OSG NAIA: Southern Poly Is Still At It

One of the HQ's favorite movies is "The Replacements"- the football movie where Shane Falco and the Washington Sentinels

try to make the playoffs with a bunch of players pulled off the streets.

For their Thanksgiving night game with Dallas, some of the Ropers players crossed the picket line for the big game to play the squad of replacements.

Head Coach Jimmy McGinty is anything but a conventional coach and a conventional guy. Here was a bit of his last on-field speech:

"Listen up! This time tomorrow, the strike will be officially over. Now Dallas has made a big mistake out there tonight. They haven't been afraid of you, and they should be, because you have a powerful weapon working for you tonight: There is no tomorrow for you... and that makes you all VERY DANGEROUS PEOPLE!"

Southern Poly's baseball team is in that spot the Sentinels are in... no future after their last loss- whenever that is.

They went through the SSAC tournament in Montgomery last week- fighting weather in both extremes and now get to head to Regionals. The Hornets are making their seventh appearance in the last eight years at the NAIA national tournament.

With the win over top-five Faulkner (who was playing their second game of the day to get to the title tilt in the first place), SPSU captured its fourth SSAC Tournament crown in the last 11 seasons and third in the past eight.

The crowds...??? No, they weren't the biggest...

But that doesn't really matter... the crowds are supporting the teams they follow all through the year...

Those brackets come out Friday and gives the teams that head to the next step in the process a weekend to flock to wherever they need to go next. The HQ wonders if they get to travel all the way across town and play at Georgia Gwinnett College or around the world in any one of these places...

Kingsport, Tenn. Kingsport Bracket
Jackson, Miss. Jackson Bracket
Marion, Ind. Marion Bracket
Daytona Beach, Fla. Daytona Beach Bracket
Montgomery, Ala. Montgomery Bracket
Lawrenceville, Ga. Lawrenceville Bracket
Shawnee, Okla. Shawnee Bracket
Hutchinson, Kan. Hutchninson Bracket
Santa Clarita, Calif. Santa Clarita Bracket

And a lot of people are looking for an ending like this when it comes to Poly...
((HT: Warner Brothers Pictures))


And we'll keep you up to date when we know where they're heading...

OSG NAIA: Another Miracle In Montgomery... A Goal With :01 Left...

((HT: AUM Athletics))

Here's one way to get yourself to a national final...

The game-tying goal by Mathis Kroeger came off a set piece with :04 left in regulation to send the #11-seed Auburn University-Montgomery Warhawks into overtime against #2-seed (and 9-time NAIA national champ) Lindsey Wilson during the NAIA Men's Soccer National Tournament in Montgomery, Alabama.

AUM was down 1-0 and only had 10-men. They went on to defeat Lindsey Wilson in overtime.

Here's the play...


AUM will take on Martin Methodist in an all-SSAC showdown for the second year in a row...

Southern States Signs Deal With Montgomery For Championships

From the conference their ownselves...

Finalized and formally announced today, the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) has agreed to partner with the City of Montgomery and the Central Alabama Sports Commission (CASC) for the next four years. This agreement was signed and made official today by Dr. Billy Hilyer, President of Faulkner University and Chair of the SSAC Board of Presidents as well as Todd Strange, Mayor of the City of Montgomery. The primary aspect of this relationship is that most all major events and championships will be held in Montgomery during the academic years of 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15.

What the above paragraph means is that the city will host anywhere from 9 to 11 of the SSAC's conference title games and will be in place to bid for the NAIA soccer championships in upcoming years...

“We are delighted to welcome the Southern States Athletic Conference to Montgomery and the River Region.” Mayor Todd Strange added, “The confidence they are showing in our ability to host these events is gratifying and validates our investment in facilities to attract these kinds of sporting events. We look forward to working with the SSAC through our Central Alabama Sports Commission and pledge to them our continued support as we look to a long term relationship.”

In accordance with the NAIA "Champions of Character" initiative, there will also be associated events involving student-athletes nominated and qualified for that honor inside the SSAC and the NAIA...

As an example of the championships to come to Montgomery, here's Belhaven clinching the SSAC conference title against William Carey University...
((HT: BelhavenUniversity))