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I am hoping for such good things with this conference! I just think its going to be so much better post season wise in all sports than the Southland.

I do also, PLUS I have driven just about every highway, street and backroad in the southeast so when I travel to an away game it`ll bring back old memories. lol

Muleriders comment about post-season caught my attention so I did a bit of searching....give the impact the pandemic had on so many sports in 2020, I went back to the prior year and found the NCAA D1 archives of RPIs. Then I compared RPI data from SLC to the ASUN without making any adjustments for change in memberships....not perfect for sure but maybe some insights....

The table for each sports shows the top 8 highest RPI teams in the noted conference and an avg RPI.....then I indicate where UCA would fall...

Volleyball:
SLC - 31-104-108-143-158-178-199-245 - avg 142
ASUN - 62-65-102-145-229-257-286-306 - avg 181

UCA was middle of each conference RPIs. We know VB is usually in the Top 2-3 of SLC.

MBB:
SLC - 157-174-222-249-270-274-292-298 - avg 241
ASUN - 37-53-179-181-226-286-309-337-avg 201

UCA was the 298.....higher up in the ASUN but actually much further from the
top.

WBB:
SLC - 78-84-120-171-186-239-278-290-avg 181
ASUN - 62-180-181-213-232-234-292-325- avg 215

UCA at 278 would have about the same positioning. I am hopeful SugarBears will return to closer where they were 5-6 years ago and a Top 3 team in whichever league.

Baseball:
SLC - 75-84-90-108-121-129-158-159- avg 116
ASUN - 42-78-10-128-165-174-183-224-avg 138

SLC pretty solid baseball league. UCA was at 129. Top ASUN was Liberty who seems to be on the way out.

Softball:
SLC: 62-82-85-106-130-142-179-181-avg 121
ASUN - 40-55-83-104-109-164-194-195-avg 118

UCA not in Top 8 of SLC above but would have been in ASUN. ASUN was much stronger at top. I expect softball to be more competitive than above whichever conference.

Did not try to analyze data for other sports but I think earlier we concluded that football would be a better conference overall and Bears should be well positioned....men's soccer has done very well in MVC and Sunbelt and I would expect that to continue...women's soccer has been very competitive in SLC....women's tennis seems to have gotten better every year for several years.... not sure how that translates.....golf has come a long way at UCA for both men and women and they seem to compete very well in tournaments with bigger schools like SEC and Big 12 teams....probably a good sign...the sleeper may be XC and track and field.......SLC is a VERY good conference in track and UCA stuck in the middle third or a bit lower........however, none of the ASUN teams are known as track powers like SHS, SFA and McNeese so that may help.....I will be watching 2021 indoor track performance data to get a better handle....might even do a pro forma meet between the two for comparisons......XC has been pretty solid the last 3-4 years with two SLC championships and numerous Top 15 finishers...hard to compare times in XC dues to weather and courses ...I would expect UCA to be in top third in ASUN...but that is admittedly a SWAG....

Not sure what all the above means but road trips to somewhere other than Texas.......losing Louisiana Gulf Coast towns is a loss as far as food goes but Nashville, Atlanta and Florida not too bad as a consolation....

Nothing easy about getting an AQ out of this..........any of the ASUN three should be strong candidates plus at least SHS and ACU out of new WAC.....very odd year in sports..........Go Bears!!

https://footballscoop.com/news/two-fcs- ... ll-season/

Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State will compete from the A-Sun, and Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, new FCS darling Tarleton State and the soon-to-be-renamed Dixie State will join from the WAC. The 9-team joint venture will be known as the AQ7, since Tarleton State and Dixie State are still in the process of reclassifying from D2 to FCS, and so they are not eligible for the 2021 FCS playoffs. (Games involving Tarleton and Dixie will not count toward the league standings.)

Each team will play three home and three away games, and the team with the highest winning percentage will represent the A-Sun and the WAC in chase for the 2021 FCS title.

ASUN-WAC Challenge Schedule Dates
Sept. 25, 2021
Sam Houston at Central Arkansas
Abilene Christian at Lamar

Oct. 2, 2021
Central Arkansas at Abilene Christian
Tarleton at Eastern Kentucky
Sam Houston at Stephen F. Austin

Oct. 9, 2021
Abilene Christian at Eastern Kentucky
Stephen F. Austin at Jacksonville State
Lamar at Sam Houston

Oct. 16, 2021
Lamar at Abilene Christian
Eastern Kentucky at Central Arkansas
Tarleton at Dixie State

Oct. 23, 2021
Central Arkansas at Lamar
Stephen F. Austin at Dixie State
Jacksonville State at Sam Houston

Oct. 30, 2021
Abilene Christian at Stephen F. Austin
Central Arkansas at Jacksonville State
Lamar at Eastern Kentucky
Sam Houston at Tarleton

Nov. 6, 2021
Abilene Christian at Jacksonville State
Dixie State at Sam Houston
Eastern Kentucky at Stephen F. Austin
Lamar at Tarleton

Nov. 13, 2021
Tarleton at Abilene Christian
Stephen F. Austin at Central Arkansas
Eastern Kentucky at Sam Houston
Jacksonville State at Lamar

Nov. 20, 2021
Sam Houston at Abilene Christian
Central Arkansas at Tarleton
Jacksonville State at Eastern Kentucky
Stephen F. Austin at Lamar