FB: American Southwest Conference

Etchglow · January 16, 2026, 09:37:26 PM

Starting to see a few kids commit to UMHB already. 4 through the portal (1 NAIA, 1 D3, 1 D2, and 1 D1) and two from HS.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IC2_OyngCpyyrQ3pjQd0-_SPzQQY_ga1Z5znH-Q4Rg8/edit?usp=sharing

Ralph Turner · January 17, 2026, 12:26:11 AM

McMurry announced Homecoming for November 5-8. My guess is that Schreiner comes to McMurry for that game. Second guess would be HPU.

CruFrenzy · January 19, 2026, 03:12:47 PM

Quote from: Etchglow on January 16, 2026, 09:37:26 PMStarting to see a few kids commit to UMHB already. 4 through the portal (1 NAIA, 1 D3, 1 D2, and 1 D1) and two from HS.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IC2_OyngCpyyrQ3pjQd0-_SPzQQY_ga1Z5znH-Q4Rg8/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you for doing this again, I check it regularly.

TheChucker · January 24, 2026, 02:50:49 PM

Quote from: Mavchamp on January 14, 2026, 04:48:14 PM
Quote from: Ralph Turner on January 13, 2026, 01:23:58 PMPerhaps, "participation in intercollegiate athletics" is not the enrollment driver that it is for so many of the private colleges in the SCAC and the ASC.

That's a fair point.

I would think a small rural college would use any tool to recruit a student body....academic, athletics, campus vibe and excitement, school spirit.

But when all of your teams are getting skull-dragged week after week, season after season it sure makes it hard to build any sort of school spirit or campus social vibe.

Maybe the financials make all that losing worth it....but seems like some competitiveness would solve a multitude of other issues.

JMHO.

FWIW, when I visited Alpine for softball, the games were well attended by students. Better than most. Maybe because the recreation options are limited, but school spirit wasn't an issue. Still, that doesn't mean it's a recruiting talking point.

Etchglow · February 05, 2026, 10:01:53 AM

Huge update to the commits:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IC2_OyngCpyyrQ3pjQd0-_SPzQQY_ga1Z5znH-Q4Rg8/edit?usp=sharing

Ron Boerger · February 10, 2026, 05:27:05 PM

ASC supporters are the latest to be forced to pay to watch their teams online as the conference will join the Flo$port$ mafia in 2026-27: https://www.flosports.tv/2026/02/10/flosports-and-ncaa-division-iii-american-southwest-conference-asc-announce-exclusive-media-rights-partnership/

Etchglow · February 10, 2026, 08:06:29 PM

Quote from: Ron Boerger on February 10, 2026, 05:27:05 PMASC supporters are the latest to be forced to pay to watch their teams online as the conference will join the Flo$port$ mafia in 2026-27: https://www.flosports.tv/2026/02/10/flosports-and-ncaa-division-iii-american-southwest-conference-asc-announce-exclusive-media-rights-partnership/

I have to guess viewership already sucked last year when they ditched the apps for most streaming devices. But yeah it sucks. Maybe we will get vod one day?

crufootball · February 11, 2026, 07:35:56 PM

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.

CruFrenzy · February 11, 2026, 07:45:34 PM

The issue with Flo is that they don't do any of the production or streaming themselves, they just overlay Flo onto the already existing streams. Some of the schools that need the money do it right away but they just pocket the extra cash and spend it on other things they need - not the broadcast. So you end up with the exact same broadcasts, some of which are bad, just through the Flo Paywall. Not great.

Toby Taff · February 13, 2026, 02:32:24 PM

Sent my .02 to UMHB admin. I won't pay for a feed that costs more than a game ticket and is a static pressbox feed that is iffy at best. I would happily pay for a UMHB dedicated feed where my money went to the school. I guess that means if I can't drive to it, I wont be watching it.

The Third Division · February 14, 2026, 01:15:30 PM

UMHB's two year scheduling agreement with Keystone screams desperation. It is not a good look for the program.

UMHB03 · February 14, 2026, 05:01:31 PM

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.

Go ahead and list the teams who are interested in scheduling a series with us. Then we can discuss which ones would be better options.

Ralph Turner · February 14, 2026, 08:35:05 PM

Sadly, a 2-yr series with SRSU might be better than Keystone.

crufootball · February 14, 2026, 10:35:07 PM

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.

UMHB03 · February 15, 2026, 10:17:34 AM

Quote from: Ralph Turner on February 14, 2026, 08:35:05 PMSadly, a 2-yr series with SRSU might be better than Keystone.

If they dropped back down to D3 they might be, but we need any opponent we can get from our own division. Being forced to play 3 non-division opponents kept us out of the playoffs last year, and we have to find even more non-conference opponents in 2026 now that we presumably aren't playing a round robin.

I'd love it if the arrogant, clueless fans of schools from regions that have plenty of neighboring programs to schedule could explain what their solution would be. Instead they just stand on their soapbox, looking down their noses and criticizing while failing to give any better suggestions.