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ASC Announce Expansion
As reported here first on D3VbWest.Com, the ASC has officially announced a 10-year agreement with 6 “anchor members” that will preserve the conferences Automatic Qualifiers (AQ) and, seemingly, ensure its viability for at least a decade. Those members are ETBU, Hardin-Simmons, Howard Payne, Mary Hardin-Baylor, McMurry and Schreiner. Those first four schools are sometimes referred to as the “Baptist 4”.
With all of the rumors flying yesterday regarding the amount of money given to both Schreiner and McMurry to switch conferences, there was real concern at how long it would purchase their loyalty. The ASC’s press release answered that question and it was a good move by them to secure that stability. Of course, I can’t help but think that somewhere someone said you can’t serve both God and money but it sure seems like the ASC has figured out a way to do just that. In fairness to the ASC, the Bible had no clue what football and conference realignment would be like today or I’m sure there would have been an eleventh commandment.
I mention football because that is really the source of our pain the last few years with the tug-of-war between the ASC, SCAC and even the SAA. As I mentioned yesterday, the SCAC currently has the most members but doesn’t have enough football playing members (down to 5 after this move) to secure an AQ for their conference (need 6). There will be more tug-of-war in the near future. With this move by the ASC locking the teams down for 10-years, focus (again) to the SAA/SCAC dynamic and whether another team, like Hendrix, will move over to the SCAC. If it helps SCAC commissioner Dwayne Hanberry, I know the going rate that might convince a school to cross state lines.
I loved the comments in the ASC press release from the two school’s presidents. Of course, I would have loved if either had just said, “We got our bag.” I’m joking around a bit in this article but I am 100% happy that the ASC is secure. I look at this stuff through a volleyball lens and I see two quality conferences in the state of Texas. I also see two schools in Trinity and Southwestern who reside in the state but work out of the SAA (for academic reasons). That’s a lot of possible non-conference matchups that could promote our Texas teams to more at large bids. This assumes schools are smart about using those first two weeks and are able to get money to travel out-of-state and, of course, do well. The ASC, with just 6 schools, will have just 10 dates taken by conference play so they have the ability to schedule a ton of non-conference matches. I’ve heard there has been in influx of money to both Schreiner and McMurry recently, so let’s see if it translates to more travel for the volleyball programs. (Holding breath…now.)
With the SCIAC officially expanding yesterday and the ASC making their expansion official today, we have certainly created Region X Expansion Week. If only there was someway to find merchandise that could be purchased to celebrate!
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