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Southland reveals scheduling process for Isles

School's full membership in conference commences next season with volleyball

By Lee Goddard Caller-Times
February 3, 2006


The first taste of new conference competition should come on Sept. 22 for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

That is scheduled to be opening night for Southland Conference volleyball competition, giving the Islanders their first match as a full-fledged conference member, and not just a fill-in-the-gap affiliate.

Southland commissioner Tom Burnett said the dates and divisions have been set for all sports. Volleyball will play a Friday-Saturday schedule starting Sept. 22. Basketball will tip its season Jan. 4 - though some games could be shuffled to Jan. 3 due to schedule conflicts - and go with a Thursday-Saturday rotation.

Baseball will open March 16 and play three-game weekend series, and softball's first pitch is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 27, though the sport will primarily be held on weekends after that.

Next season will mark the first for A&M-Corpus Christi as a full conference member, though the Islanders have had associations with the Southland in men's tennis and the Big South in softball. Now, every sport will have a shot at a conference title.

Some Southland sports - men's and women's basketball, volleyball and baseball - will have divisions. With both Stephen F. Austin and Lamar wishing to play Texas teams in the West Division, Burnett said a compromise had to be struck.

Joining A&M-Corpus Christi in the west are Sam Houston State, Texas-Arlington, Texas-San Antonio, Texas State and, for the next two seasons, Stephen F. Austin. Southland newcomer Central Arkansas, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Northwestern (La.) State, Southeastern Louisiana and, for the next two seasons, Lamar will comprise the east.

Lamar and Stephen F. Austin will rotate divisions every two seasons. So, when the conference presidents met last week, they went with what they believed was the best way to keep both schools content.

"Playing west is important to both schools," Burnett said. "In the end, to avoid having one permanently play east, the two-year system was approved. It's to give both sides a chance to play west. We'll see how it works."

Baseball will have a three-game series against every team in its division, and face five of the six teams in the other division. Basketball will play home-and-home series against its division and one game against each team from the other.

Lamar does not field softball, meaning there will be an 11-team setup. The plan is to play every other team in one three-game series.

With the exception of basketball, Burnett said all conference games have been finalized as to what teams will be meeting during a given time frame. The only wait before releasing the schedules is to give schools time to adjust for conflicts.

http://www.caller.com/ccct/islanders/article/0,1641,CCCT_820_4438607,00.html

More from the SLC, instead of relying on the Corpus Christi Caller...

Southland Conference Board of Directors Approve Changes
Future alignment of the league and approval of schedule formats highlight presidents' meeting.
Feb. 3, 2006

PLANO, Texas - The Southland Conference Board of Directors met recently and has formally approved a number of measures that will affect the competitive alignment of the league when it expands to 12 institutions on July 1, 2006.

Central Arkansas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi become the newest members of the Southland Conference this summer, and will bring the league to its largest alignment in its 42-year history. UCA will receive full league schedules in 2006-07 in all conference sports except football, since many Southland teams have completed their football scheduling for 2006. The Bears will be a part of the 2007 league schedule in football.

The Board approved the following Divisional alignments set for men's and women's basketball, baseball and volleyball on a two-year rotation. The 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years will consist of the following divisions:

East Division: Central Arkansas, Lamar, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana

West Division: Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas State, Texas-Arlington, Texas-San Antonio

Note: In 2008-09 and 2009-10, SFA and Lamar will switch divisions.

"In determining the divisional scheduling format, it was clear that both Lamar and SFA strongly desired to play in the west," league commissioner Tom Burnett said. "With the four Louisiana institutions and Central Arkansas falling naturally in an eastern alignment, a compromise was necessary to bring a sixth team to the East Division. Instead of permanently assigning either school, a rotation system over four years was developed. Over the four year period, SFA and Lamar will miss one home and one away matchup in one of the divisional sports with each of the other West opponents."

In basketball and volleyball, teams will play divisional opponents twice and opposite divisional teams once for a 16-game or 16-match schedule. In baseball, teams will play divisional opponents in a three-game series, and play five of the six opposite divisional teams in a three-game series for a total of 30-games.

All other sports with regular season competition will play single round-robin formats: The 11 Softball teams will play a 30-game schedule, playing 10 opponents in three-games series. The 9 women's soccer teams will play an eight-match single round-robin schedule. In tennis, the 12 women's teams will play an 11-match single round-robin schedule. The seven men's tennis programs will play a six-match single round-robin schedule. In cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, and golf will continue to be championship-only sports, with no regular season conference competition.

Regular-season sports schedules for 2006-07, with the exception of men's and women's basketball, have been approved by the membership. A draft of the basketball schedules is being reviewed at this time. League administrators will continue to review other competitive issues through the spring, including champion designations, postseason tournament qualification in some sports, and points distributions in the all-sports awards. It is expected that final decisions will be made prior to or during the conference's annual spring meeting, May 30-June 2, in Galveston, Texas.

"The scheduling and re-alignment process has actually been very productive, and our membership is to be complimented for its willingness to make everything work, even when minor disagreements entered into the discussions," said Burnett. "The league remains very excited about the new look of the league, and we believe the 12-institution alignment will further enhance and strengthen our collective successes in the future."

Just so I'm straight and others are too:

EAST:
1. UCA
2. McNeese State
3. Nicholls State
4. Northwestern State
5. Southeastern Louisiana
6. Lamar/SFA (rotational)

WEST:
1. Sam Houston State
2. Texas State
3. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
4. U. Texas-Arlington
5. U. Texas-San Antonio
6. SFA/Lamar (rotational)

As I said before I wish we could have gotten into the East, but I guess it will be easier on the athletic budget staying in the west

You get that mixed up? You guys are in the east, which is definitely cheaper than heading out west. I can only imagine, the Conway to Corpus trip, geez!