.  Selfless and enthusiastic.  Every team needs a Collin Bishop.

[tigerguy]

I got bored on Sunday so I took a dive into the historical schedules since 1998. If my review is correct, in years that Trinity has made the playoffs, they have had a non-ASC opponent in the first round only three times: 1998 (McDaniel), 1999 (McDaniel), and 2000 (Wesley). However, it does not appear that the ASC had a playoff representative in 1998.

Trinity/Hardin Simmons made the playoffs in 1999 and did not face each other until the third round. Trinity was given a first round bye whereas HSU got paired up with Washington U in the first round and then Washington and Jefferson in the 2nd. Trinity's 2nd round matchup after the bye was with McDaniel again.

Trinity/HSU both made the playoffs again in 2000. Trinity drew Wesley 1st round, HSU got McDaniel. Both won and faced each other second round, with HSU getting the W.

Something must have changed after 2000, because that is when they started matching the ASC with Trinity, assuming they made the playoffs. Trinity obviously had some lengthy playoff gaps: 2006, 2008-2010, and then 2012-2020.

I believe there have been 11 years in which two ASC teams made the playoffs, and in five of those years (5 years Trinity didn't make the playoffs) the ASC teams were rewarded with a first round matchup with each other. In only two years (2016/2017) since 2001 have two ASC teams made the playoffs and neither team was matched up with an ASC opponent or Trinity for their first playoff game. In 2016/2017 HSU got Linfield, and UMHB got Redlands and Chapman. 

In total since 2001, Trinity's first playoff opponents are UMHB (7 times), HSU (3 times), East Texas Baptist (1), and McMurry (1). Since 2001, HSU's 1st playoff opponents are UMHB (6), Trinity (3), Linfield (2), and Wittenberg.

UMHB has by far had the most diverse 1st playoff opponents of the Texas schools, but they obviously had the luxury of over 12 years without Trinity or another Texas-based SAA/SCAC school making the playoffs. I believe the only exception to this was 2014 when TLU, who (with Trinity) was in the non-auto bid SCAC but received an at-large bid and got paired with UMHB first round. UMHB's first playoff opponents since 2001 are: Trinity (7), HSU (6), Redlands (4), and then Central, Chapman, Christopher Newport, Huntington, Louisiana College, and TLU once.

I would be curious to know what the most common non-Texas playoff matchups have been since 2000. I imagine Linfield has had some common opponents, but I doubt it is as much as Trinity/UMHB. Mind you, I am using first playoff "opponents," rather than first round, to account for byes. The numbers above would be slightly skewed if I limited it solely to first round matchups, but I think the point obviously remains.

[Ron Boerger]

Great research!  One thing to remember is that the number of playoff teams has changed quite a bit over the years and as the number of qualifiers has increased, so has the focus on saving travel money. 

Trinity first made the D3 playoffs in 1994 (I was there!) when they hosted Washington & Jefferson.  W&J was the higher ranked team; never knew why we hosted, but they popped us 28-0.  We also made the playoffs in 1997 with a home W against Catholic followed by an away loss at Lycoming. 

The SCAC maintains seasonal record books with results for all teams, current and former; very useful for this kind of look back.  Fall sports are at https://scacsports.com/inside_athletics/record_book_files/2025-26/2025_Fall_Record_Book.pdf .  And I do miss the extra legwork the SCAC put in on things like this, preseason media days, and postseason programs; the SAA could learn from the SCAC.

[evacuee]

In 1994, W&J was steamrolling everyone and in week 10 tripped up against Ithaca which moved them from no. 1 in the south region to no. 3, clearing the way for Trinity to move to number 2. The two top vote getters in the region got the home games so 4 played at 1 and 3 played at 2. W&J had to travel to San Antonio and then went to the Stagg Bowl only to get crushed by Albion.

[tigerguy]

Great research!  One thing to remember is that the number of playoff teams has changed quite a bit over the years and as the number of qualifiers has increased, so has the focus on saving travel money. 

Trinity first made the D3 playoffs in 1994 (I was there!) when they hosted Washington & Jefferson.  W&J was the higher ranked team; never knew why we hosted, but they popped us 28-0.  We also made the playoffs in 1997 with a home W against Catholic followed by an away loss at Lycoming. 

The SCAC maintains seasonal record books with results for all teams, current and former; very useful for this kind of look back.  Fall sports are at https://scacsports.com/inside_athletics/record_book_files/2025-26/2025_Fall_Record_Book.pdf .  And I do miss the extra legwork the SCAC put in on things like this, preseason media days, and postseason programs; the SAA could learn from the SCAC.

Thanks for the SCAC resource - extremely helpful. Apparently "McDaniel" was known as Western Maryland back when Trinity was matched with them in 1998-1999.

I didn't know Mohr had some very forgettable first few seasons as coach. During our freshman year camp meetings, he would always show us our amazing record at home "since 94" or something like. Cut off date makes much more sense in context now 

[Ralph Turner]

In 1998, there were only 16 bids. HSU went 9-1 with a loss to Midwestern St.(D-2). If I recall, there were other worthy teams that did not make the playoffs.

Now with 40 bids, I believe that we are getting into the group of teams that can look at one game and say that made the difference, either way.