The frustration is evident and understandable. It always felt that we would inevitably reach this point during the 2024 season when the American Southwest Conference and Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference chose to play a double round-robin conference format this year. To be fair, the SCAC chose a double round-robin format, and the ASC was forced into that format.

With one week remaining in the regular season and playoff selections occurring on Sunday, Mary Hardin-Baylor is on the verge of missing the NCAA Division III playoffs for the second consecutive year. The Cru will likely end up with the minimum number of countable wins (5) for the new NCAA Power Index, which determines at-large bids and seeding for the NCAA Division III playoffs. That’s assuming UMHB defeats Howard Payne on Saturday.

In recent years, finding DIII nonconference opponents to fill the schedule has become increasingly complicated for UMHB and Hardin-Simmons. The need to find four nonconference games made that challenge even more difficult. 

The Crusaders entered the 2024 season with 10 games on their schedule. Six of those games are against the other three teams in the ASC. One of the four nonconference games was against a DIII foe, with NAIA Bethel being the other countable nonconference opponent. 

One game was against Westgate Christian, a team in a similar position to North American University in that they’re starting a football program with hopes of earning NAIA accreditation in the future. The other scheduled contest against an independent college in Louisiana, John Melvin, was canceled when the Millers did not have enough healthy players available. 

“Obviously, we’d like not to have to be doing this. There’s another Texas conference that is choosing to play a double round-robin instead of playing us, and I have strong feelings about that,” UMHB coach Larry Harmon said. “Football is fun and exciting. Part of that excitement is playing different people. But it’s a necessary evil to schedule how we did this year.”

HSU coach Jesse Burleson found three DIII schools to play, giving the Cowboys nine games for the NPI formula, but it wasn’t easy.

“It’s brutal trying to find games. You spend so much time doing that, and there has to be a better way to do this,” Burleson said. “Whatever that way is, we haven’t found it yet. We’ll keep trying to find a solution, but it gets harder every year.”

Finding nonconference opponents isn’t only a challenge for UMHB and HSU. It’s also a significant reason the ASC is on the verge of dissolving. The challenge for ASC Commissioner David Flores is finding other schools to compete in the same conference as the “purple schools” in football.

Why would another school willingly join a conference with UMHB and HSU? Since the ASC began sponsoring football in 1996, only once has neither of them earned at least a share of the conference title. That was in 1997, when Mississippi College won the outright conference title. Earning an at-large bid is an unlikely proposition as well.

Supporters of the “purple schools” argue that leaving a conference because of an inability to compete athletically goes against the ideals of Division III athletics and point to the DIII philosophy of supporting “student-athletes in their efforts to reach the highest levels of athletics performance, with a primary emphasis on conference and regional competition, while providing access to national championships.” 

DIII national pundit Frank Rossi said on X/Twitter that the other schools should “‘GET BETTER.’ Go to your alumni, see if they want to get behind their athletics programs like UMHB and HSU have done, and either get that commitment or stay a middling team in a great conference.”

However, those I’ve spoken to in the SCAC believe the move is in keeping with the DIII philosophy of developing and maintaining an “environment that promotes sportsmanship and a positive culture for student-athletes, coaches, and administrative personnel, recognizing the role intercollegiate athletics can play in human development.” 

For many of the now SCAC teams, the problem wasn’t as much access to the football playoffs as it was about sportsmanship. They routinely note the impact of losing by 50 to 70 points or more to UMHB and HSU every season on the DIII experience of their student-athletes. Many teams in the SCAC feel the move gives their student-athletes a chance to compete in the DIII playoffs and point to Texas Lutheran’s potential at-large bid this year as proof they made the correct move.

The good news is there could be a solution for UMHB and HSU’s scheduling difficulties next year. Sources within the SCAC have confirmed they will not use a double round-robin format after this season in anticipation of Hendrix joining the conference in 2025 and Schreiner adding football in 2026.

Could that mean a potential scheduling alliance between the SCAC and ASC? That is possible, but any alliance will likely include only one or two games against ASC teams. The SCAC seems content with avoiding entering into any agreement that would determine an automatic bid.

Will SCAC teams consider scheduling games against ASC competition next year? After all, crosstown rivals HSU and McMurry were able to work out a contract to continue their series as nonconference foes. 

The SCAC teams are now in a position of strength, and they feel confident in their ability to find enough nonconference opponents in their region to fill their schedules without using ASC teams. My sources within the SCAC contend that every member is open to scheduling games against ASC schools. However, they are adamant that ASC teams must “meet them on their terms.”

The solution may be a return to open dialog between the schools, with administrators addressing each side's concerns openly and honestly. While that isn’t likely to save the ASC as a conference, it could solve the scheduling issues that UMHB and HSU face each season. It could also begin to repair strained relationships, which would ultimately benefit the student-athletes.