FB: American Southwest Conference

[UMHB03]

Hardin-Simmons schedule drops:
https://www.d3football.com/teams/Hardin-Simmons/2026/index

We had done some speculation about it in the mailbag segment on the pod which dropped today:
https://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/2026/06/23/atn-podcast-410-polar-bears-in-ireland-new-coach-in-dc-preseason-thoughts/

Wow, looks like they never were able to find a 10th opponent.

[AndrewB]

Hardin-Simmons schedule drops:
https://www.d3football.com/teams/Hardin-Simmons/2026/index

We had done some speculation about it in the mailbag segment on the pod which dropped today:
https://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/2026/06/23/atn-podcast-410-polar-bears-in-ireland-new-coach-in-dc-preseason-thoughts/

I realize that everything comes down to money.  But them against Linfield would be the perfect fit for both teams.  If HS could have traveled to Linfield this year and done a home-home. To bad.

[Mavchamp]

Interesting seeing Nelson on the HS schedule.

I sure wish we could convince them to make the jump from the SAC/NAIA to the ASC.

Same with Wayland.

The travel budgets for the SAC must be brutal.

[Ralph Turner]

Interesting seeing Nelson on the HS schedule.

I sure wish we could convince them to make the jump from the SAC/NAIA to the ASC.

Same with Wayland.

The travel budgets for the SAC must be brutal.

I suspect that they (Nelson and Wayland) like the incentive of an "athletic scholarship" as the panache for recruiting/enrollment, if even it is only half-price for books.

[jknezek]

I suspect that they (Nelson and Wayland) like the incentive of an "athletic scholarship" as the panache for recruiting/enrollment, if even it is only half-price for books.

I've got a close friend whose daughter got a soccer scholarship to Wofford. She was recruited by a coach they fired before she stepped on to campus, she played sparingly as a freshman, and was told the coach was not renewing any scholarships for girls under senior year as he wanted to recruit a whole different set of players to play his style.

Her soccer scholarship was 10% of tuition, and then she had other scholarships that covered the rest of tuition. So all he was paying was room and board. But she wasn't going to play or be on the team anymore, so even though 90% of her tuition was still covered, she decided to transfer.

She transferred to a well respected D3 school where non-athletic scholarships covered 70% of her tuition. It was also significantly more expensive, but my buddy is well off so he didn't care. What he did care about was not being able to say she was on an athletic scholarship anymore. So he just continues to tell people she's on a soccer scholarship.

Those of us that know D3 just smile and nod and don't bother correcting him because he knows, but he doesn't care. He likes the idea that his kid is good enough to have an athletic scholarship. Whether it was a puny one at Wofford, or just something else at a D3, it doesn't matter to him. That's what he wants to tell people.

So there is this huge cache, especially here in the South, of having an "athletic scholarship." I grew up in the northeast, so I don't really care or get it. My kids aren't athletes, so I'll be happy if they are on academic/leadership scholarships. But for other people it matters.

Lots of parents paid a fortune for travel sports, private coaching, camps, etc. Believing their kid is on an "athletic scholarship" makes those massive expenses feel justified, whether it's true or not. So I get these schools that cling to D2 even though the whole thing makes no sense to me.

[MCScots2013]

Is there some sort of federal aid/grant advantage or a difference to the discount rate for schools to go the D2 or NAIA route and give small athletic scholarships?  Seems like they are robbing Peter to pay Paul and, as you allude to, would rather have the prestige of being a scholarship school.  (Sadly, I think that is not working for a lot of D2's in the Southeast.  Several seem to be running into trouble.)

[jknezek]

Is there some sort of federal aid/grant advantage or a difference to the discount rate for schools to go the D2 or NAIA route and give small athletic scholarships?  Seems like they are robbing Peter to pay Paul and, as you allude to, would rather have the prestige of being a scholarship school.  (Sadly, I think that is not working for a lot of D2's in the Southeast.  Several seem to be running into trouble.)

Don't think so. I think it's just a recruiting advantage. I know E&H was pretty clear when they left the ODAC for D2. They looked around, saw tons of D3 schools that were... outcompeting them across the board, and said there is less competition in D2. Off they went. Honestly, they seem to be doing fine in D2, better than they were in the ODAC anyway, where they were pretty much the bottom of the barrel in every sport but football.

But E&H had an absurd reliance on athletes. It was one of those schools with a ridiculous percentage of students played NCAA sports. So they had to do something because that was pretty much all they had going for them. Not much endowment, not much alumni support, not much academic credentials... pretty campus though!

[MCScots2013]

I agree.  Went up there the year after I graduated for a football game.  Wish we had their fieldhouse! 

They are expanding, too.  Just paid what seems to be a ridiculous amount of money for the "Food City Sports Complex".  Either lights and parking lots cost a lot more than I realized or they must not care. I've seen figures between $13.5 and 15 million.  Lost of articles with not many pictures of plans or updates.  Did find one with the term "Phase 1" so maybe that's the difference in my monetary expectations. E&H Food City Sports Complex

For reference, Maryville spent $3 million on their track a couple years ago.

[Crubacker]

Etchglow, is there any up[date to the commitment tracker lately?

[Etchglow]

Etchglow, is there any up[date to the commitment tracker lately?

Not really, I've been lazy lol. 

[Crubacker]

Lol, no worries.  I know some of those guys you listed probably won't show up anyways.  Guess we will see when the roster comes out.

[Etchglow]

Lol, no worries.  I know some of those guys you listed probably won't show up anyways.  Guess we will see when the roster comes out.

You did shame me to go back and update it, I didn't do a super deep dive but added a good number...

[UMHB03]

Howard Payne finally found their 10th opponent. Something called Clutch City Preparatory, which I assume is who you're forced to call when Westgate Christian doesn't have any open dates. 

HPU Football Schedule

[Mavchamp]

With Southwestern and Millsaps headed to the SCAC..... that conference has solidified itself for the foreseeable future.  They will have 8 football schools if Gallaudet sticks around....and still safe with 7 if they don't.

The moves drop the SAA down to only 6 football schools and Trinity out on an island all alone.  Does the SAA raid the USA South for schools like Belhaven and others?

Does Trinity stick with the SAA?  Or do they call the SCAC?  Or maybe even the ASC?  I don't know the history...but apprarently there's some bad blood between Trinity and (especially) the SCAC....but the ASC as well.

Seems like having Trinity...if for no other reason than to get to 7 teams...would be a good addition.

It's not like anyone else is calling the ASC to join.

Really need Sul Ross and Wayland to come calling.

The carousel is dizzying.   

[Ron Boerger]

My guess is the SAA will at least try to get a football affiliate or two, though pickings are slim.  The CCS schools, which are geographically the most likely to consider an full-time invite, don't really align with the SAA's vision but the SAA showed with Maryville that conference survival outranks that vision.  Can't see any of the ODAC schools being interested at all, and any other schools would have really ridiculous travel expenses and no real reason to move to the SAA.

The SAA might like to "St. Thomasize" Trinity now that it's out on an island and has no travel partner, which is going to make scheduling a pain in the ass in sports where you play two games on a weekend, but to do so with the conference's future in doubt would be suicidal.  [St. Thomas (MN) dominated the MIAC for years and eventually got booted, at which point they went D1.  D1's not an option in San Antonio; no suitable facilities, no place to put new ones, no big athletic boosters pushing such a move, and no administrative desire as they keep promoting academic rigor as the reason to go there.] 

The "bad blood" issue is somewhat speculative, quite honestly, but the thought as far as the SCAC goes is (a) they will have 12 schools in 2027, and the SCAC commissioner says they're happy with that number, and (b) basically everyone is happy not having to fight for second place after Trinity's 13-year run of President's Trophy wins came to an end this year.  Southwestern and Millsaps (6th and 8th of 8 in the SAA Commissioner's Cup) had zero chance in football against Berry and Trinity; now they'll be competitive for a conference title there as well as other sports.  Why would they vote to get right back in the same competitive situation they faced in the SAA?  As far as the ASC goes, it's more Trinity with the issue than the conference and its members (IMO), but if the SAA dies (Centre and Oglethorpe are supposedly conference shopping as well) that very well could end up being the only option.  Nobody else is going to admit Trinity with the amount of time and money involved on having to travel to San Antonio at least every other year.

One final thing:  remember the radio silence from the ASC front office the years it was bleeding teams?  That's what we've seen from the SAA so far, and there's probably not any millionaire in the wings to remedy the situation.