TMS320F28069M UART, internal loop back work, external loop back fails, RXRDY never fires

For some reason, I can not get the UART receive RXRDY to fire with an external loop back.  I am monitoring signals on an oscilloscope and i can see the levels shifting correctly, correct width based on baud, etc... so i know the data is right.

Also, with internal loopback set, RXRDY fires as expected and i can read the rxbuf, however with an external loopback it never fires. 

I have also tried using the FIFO functionality and get the exact same results, RXFFST only fires when i have Internal loopback enabled, not when i use an external loopback. 

Code below...

void TMS_OCP_Init()
{
    EALLOW; //Needed to write to protected registers

    // Setup TMS_OCP_ENABLE line on GPIO21
    GpioCtrlRegs.GPAPUD.bit.GPIO21 = 0;   // Enable pullup
    GpioDataRegs.GPASET.bit.GPIO21 = 1;   // Load output latch
    //GpioDataRegs.GPACLEAR.bit.GPIO21 = 1; // Clear output latch
    GpioCtrlRegs.GPAMUX2.bit.GPIO21 = 0;  // GPIO21 = GPIO21
    GpioCtrlRegs.GPADIR.bit.GPIO21 = 1;   // GPIO21 = output
    // Setup TMS_OCP_FAULT input line on GPIO21
    GpioCtrlRegs.GPBPUD.bit.GPIO43 = 1;   // Disable pullup
    //GpioDataRegs.GPBSET.bit.GPIO43 = 1;   // Load output latch
    GpioCtrlRegs.GPBMUX1.bit.GPIO43 = 0;  // GPIO43 = GPIO43
    GpioCtrlRegs.GPBDIR.bit.GPIO43 = 0;   // GPIO43 = input
    // Setup SCIRXDB and SCITXDB
    GpioCtrlRegs.GPAPUD.bit.GPIO11 = 0;    // Enable pull-up for GPIO11 (SCIRXDB)
    GpioCtrlRegs.GPBPUD.bit.GPIO58 = 0;       // Enable pull-up for GPIO58 (SCITXDB)
    /* Set qualification for selected pins to asynch only */
    // Inputs are synchronized to SYSCLKOUT by default.
    // This will select asynch (no qualification) for the selected pins.
    GpioCtrlRegs.GPAQSEL1.bit.GPIO11 = 3;  // Asynch input GPIO11 (SCIRXDB)
    /* Configure SCI-B pins using GPIO regs*/
    // This specifies which of the possible GPIO pins will be SCI functional pins.
    GpioCtrlRegs.GPBMUX2.bit.GPIO58 = 2;   // Configure GPIO58 for SCITXDB operation
    GpioCtrlRegs.GPAMUX1.bit.GPIO11 = 2;   // Configure GPIO11 for SCIRXDB operation

    //GpioCtrlRegs.GPAPUD.bit.GPIO19 = 0;    // Enable pull-up for GPIO11 (SCIRXDB)
    //GpioCtrlRegs.GPAQSEL2.bit.GPIO19 = 3;  // Asynch input GPIO11 (SCIRXDB)
    //GpioCtrlRegs.GPAMUX2.bit.GPIO19 = 2;   // Configure GPIO11 for SCIRXDB operation
    //GpioCtrlRegs.GPAPUD.bit.GPIO11 = 1;    // Enable pull-up for GPIO11 (SCIRXDB)
    //GpioCtrlRegs.GPAPUD.bit.GPIO19 = 1;   // Disable pullup
    //GpioCtrlRegs.GPAMUX2.bit.GPIO19 = 0;  // GPIO19 = GPIO19
    //    GpioCtrlRegs.GPADIR.bit.GPIO19 = 0;   // GPIO19 = input

    EDIS;

    scib_init();
    //scib_fifo_init();
    SerialInit();
}
// SCIA  8-bit word, baud rate 0x000F, default, 1 STOP bit, no parity
void scib_init()
{
    // Note: Clocks were turned on to the SCIB peripheral
    // in the InitSysCtrl() function
    EALLOW;
    SysCtrlRegs.PCLKCR0.bit.SCIBENCLK = 1;     // SCI-B enable periphreal clock
    EDIS;

    ScibRegs.SCICTL1.all =0x0003;  // enable TX, RX, internal SCICLK,  //MAKE SURE TO SET SW_RESETn = 0
                                   // Disable RX ERR, SLEEP, TXWAKE

     //ScibRegs.SCICCR.all =0x0007;   // 1 stop bit,  No loopback
                                   // No parity,8 char bits,
                                   // async mode, idle-line protocol

     ScibRegs.SCICCR.all =0x0017;   // 1 stop bit,  LOOPBACK FOR TESTING
                                   // No parity,8 char bits,
                                   // async mode, idle-line protocol

    ScibRegs.SCICTL2.bit.TXINTENA =1;  // can probably remove these, not using interrupts for sci w/ 15khz motor control loop
    ScibRegs.SCICTL2.bit.RXBKINTENA =1;// can probably remove these, not using interrupts for sci w/ 15khz motor control loop

    ScibRegs.SCIHBAUD    =0x0000;
//    ScibRegs.SCILBAUD    =0x0017;  // 115200 baud @LSPCLK = 22.5MHz (90 MHz SYSCLK).
    ScibRegs.SCILBAUD    =0x0059;    // 115200 baud @LSPCLK = 90MHz (90 MHz SYSCLK).
                                     // 0x0060 or 0x0061 would probably be closer to 115200, used 0x005F to scale by 4 from previous example

    ScibRegs.SCICTL1.all =0x0023;  // Relinquish SCI from Reset
}
void scib_fifo_init()
{
    ScibRegs.SCIFFTX.all = 0xE040;
    ScibRegs.SCIFFRX.all = 0x2044;
    ScibRegs.SCIFFCT.all = 0;
}


int UART_polled_rx(uint8 * pData)
{
    //TMS320 Rx Read
    f = ScibRegs.SCIRXST.all;
    //if(ScibRegs.SCIFFRX.bit.RXFFST)
    if(ScibRegs.SCIRXST.bit.RXRDY)
    {
        *pData = (uint8)ScibRegs.SCIRXBUF.all;
        h = *pData; //watch window
        return 1;
    }
    return 0;
}

void UART_polled_tx(uint8 * pData)
{
    while(ScibRegs.SCICTL2.bit.TXRDY == 0){} //Make sure TxBuf is empty
    ScibRegs.SCITXBUF = *pData;
    g = *pData; //watch window
}




TMS_OCP_Init();

void mainISR(void) //15khz
{
    char a = 0;
    char b = 0xA5;

    UART_polled_rx(&a);
    UART_pollex_tx(&b);
}