|
| Mary Hardin-Baylor athletics photo Andrew Zavonia |
By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com
The American Southwest Conference is being moved to Region 3 and the Presidents' Athletic Conference is being moved to Region 2 for this year, the first year of the six-region format in NCAA Division III football, sources tell D3sports.com.
The ASC, home to multiple-time Stagg Bowl-winner Mary Hardin-Baylor, had originally been published as being a member of Region 6, along with the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Northwest Conference and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, traditionally among the top conferences in NCAA Division III football. And the Southern Athletic Association, which is similar to the ASC geographically and has often had schools go back and forth between its ranks, was listed as being in Region 3.
Now the ASC will join its neighbors in Region 3, and the Presidents' Athletic Conference is moving to Region 2 to balance out numbers.
The breakdown, region by region:
Region 1: ECFC, MAC, MASCAC, NESCAC (does not accept playoff bids), NEWMAC
Region 2: Centennial, E8, LL, NJAC, PAC
Region 3: ASC, ODAC, SAA, USAC
Region 4: HCAC, MIAA, NCAC, OAC
Region 5: ARC, CCIW, MWC, NACC
Region 6: MIAC, NWC, SCIAC, UMAC, WIAC
Although the regional assignment of a conference won't necessarily affect its position in the bracket and shouldn't affect its selection, having a large number of teams from the same region in contention for the five at-large playoff bids could create a logjam and possible confusion for the NCAA selection committee when it comes time to select the at-large bids.
Moving the ASC means that an at-large team from that conference, say, Hardin-Simmons or Howard Payne, can be considered at the same time as a team such as, say UW-La Crosse or Bethel. If all were in the same region, they would each have to wait their turn to be selected to the field.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.