LSC scraps spring football

RICHARDSON, Texas — The Lone Star Conference has scrapped plans for a spring football season, and will begin its volleyball and soccer seasons as soon as next week following decisions from its Council of Presidents.

The conference initially moved those four sports — football, volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer — from the fall to a potential spring timeframe on Aug. 7, two days after the NCAA Division II President’s Council canceled fall championships.

Eastern New Mexico and Western New Mexico both opted out of the volleyball season, and ENMU opted out of the soccer seasons. Western New Mexico does not offer soccer.

When ENMU officials announced their decision to not participate in the delayed fall sports, they noted expenses associated with the frequent testing state public health orders would have required for participation.

The following criteria has been determined for the spring sports seasons:

• Volleyball: Teams will play in a bubble format, with the 16 schools competing in four-team divisions. Each team will play four games against each of its three division rivals over six weeks, in Tuesday-Wednesday back-to-backs at same site. For example, Angelo State will open the season with a Jan. 26 and Jan. 27 matches at Texas-Permian Basin, and then host West Texas A&M for matches Feb. 2 and Feb. 3. The season will run Jan. 26 to March 10, with March 15-20 reserved for make-up contests.

The conference championship will include 12 teams — the top three in each division — with a March 23 opening round, followed by March 24 quarterfinals, March 30 semifinals and a March 30 championship.

In the LSC preseason poll released Tuesday, defending champion Angelo State received 37 of 40 first-place votes, and the next three spots went to Texas A&M-Commerce, Arkansas-Fort Smith and West Texas A&M. All four earned bids to the 2019 Division II championships.

• Men’s soccer: Teams will play an eight-game round robin schedule from Feb. 15 to April 6. The top four teams, based on conference points, will advance into the April 10 conference semifinals. The championship is scheduled for April 12.

• Women’s soccer: The 13 schools will be split into two divisions. Teams will play a six-game round robin towards conference standings. The seven-team division will have one additional game against an LSC school that will be considered a non-conference contest, and the six-team division will have three additional non-conference games.

The regular season runs Feb. 15 to March 31. All 13 teams will advance to the conference championship, with three teams receiving first-round byes. The first round will be April 3, followed by the April 6 quarterfinals, April 10 semifinals and April 13 championship match.