At the end of last summer, I was invited to attend the American Southwest Conference basketball coaches’ annual meeting in Dallas. Aside from the Texas Rangers/Cleveland Indians game and the fried alligator (it actually does taste like chicken), the main topic of discussion was how to increase exposure for the conference, and help it get an at-large team into the NCAA Tournament.

The 16-team conference is relatively isolated, with few non-conference Division III opponents to choose from. But the teams also play 22 conference games (everyone in the division twice, everyone else once), so there is precious little opportunity to showcase a program outside the league. I recommended, among other things that schools concentrate on playing D-III opponents rather than local NAIA schools, including teaming up with their conference travel partner and sponsoring a holiday classic to attract schools from other parts of the country.

It’s been a year. Some have changed their ways, some not so much. East Texas Baptist’s men and women each do not play one single Division III team out of conference. Jarvis Christian, LSU-Shreveport and Wiley College won’t get any respect or at-large consideration for the Tigers, nor will they help any other ASC team. Louisiana College’s men play three Division I schools, so congrats for the payday, but remember that you’re a Division III school and you should consider playing some Division III schools.

Grading each men’s team’s schedule

Austin: Plays University of Dallas, Millsaps and Southwestern. A for three regional opponents. Unfortunately, this is Austin’s last year in the ASC before moving to the SCAC.
Concordia-Austin: Two games, one against UW-Platteville and one against a D-I. (Also, plays an exhibition against a D-I which counts against its 25-game limit.) Great measuring stick against a WIAC team helps counteract the lack of regional games. B-
East Texas Baptist: F
Hardin-Simmons: Hosts Southwestern (regional game) and gets two D-I paydays. C+
Howard Payne: Travels to Trinity (Texas), plays a D-I game and uses its third game on an exhibition game against a D-I. C+
LeTourneau: A home-and-home with Rhema Bible and a payday at Sam Houston State. D
Louisiana College: The three D-I games. D- unless they take that money and take an interesting trip next season.
Mary Hardin-Baylor: At Southwestern (regional game), hosts UW-Platteville, D-I payday. B
McMurry: Takes its show on the road to play at Wheaton (Ill.) in a tipoff tournament, opening with NCAA Tournament team Aurora. Wheaton is expected to be down significantly this season, but Aurora is a good opponent. Third game is a D-I team. B
Mississippi College: Carver Bible, Wesley and Fisk. Of course, that’s not the Division III Wesley, it’s Wesley of Mississippi. C-, and it’s this high because Fisk is a regional game. At least they’re not playing a club team this year.
Schreiner: Home-and-home with Division II Incarnate Word. No third game on the schedule. F
Sul Ross State: A D-I game and an appearance at Lubbock Christian’s tournament. Neither SRSU nor LCU wants to commit to who the other two teams are in this tournament, but LCU is an NAIA school. Incomplete for now, bordering on a D-.
Texas-Dallas: Plays Illinois Wesleyan to open the season, then Wabash or Alma at Wabash’s tournament. Third game is a D-I opponent. Have to like the challenge right out of the gate. B+
Texas Lutheran: Just two non-conference opponents posted. One is D-II St. Edward’s but the other is D-III Norwich. C-
Texas-Tyler: A provisional D-III member, therefore none of its games are regional games. Also plays three D-I teams, but since their schedule doesn’t affect anyone else in the league, no big deal. Incomplete
University of the Ozarks: Plays at Rust, at Arkansas Tech and at Hendrix. B for two South Region games.

Next, let’s take a look at each school’s women’s schedule:
Austin: At University of Dallas tipoff, playing Dallas and Illinois College. Hosts Southwestern (regional opponent) for third game. Illinois College is non-region, obviously, but is a Division III opponent. B+
Concordia-Austin: Hosts Sterling (not Division III), plays in a tournament on South Padre Island, where it faces Rutgers-Camden and either Juniata or Lakeland. Interesting set of teams, if none of them regional opponents. C+
East Texas Baptist: F
Hardin-Simmons: Hosts Southwestern and NAIA Texas Wesleyan. No third game. C+
Howard Payne: Just two games, both at Hunter’s tipoff tournament in New York City. Pairings haven’t been set yet, as far as we can tell, but neither Hunter, Clarkson, nor Mt. St. Vincent should provide a challenge if HPU is even close to its 24-5 of last year. HPU’s schedule was better last year, with Wittenberg, Southwestern and UC Santa Cruz. C-
Louisiana College: at Northwestern State, vs. Belhaven and at McNeese State. F
McMurry: Hosts Southwestern, heads west over the holidays to play La Verne and Redlands. Creative, though just one regional game. B
Mississippi College: Just two games, but both in-region, at Rhodes and vs. Fisk. B+
Schreiner: at Division I Texas State and Texas-Pan American and vs. Division II St. Mary’s (Texas). Not a good schedule for a team coming off a Division III-record losing streak — hope the guarantees are good. Then again, maybe this schedule means Schreiner won’t hurt ASC quality of wins stats even more. F
Sul Ross State: at Lubbock Christian, at Southwestern’s tournament, where it faces the host and then either a non-Division III school or first-year provisional D-III member Bethany Lutheran. C+
Texas-Dallas: at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, then at the Desert Shootout, where they get South Region opponent Millsaps and either Aurora or Muskingum, D-III non-region opponents. B-
Texas Lutheran: At Piedmont’s tipoff tournament to open the season, where they play the host in a regional game, then get stuck with NAIA opponent Flagler. (Piedmont hogs the other South Region opponent for itself, playing Greensboro.) Other game is home against Trinity (Texas). Hard to dock TLU for Piedmont’s tournament pairings. A-
Texas-Tyler: As with the men’s team, the Tyler women are a provisional member of D-III and are not regional opponents for anyone. Plays an NAIA school and two D-I schools. This should be the last year of this, however, if Tyler plans to remain in D-III. Incomplete.
University of the Ozarks: At Virginia Wesleyan’s tipoff tournament, where it faces Wittenberg and then either VWC or Washington College. Also hosts in-state and in-region rival Hendrix. Although only VWC is a regional opponent at the tipoff tournament, the game against Wittenberg is valuable for the league. B+

If the proposed legislation for 2006-07 goes through, making any D-III opponent played during a school break a regional opponent, a conference such as the ASC can benefit. But even then, it won’t benefit from having 22 conference games, even after the departure of Austin knocks that down to 21 or 20, depending on the division.