D3 American Southwest Conference back to 6 schools with 10 year deal

[Mavchamp]

https://ascsports.org/news/2025/3/18...expansion.aspx

Looks like McMurry and Schreiner accepted a bribe to join the ASC.

It's a bad look in my opinion for the four ASC schools to bribe 2 schools to join.

It's a worse look in my opinion to accept a bribe to join.

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This will likely quell all the talk of Hardin Simmons or Mary Hardin Baylor possibly moving to the LSC for a couple of seasons.

I'm willing to bet the ETBU talk of joining the GAC will also cease......for now.

Fact is..... they got caught with their pants down. And another implosion is likely..... be it in 4 years or 10.

The Baptist Four would be wise to be making preps for coming change.....of which they were completely unprepared this time around.

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It'll be interesting to see how the SCAC responds. They had planned on getting their AQ by 2026....but now they only have 5 football members. Where do they get #6?

Will Trinity or Southwestern ditch their move to the SAA?

If the AQ doesn't come..... how long before Hendrix bolts? Lyon?

Austin College and Texas Lutheran could find themselves in a bind.

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Wild.

I had accepted the ASC as dead. Never expected this. It should buy some time. Gets things shored up.

If the Texas D3 schools were smart.... they would be working together. Negotiate your differences.

There's no reason the SCAC and the ASC couldn't both prosper as football conferences. But the stubbornness on each side is astounding.

HSU and UMHB have GOT to make some concessions to alleviate all the ill-will felt towards them.

The ones that left need to be willing to come to the table and work things out.

TBH...... if they were all so worried about getting away from the purple schools AND secure their future..... they should have invited ETBU and HPU to join the SCAC too.

That would have given the SCAC 9 football schools.

HSU and UMHB would have been forced to move on and likely join the LSC.

[MooseLodge]

A bribe? I didn't see that in the article you shared. Regardless, a financial inducement to join a conference is just the way things work these days. The "purple" schools as you referred, probably figured out it was way cheaper to offer a couple of programs financial concessions to keep the ASC intact than do anything else. Neither HSU nor UMHB were ever seriously contemplating a move to the LSC. Neither has the money.

HSU, HPU, and likely ETBU are keeping their doors open due to hundreds of tuition-paying athletes at the schools. The term "existential threat" is way overused, but in this instance, three of the four purple schools risk shutting the schools if they can't keep the sports going.

Academic schools such as Austin College, Trinity, and Southwestern have no such pressures.

[Finchwidget]

If I had a nickel for every time McMurry left the ASC before re-joining again 2 years later, I'd have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice

[Buffalo/Islander Alum]

If I had a nickel for every time McMurry left the ASC before re-joining again 2 years later, I'd have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice

MooseLodge brought up a great point on another thread. I wonder if this encourages Sul Ross to return to D3 if they continue to struggle in the LSC now that the ASC is more stable?

[Finchwidget]

MooseLodge brought up a great point on another thread. I wonder if this encourages Sul Ross to return to D3 if they continue to struggle in the LSC now that the ASC is more stable?

Sul Ross was the second school to announce they were leaving the ASC, after McMurry. At the time of the Lobo's announcement, the ASC would've still had 8 members left and still have appeared relatively stable. I don't know what the behind-the-scenes picture was like behind all the ASC departures, so maybe talks with the other SCAC/LSC defectors were already underway, but I don't think Sul Ross' D2 transition was reactionary to the state of the ASC. Of course, this doesn't preclude them from moving back to D3 if they continue to struggle either, but I think Sul Ross moved to D2 because they wanted to be D2, instead of doing it to avoid being stuck in a withering ASC

[Mavchamp]

Sul Ross was the second school to announce they were leaving the ASC, after McMurry. At the time of the Lobo's announcement, the ASC would've still had 8 members left and still have appeared relatively stable. I don't know what the behind-the-scenes picture was like behind all the ASC departures, so maybe talks with the other SCAC/LSC defectors were already underway, but I don't think Sul Ross' D2 transition was reactionary to the state of the ASC. Of course, this doesn't preclude them from moving back to D3 if they continue to struggle either, but I think Sul Ross moved to D2 because they wanted to be D2, instead of doing it to avoid being stuck in a withering ASC

I think recruiting and scholarships was the only way to get players to move to Alpine. JMHO.

[Buffalo/Islander Alum]

I think recruiting and scholarships was the only way to get players to move to Alpine. JMHO.

Fair point. Not trying to be sarcastic but are there some high dollar former pro athlete Sul Ross alums out there to help out with that and NIL? I think Sul Ross would fit in better with other D2 conferences out there if they were closer to their regions.

[Buffalo/Islander Alum]

I just saw on the main forum that D2-SAC Mars Hill is playing D3 power Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX) at home on 9/27

https://cruathletics.com/sports/football/schedule

When was the last time MHB played a D2 school and are they testing the waters to see how competitive they would be in D2?