The American Southwest Conference on Monday afternoon announced some of the revamped schedules for the fall sports programs whose seasons were pushed to the spring. Among them were Howard Payne football, volleyball and women’s and men’s soccer. The ASC press release is as follows:
Conference scheduled traditional fall sport regular season and championship events in cross country and football for the American Southwest Conference have been announced by the league office. ASC fall competitions had been delayed to the spring semester by action of the Conference Council of Presidents on July 24.
Schedules for men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball will be released the week of August 24. The fall sport 2020-21 schedules are subject to change and contingent upon health and safety guidelines of the NCAA and local, state, and federal entities.
The ASC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, February 20, 2021. The Conference meet will be held in Clarksville, Ark., with the University of the Ozarks as the host institution. The women’s 6K race will be run first followed by the men’s 8K with starting times to be determined. Elevens men’s and 11 women’s teams are expected to compete for the ASC titles.
For the first time in ASC history, the football schedule will be played under a two-division model with teams closing the 2020-21 season with a playoff pitting teams cross-seeded in a single game. Each division will have five teams: Belhaven, East Texas Baptist, Louisiana College, Mary Hardin-Baylor and Southwestern in the East Division and Hardin-Simmons, Howard Payne, McMurry, Sul Ross State and Texas Lutheran in the West Division.
Regular-season division play begins February 6 and runs five weeks with eight teams in action each week. Start times are to be determined. The ASC football playoffs are scheduled March 13 with the game location predetermined. The winner of the game between the two number one seeded teams will be named the 2020-21 ASC champion.
February 6 — East Texas Baptist at Southwestern; Mary Hardin-Baylor at Belhaven; Sul Ross State at McMurry; Texas Lutheran at Howard Payne.
February 13 – Belhaven at East Texas Baptist; Howard Payne at Hardin-Simmons; McMurry at Texas Lutheran; Southwestern at Louisiana College.
February 20 – Belhaven at Southwestern; Hardin-Simmons at Sul Ross State; Louisiana College at Mary Hardin-Baylor; McMurry at Howard Payne.
February 27 – East Texas Baptist at Louisiana College; Hardin-Simmons at McMurry; Southwestern at Mary Hardin-Baylor; Sul Ross State at Texas Lutheran.
March 6 – Howard Payne at Sul Ross State; Louisiana College at Belhaven; Mary Hardin-Baylor at East Texas Baptist; Texas Lutheran at Hardin-Simmons.
ASC Playoffs. #1 East at #1 West; #2 West and #2 East; #3 East at #3 West; #4 West at #4 East; #5 East at #5 West. Sites predetermined.