D-III American Southwest Conference pushes football to spring

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The Division-III American Southwest Conference has announced that the league will postpone all scheduled competition and championship events, including college football, to the spring. 

The ASC is by far the most significant league in Texas, featuring six football playing schools, headlined by multiple-time national champion Mary Hardin-Baylor. Other schools involved include East Texas Baptist, Hardin-Simmons, Howard Payne, McMurry and Sul Ross State. 

Additionally, ASC affiliate members Texas Lutheran and Southwestern announced earlier this week that they will play football in the spring. 

“The conference leadership and administrators will continue planning for fall sports to resume conference competition and tournament opportunities in the spring semester as appropriate,” said Amy Carlton, commissioner of the American Southwest Conference. 

The ASC is just the latest league to announce changed plans. The D-III Southern Athletic Association announced plans to cancel fall sports earlier this week. The Ohio Athletic Conference – which features perennial title contender Mount Union – postponed fall sports earlier today. The D-II Lone Star Conference also postponed sports for at least three weeks earlier today. 

The decision to postpone comes as the COVID-19 pandemic swells, especially in Texas. The state has become one of the global hotspots of the pandemic, which has killed more than 140,000 people in the United States and nearly 5,000 in Texas alone.

At this time, the NCAA has not taken any steps to address national championship competition. However, multiple D-III conferences expect to band together and request football championships be moved to the spring. 

UMHB was projected to enter 2020 as a top-five team, and a legitimate contender to win its third national championship since 2016.

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