ETBU baseball is ranked #4 in the nation for NCAA Divsion III.  They are (20-1) in American Southwest Conference play and (31-6) on the season.

They will close out the regular season this weekend in Arkansas Vs. Ozarks.  They will host the ASC tourney.

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ETBU softball is ranked #3 in the nation for NCAA Division III.  They are (19-1) in American Southwest conference play and (29-2) on the season.

They close out the regular season with a long road trip to West Texas to take on Sul Ross State in Alpine.  They will host the ASC tourney.  

ETBU is also hosting the NCAA Division III national championship for the second year in a row.

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ETBU men's tennis team won the ASC Eastern division championship last weekend for the first time in program history (started in 2013).

The ladies finished as the #2 seed in the East, just behind the University of Dallas.

They both advance to to the ASC championship in two weeks in Austin.

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ETBU's acrobatics and tumbling team advanced to the Divsion III nationals for the second year in a row.

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ETBU's women's beach volleyball team advanced to the Division III national tournament in only their second year of play.  They finished in fourth place.

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ETBU's Cheer squad advanced to the NCA national championships, where they finished #2 in the nation in the Open Division just behind Navarro College.  

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Lot's of good news going on up on the Hill for ETBU......

BUUUUTTTTTT.....there's still a cloud hanging over things with the apparent demise of the conference continuing.

With LeTourneau expected to announce they would be leaving the ASC for the SCAC in 2025.... that officially drops the conference to 4 remaining members in all sports.

The Baptist Four:  East Texas Baptist, Mary-Hardin Baylor, Howard Payne, and Hardin Simmons.

10 teams have departed in the last 2 seasons.  Most of them to the SCAC, but several have joined the SAA.

The ASC has to find at least 2 schools to join the conference lest they lose their automatic qualifying slots into the NCAA's post season tournaments for all sports.  And there aren't may options.

The SCAC is rumored to have no interest in any of the Baptist Four.  Invites are unlikely.  Most are leaving to escape UMHB's and HSU's domination of football for the last 25 years.  It would make no sense to invite them.   

But rumor has it....it's not just the domination that has sent them away. 

Apparently Baptist stances on alcohol at conference sporting events/tailgating is an issue.  The Baptist Four won't bend on the no alcohol rules of their campuses while the SCAC will be more lenient.  

But apparently even politics are playing a role too.  Schools are defecting the ASC  to get away from some of the conservative values held by the Baptist Four schools.  Many of the defectors are affiliated groups less conservative like Austin College and Schreiner (Presbyterian), UTD (Catholic), Texas Lutheran (duh), and LeTourneau (interdenominational). 

Most of the SCAC schools are more centric than the Baptist Four.

What's next?

TBH....no much is being said.  Lots of speculation though.

1.  Saving the ASC is  the most appealing, obviously.  But it seems to be the most unlikely.  All of the D3 schools in Texas, Louisiana, or Arkansas are either in the SCAC or the SAA.... none of which would have any interest in joining the ASC (mostly due to UMHB and HSU).  Oklahoma has no D3 schools.  That leaves recruiting NAIA schools.  There are a couple of possibilities, but are any of them willing to jump on the field with the same teams everyone else is escaping?  Texas College (Tyler), Louisiana Christian (Pineville), Wayland Baptist (Plainview), North American (Houston) are possibilities....though longshots.  Lousiana Christian just left the ASC a few years ago.  Texas College is already getting rocked in football in the SAC.....might be worse in the ASC.  Wayland Baptist may be the best bet.... and NAU is a new program so they may not be interested either.  And the biggest question... are they willing to give up athletic scholarships to jump from NAIA to D3?  Texas Wesleyan (Fort Worth) and Southwest Assembly of God (Waxahachie) would be REAL longshots given their success in the NAIA with scholarships. 

2.  Any/All of the Baptist 4 going to the NAIA.  Travel would be kinder.... but each school would have to find the money to start offering scholarships in their sports.  That's a tall order.  They would join the likes of SAGU, Tx Wesleyan, Wayland Baptist, Lousiana Christian, NAU, and a couple of Oklahoma schools.  

3.  They could form alliances with the Coast to Coast conference (C2C).... or the Southern California intercollegiate Athletic conference.  EIther wold be nightmare travel situations with either multiple trips to the Los Angeles/San Diego area or multiple trips to the East coast and far north/midwest for games.  

4.  Make the jump to D2...or higher.  Rumors have swirled that UMHB is eyeballing the possibility of making the big jump to FCS and head to the Southland or WAC.  Hardin simmons might follow.  Another possibility is some or all of them going D2 and the Lone Star Conference.  The LSC has already claimed UT-Dallas and UT-Tyler from the ASC.  It would be a huge jump in need for athletic scholarship money for the Baptist Four.  Travel would be greater with schools in New Mexico and Oklahoma.  Not to mention....all four would be significatly smaller than most of the other schools in the ASC.  Rumors have had ETBU looking at the Great American Conference, which is also D2....but geographically makes a lot more sense with most of the GAC schools centered in Arkansas...while the ASC is centered in more West Texas/New Mexico while reaching South Texas and up into Oklahoma.

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Big changes for ETBU sports on the horizon...... any ones guess where they land.  Very split about it all.

I want the ASC to survive....but doesn't seem likely.

Invite to the SCAC or SAA REALLY seem unlikely thanks to politics.

NAIA definitely seems less prestigious than the NCAA....but I think they would immediately become competitive in most sports. 

D2 seems unappealing just because of the sheer size differences in the schools that are in D2.  Recruiting to a town of 25,000 in ETX compared to Abilene, San Angelo, Wichita Falls, Odessa seems almost unfair.

But football games every other week in California or Wisconsin doesn't sound great either.

Stay tuned

Where is Shelbyville? Everyone else is posted. 

I think I know why it isn't posted, but I'm pretty sure they have one. 

We didn’t stop after high school and big things have started you can follow us on Apple Spotify also

and here on YouTube here lastest episode and yea I know those guys that town 30 mins away probably gone comment 

 

15-5A BASEBALL STANDINGS
Whitehouse 10-3
Hallsville 9-4
Texas High 8-5
Mount Pleasant 8-5
Marshall 7-6
Longview 7-6
Pine Tree 3-10
Tyler 0-13

Game 13
Marshall beat Hallsville 4-3
Longview beat Whitehouse 3-1
Pine Tree beat Texas High 12-2
Mount Pleasant beat Tyler 15-1

TUESDAY NIGHT WAS A NIGHT OF UPSETS!!!!

Three of the four games were upsets as three lower seeds beat higher seed squads.  Marshall beat Hallsville, Longview beat Whitehouse, and Pine Tree shocked Texas High.  WH remains in first place in spite of their loss thanks to Hallsviille's loss, who remains in second place.  Texas High falls into a third place tie with Mount Pleasant...but now Marshall and Longview are only one game behind both of them.  This all sets up a huge night of games on Friday.

FRIDAY'S GAMES
Pine Tree Vs. Hallsville-  A Hallsville win clinches the #2 seed for the Bobcats, who have stumbled in their last two games to WH and Marshall.  Another loss could drop them into a potential tie with any combination of Mount Pleasant, Marshall, and Longview.  Pine Tree is out of the playoff picture, but they have already upset THS....so this isn't a gimmie.  Especially in a rivalry game.

Marshall Vs. Whitehouse-   The Wildcats have already clinched no less than a tie for the district title...they can claim it outright with a win.  A loss would have them share the title with Hallsville (though retain the #1 seed since they swept the Bobcats).  Marshall still has their playoff hopes alive.....barely.  A win over WH coupled with a Longview win over MP would create a three way tie for fourth between the Mavs, Lobos, and Tigers.  A loss to WH....or a MP win over Longview ends Marshall's season.

Longview Vs. Mount Pleasant-  The Lobos, like Marshall, still have dim playoff hopes alive.  They must beat MP to have any chance to make the playoffs.  If Longview gets the win they would pull into a tie with MP for fourth place (and potentially with Marshall as well).  An MP win seals not only Longview's playoff fate, but Marshall's as well

Texas High Vs. Tyler-  The Tigers can clinch no less than the #3 seed with a win over Tyler.   If Tyler was to pull off the upset...the Tigers could potentially find themselves in a four way tie for fourth place with MP, Marshall, and Lognview.
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15-5A SOFTBALL STANDINGS
Whitehouse 13-1  -------- DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
Mount Pleasant 11-3 ------- RUNNER UP
Hallsville 10-4 ------ THIRD PLACE
Texas High 8-6
Pine Tree 8-6
Marshall 3-11
Longview 2-12
Tyler 0-14

BI-DISTRICT (BEST OF THREE)
Whitehouse (25-6) Vs. Kingwood Park (20-10)  THURSDAY 6 PM at Lufkin 
Mount Pleasant (22-10) Vs. Dayton (24-11) THURSDAY 6:30 PM
Texas High (19-12) Vs. Huntsville (27-4) THURSDAY 6 PM at Whitehouse
Hallsville (17-11) Vs. Lufkin (19-11) THURSDAY 7 PM at Bullard
 

Our new starting pitcher getting ready to be called up.......lol