GAC football

[Tdobson]

Hey group,

This is my first post in this forum. I am usually a PSAC football fan (Go IUP), so I don't know much about your conference beyond Harding.

If you don't mind, could you tell me a bit about your conference?
What is the usual pecking order for football?

Thank you and good luck to the bison in the National Championship game.

[obutiger762026]

AAAAABBBBBSOLUTELY.... the GAC in football is an Arkansas/Oklahoma Conference largely dominated by the Arkansas schools. There's 7 time GAC champ Ouachita Baptist University who creates the top tier with two academically inferior (and probably morally corrupt) rivals Henderson State University (who's presence besmirches the good name of Arkadelphia) and Harding University (who's presence besmirches the name of all Christendom.). Keep in mind that Henderson can't spell well enough to pluralize the word "Red" and Harding someone doesn't understand that a group of Bison are still called just "Bison". Harding is currently ascendent because they run an offense from the 1920's before the internet was invented and kids these days grew up with NCAA Football video games, not run defense.

Second tier in the conference are Southern Arkansas University, they ride mules, and a variety of whatever Oklahoma school decides to be good in a given year.

Arkansas Tech wishes it was as good as it was in the 90's and early 2000's, Arkansas-Monticello is the illegitimate stepchild, and the the Oklahoma schools just hope that the Sooners can beat Bama. I say "Oklahoma schools" because I refuse to list off all the directional Oklahoma schools. There is also Oklahoma Baptist. Not to be confused with the good OBU.

[BisonswithanS]

AAAAABBBBBSOLUTELY.... the GAC in football is an Arkansas/Oklahoma Conference largely dominated by the Arkansas schools. There's 7 time GAC champ Ouachita Baptist University who creates the top tier with two academically inferior (and probably morally corrupt) rivals Henderson State University (who's presence besmirches the good name of Arkadelphia) and Harding University (who's presence besmirches the name of all Christendom.). Keep in mind that Henderson can't spell well enough to pluralize the word "Red" and Harding someone doesn't understand that a group of Bison are still called just "Bison". Harding is currently ascendent because they run an offense from the 1920's before the internet was invented and kids these days grew up with NCAA Football video games, not run defense.

Second tier in the conference are Southern Arkansas University, they ride mules, and a variety of whatever Oklahoma school decides to be good in a given year.

Arkansas Tech wishes it was as good as it was in the 90's and early 2000's, Arkansas-Monticello is the illegitimate stepchild, and the the Oklahoma schools just hope that the Sooners can beat Bama. I say "Oklahoma schools" because I refuse to list off all the directional Oklahoma schools. There is also Oklahoma Baptist. Not to be confused with the good OBU.

Y’all headed to Texas this weekend?

[Tdobson]

AAAAABBBBBSOLUTELY.... the GAC in football is an Arkansas/Oklahoma Conference largely dominated by the Arkansas schools. There's 7 time GAC champ Ouachita Baptist University who creates the top tier with two academically inferior (and probably morally corrupt) rivals Henderson State University (who's presence besmirches the good name of Arkadelphia) and Harding University (who's presence besmirches the name of all Christendom.). Keep in mind that Henderson can't spell well enough to pluralize the word "Red" and Harding someone doesn't understand that a group of Bison are still called just "Bison". Harding is currently ascendent because they run an offense from the 1920's before the internet was invented and kids these days grew up with NCAA Football video games, not run defense.

Second tier in the conference are Southern Arkansas University, they ride mules, and a variety of whatever Oklahoma school decides to be good in a given year.

Arkansas Tech wishes it was as good as it was in the 90's and early 2000's, Arkansas-Monticello is the illegitimate stepchild, and the the Oklahoma schools just hope that the Sooners can beat Bama. I say "Oklahoma schools" because I refuse to list off all the directional Oklahoma schools. There is also Oklahoma Baptist. Not to be confused with the good OBU.

Thank you for the response. I greatly appreciate your time doing this. The only other school, I have heard of is Tech, and I believe that is because of their nickname: Wonderboys.

I agree with you about the directional names. That drives me crazy when reading up on football.

Let's be honest, Harding is so good, because they do run an offense from the 1920's, as you say. I know of no other D2 teams that run that type of offense. So, schools are not used to that and if you only have a few days to prepare, you are going to be way behind.

One more question: the schools in the conference play them every year. Is there that big a disparity between Harding and the rest of the conference? Meaning, how are they not ready for it?

I hope you have a great holiday, and again good luck to the bison.

[OldBison]

Ouachita does as well as anyone in preparing for the Flexbone. I’ve been told their defense works on it all year round. The years they have their best personnel they’ve been able to keep the Bisons around 300 yards and, at times, win the game. The other schools have had a more difficult times, not because of scheme but due to personnel. The Arkansas schools in the GAC used to compete in the GSC. Harding got tired of getting beat 46-43 week in week out in the GSC running the spread. They went to the Flexbone about the time the GAC was formed. In recent years OBU and Harding have dominated the GAC Championships but Harding has gone deeper and more consistently in the playoffs.

[obutiger762026]

Ouachita does as well as anyone in preparing for the Flexbone. I’ve been told their defense works on it all year round. The years they have their best personnel they’ve been able to keep the Bisons around 300 yards and, at times, win the game. The other schools have had a more difficult times, not because of scheme but due to personnel. The Arkansas schools in the GAC used to compete in the GSC. Harding got tired of getting beat 46-43 week in week out in the GSC running the spread. They went to the Flexbone about the time the GAC was formed. In recent years OBU and Harding have dominated the GAC Championships but Harding has gone deeper and more consistently in the playoffs.

Agree....teams have to either practice a few periods a week all year to try to prepare for the flexbone, or hope for a heck of a good week of practice leading into it.

[ReddieMade]

The GAC is relatively new in the grand scheme of things (formed in early 2010s) and has come a long way in football. Henderson State dominated the early years of the league, winning three titles in 2012, 2013 and 2015. During that time both Ouachita and Harding were also good, but both of those programs in particular really turned the corner around 2016, with Harding making their first deep playoff runs in 2016 and 2017.

Obviously, since then Harding has ascended to a truly national level of success, and they largely sit at their own tier in our conference right now outside of a random loss here or there to Ouachita or HSU. Those are the only three schools who have ever won a GAC title in football, and are very much seen as the upper level of the league alongside Southern Arkansas. Behind those four, it's usually Arkansas Tech, Southeastern Oklahoma State and East Central in any given order each season. SNU, Oklahoma Baptist, NWOSU and SWOSU have all been largely bad for years.

Harding holds I think now 16 of the GAC's 18 playoff victories ever. HSU has one in 2015 and Ouachita has one in 2018 or 2019, I believe. Because of that, the conference often gets pigeon holed as being "Harding and everyone else" from a national perspective. IMO Ouachita, HSU and even Southern Arkansas would all have better postseason records in any other Super Region in the country. Kudos belong to Harding for rising above the MIAA and GLIAC, but for a long time this region was an absolute gauntlet, which has cost those three schools in particular playoff opportunities and success that I think they would have had in other regions.

TLDR: Harding is really in a tier above everyone, but Henderson, Ouachita and Southern Arkansas are seen as the top tier with them and would be competitive programs in pretty much every D2 league in the country. Harding is the only school who has ever made a serious postseason run, albeit in a very difficult Super Region.

[Searcy]

The GAC is relatively new in the grand scheme of things (formed in early 2010s) and has come a long way in football. Henderson State dominated the early years of the league, winning three titles in 2012, 2013 and 2015. During that time both Ouachita and Harding were also good, but both of those programs in particular really turned the corner around 2016, with Harding making their first deep playoff runs in 2016 and 2017.

Obviously, since then Harding has ascended to a truly national level of success, and they largely sit at their own tier in our conference right now outside of a random loss here or there to Ouachita or HSU. Those are the only three schools who have ever won a GAC title in football, and are very much seen as the upper level of the league alongside Southern Arkansas. Behind those four, it's usually Arkansas Tech, Southeastern Oklahoma State and East Central in any given order each season. SNU, Oklahoma Baptist, NWOSU and SWOSU have all been largely bad for years.

Harding holds I think now 16 of the GAC's 18 playoff victories ever. HSU has one in 2015 and Ouachita has one in 2018 or 2019, I believe. Because of that, the conference often gets pigeon holed as being "Harding and everyone else" from a national perspective. IMO Ouachita, HSU and even Southern Arkansas would all have better postseason records in any other Super Region in the country. Kudos belong to Harding for rising above the MIAA and GLIAC, but for a long time this region was an absolute gauntlet, which has cost those three schools in particular playoff opportunities and success that I think they would have had in other regions.

TLDR: Harding is really in a tier above everyone, but Henderson, Ouachita and Southern Arkansas are seen as the top tier with them and would be competitive programs in pretty much every D2 league in the country. Harding is the only school who has ever made a serious postseason run, albeit in a very difficult Super Region.

That's a pretty fair assessment. I remember when Harding ran a spread offense in the late nineties and early 2000s, and the outcome of a given game or given season was usually dependent on 1-2 lucky or unlucky breaks. I think Harding's best defense ever might have been back in 2002, but their pass happy offense was inconsistent enough that the team ended up losing at Henderson (they went 22/43 passing that day and only ran for 46 yards, numbers which seem impossibly backward today) and at home against Delta State (once again, completing less than 50% of your passes when throwing it around 40 times and running for 63 yards are a flashy way to fail).

In the pre-GAC and early GAC days, HSU was the team to beat. I went to almost every in state game for a few years there, and the team I saw them beat least often was HSU. Since then, it has shifted significantly and the only team that has consistently given them a run for their money has been OBUI.

After coach Huckeba shifted to the option, the team became more consistent and ended up winning far more games, and for the past decade the pecking order in the GAC has seemed like the following (and it's pretty clear):
1. Harding
2. OBU
3. HSU
4. SAU
...
...
...
...
...
Everyone else (with a huge gap)

[LeftSider]

Thank you for the response. I greatly appreciate your time doing this. The only other school, I have heard of is Tech, and I believe that is because of their nickname: Wonderboys.

I agree with you about the directional names. That drives me crazy when reading up on football.

Let's be honest, Harding is so good, because they do run an offense from the 1920's, as you say. I know of no other D2 teams that run that type of offense. So, schools are not used to that and if you only have a few days to prepare, you are going to be way behind.

One more question: the schools in the conference play them every year. Is there that big a disparity between Harding and the rest of the conference? Meaning, how are they not ready for it?

I hope you have a great holiday, and again good luck to the bison.

Teams prepare and practice for Harding year around…. GV prepared for Harding for an entire year prior to 2023. The entire GAC prepares for it year around and Ouchita literally has a weekly practice session on it. Everyone knows, the secret is out. They can’t stop it because Harding is disciplined and they have very talented players that the rest of the country didn’t care about (too short, too slow).

[OBUGrad]

One more question: the schools in the conference play them every year. Is there that big a disparity between Harding and the rest of the conference? Meaning, how are they not ready for it?
.

The series between Ouachita and Harding is basically dead even. It’s been like 20 years since either team won more than two in a row. The last 10 years they are 5-5. For the last 6 meetings it’s been whoever the home team is that wins.

Ouachita or Harding have won every conference championship since 2016.

I’d say:
Tier 1A: Ouachita and Harding
Tier 1B: School accross the street and SAU
Tier 2: SE Ok and ECU
Tier 3; AR Tech (on the rise though) and SW Ok (another maybe on the rise)
Tier 4: UAM, SNU, Ok Baptist
Tier 10: NW Ok.

Disclaimer: these are not based on this year, but on the last 8-10 years.

[Bisons10]

Hey group,

This is my first post in this forum. I am usually a PSAC football fan (Go IUP), so I don't know much about your conference beyond Harding.

If you don't mind, could you tell me a bit about your conference?
What is the usual pecking order for football?

Thank you and good luck to the bison in the National Championship game.

Yes it is not unusual for folks to not know much about any other teams in the GAC besides Harding. Very poor representation on the National stage outside of the Bisons.

Harding Postseason D2 Record: 16-8
Ouachita Baptist Postseason D2 Record: 1-7
Henderson State Postseason D2 Record: 1-3

And well, that's it.

[BisonOL]

The series between Ouachita and Harding is basically dead even. It’s been like 20 years since either team won more than two in a row. The last 10 years they are 5-5. For the last 6 meetings it’s been whoever the home team is that wins.

Ouachita or Harding have won every conference championship since 2016.

I’d say:
Tier 1A: Ouachita and Harding
Tier 1B: School accross the street and SAU
Tier 2: SE Ok and ECU
Tier 3; AR Tech (on the rise though) and SW Ok (another maybe on the rise)
Tier 4: UAM, SNU, Ok Baptist
Tier 10: NW Ok.

Disclaimer: these are not based on this year, but on the last 8-10 years.

Agree in general and certainly just taking into account conference games only I see your reasoning for Harding and Ouachita as 1a and 1b, but when you take into account what ea team has done outside of conference, Ouachita is clearly 2 not anywhere close to a 1a and 1b

[Predatory Primates]

Harding has fielded some true national top tier teams. Nobody else in the Gac has done so yet.

Not saying they won't or can't. They just haven't yet.

[Divisiontwo]

It's funny reading a Henderson fan write out their synopsis, clearly making the obvious statement that HU is in a tier of their own... And then an OBU guy claim they're equal to HU. It's not close.

[Inkblot]

In the regular season, Ouachita is on a similar tier to Harding. But in the playoffs it's not close.