LSC Roundup 11-10

Mustangs head into playoffs with No. 7 AFCA ranking
Mustangs head into playoffs with No. 7 AFCA ranking.

Midwestern State moved to No. 7 in this week’s American Football Coaches’ Association Poll released Monday.

The No. 7 national ranking is the highest in school history.

Buffs headed to bowl game
Thanks to an improbable midseason turnaround, the West Texas A&M football team got its reward Monday.

The Buffs, who finished the regular season winning five in a row after stumbling to a 1-5 start, were invited to the inaugural Kanza Bowl, a postseason game pitting the top teams from the Lone Star Conference and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association that do not earn a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Buffs (6-5) will take on Nebraska-Omaha (7-4) at 1 p.m. Dec. 5 at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka, Kan.

"It is kind of the icing on the cake for our seniors," said WT head coach Don Carthel, whose team won a share of the LSC South title Saturday with a 49-35 win against Tarleton State. "It will help in recruiting to say that you have been in the playoffs or a bowl game every year. The most important thing that I look at, selfishly, is, with these young players, it gives them three extra weeks of practice. It is like extra spring ball."
Related: Football: Mavs will go bowling in Topeka next month
Related: UNO, WTAM in Kanza Bowl

and today's dumb quote of the day (from the Omaha World-Herald)
• Congratulations to UNO football for being invited to the Kanza Bowl. I think. This is the NIT of Division II football. I’m sure an extra game will be a good thing for Pat Behrns’ younger players. But this is Dec. 5, against West Texas A&M, at a 6,000-seat high school stadium in Topeka, Kan. Nothing against the good folks in Topeka, but if that’s a reward, I’d hate to see the penalty.

What does Omaha have to do to get a bowl game? Roger Dixon, get on that one.

Contact the writer:
444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soccer News

Midwestern to open NCAA Division II Playoffs Friday with WT
WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Midwestern State earned a postseason berth for the fourth-straight year Monday night when the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship Committee announced the 2009 playoff field.

The Mustangs (13-1-3) will ride a 16-match unbeaten streak into their first round contest with West Texas A&M Friday at Dirks Field on the campus of Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo. Kickoff is set for noon (Central Time).

MSU and WT, who shared the Lone Star Conference title, battled to a pair of draws during the regular season including a 0-0 tie on Sep. 18 in Wichita Falls, then to a 1-1 tie on Oct. 25 in Canyon.

Buffs Headed To Durango, Colorado, For NCAA South Central Region Tournament
The #4 West Texas A&M men's soccer team is headed to Durango, Colorado to take part in the NCAA DII South Central Region Tournament, held this weekend on the campus of Fort Lewis College.

Lady Buffs Set To Host NCAA South Central Region Women's Soccer Tournament
The #7 West Texas A&M women's soccer team will be at home at The Pitch again this weekend, as they host the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament on November 13 and 15 at The Pitch in Canyon, Texas. WT was awarded the top seed in the South Central Region annopunced earlier this evening on NCAA.com.

Bronchos Make National Field
Lone Star Conference champion Central Oklahoma will make its seventh appearance in the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Championship this week after the Bronchos were named the No. 6 seed in the South Central Regional during Monday evening’s selection show.

UCO earned the league’s automatic berth into the 48-team national playoffs with Sunday’s shootout victory over West Texas A&M in the LSC Tournament finals and will travel to San Antonio, Texas for the first two rounds of the six-team South Central Regional.