CollegeSportsInfo.com » Big South expansion

Longwood to Join Big South

Matt Peloquin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:38:02 +0000

After upgrading to Division 1 during the 2003-2004 season, and passed over for year, Longwood has finally found a Division 1 home. Longwood will announce today that they have joined the Big South. The conference has always made the most sense for Longwood, with nearby VMI, Radford and Liberty as members. Not sponsoring football was always one of the issues as to why Longwood had less appeal, but that has changed. With Longwood set to join the Big South, the conference now has some more balance: 4 members in Virginia (Longwood, Liberty, Radford, VMI), 4 members in North Carolina (UNC-Ashville, Presbyterian, Campbell, Gardner-Webb) and 4 in South Carolina (Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, High Point, Winthrop).

Liberty Considers FBS Upgrade

Matt Peloquin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:41:57 +0000

When the news broke of Turner Gill accepting the head coaching job at Liberty, an FCS school, some scratched their heads. The migration of coaches from an FCS head job to an FBS head coaching gig is much more difficult than simply taking a coordinator position at an existing FBS school.

But when Liberty announced they were putting together a study to look into upgrading to FBS, the hiring (specifically, Gill accepting the job) made sense.

More…

Big South Expansion Options: Kennesaw St. Adds Football, Longwood Knocking on the Door

Matt Peloquin — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 06:55:00 +0000

While Longwood University might be interested in joining the Big South, the Big South might set it’s eyes on another school.

Photo by BRANT SANDERLIN, BSANDERLIN@AJC.COM

Kennesaw St. has announced plans to add FCS football, starting in 2014. The addition of football will surely put the school on the Big South’s radar. The move to add football was in part made possible by the push of the exploratory committee, which was headed by Vince Dooley.

Kennesaw St. will likely try to parlay the addition of football into a conference affiliation with the Big South. Their long term goals might be to join the Southern Conference, but as a newcomer they will need a starting group.

The Big South is currently comprised of 10 schools with 6 football playing members. Stony Brook competes as the 7th football only member. Should the Big south look to expand, they might look at Kennesaw St. to join as the 12th member and 8th football member as Campbell will also be joining from the Atlantic Sun.

Campbell to Leave A-Sun for Big South

Matt Peloquin — Wed, 13 May 2009 09:58:00 +0000

Campbell University athletics will rejoin the Big South Conference in two years, making the move in all but three sports.
Three sources close to the athletic department confirmed the move Tuesday, the same day a press conference was announced touting “an exciting new direction for Campbell University Athletics.”
The Camels will make public their plans to leave the Atlantic Sun Conference at 11 a.m. Thursday in the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center. Football, wrestling and women’s swimming will not be affected by the shift.

Big South Expansion News

Matt Peloquin — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:01:00 +0000

Update:
Not news here if you read the earlier post, but the Big South made it official: Stony Brook is in. The Big south plans to petition the NCAA for an automatic bid by 2010. The Big South will now have a conference total of 7 teams with the addition of Presbyterian College.

Original:
There is a 2pm press conference scheduled for Tuesday, in which the Big south is expected to announce that Stony Brook will join as an associate member for football. It was thought originally that Albany would join as well, but it appears that might not be the case, with only Stony Brook joining. We’ll know more in a day, but I wouldn’t expect anything too shocking. Fans have been hoping for expansion with a school such as ETSU (more favorable than West Georgia to some) , but appears this one is for football only.

Gardner-Webb Joins Big South As Full Member

Matt Peloquin — Fri, 26 May 2006 12:33:00 +0000

Gardner-Webb University’s Board of Trustees approved the institution’s move to full membership in the Big South Conference during Thursday’s trustee meeting.

Gardner-Webb will remain with the Atlantic Sun Conference – its current league – during a two-year transition period. Gardner-Webb’s final year of competition in the A-Sun would be 2007-2008, with full membership in the Big South beginning on July 1, 2008.

Press Release

Stony Brook Football Upgrades – America East Football Coming?

Matt Peloquin — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 09:32:00 +0000

In an article last year, we talked about the potential for a CAA-A10 football split. In order for this to happen, (2) programs needs to upgrade their football programs. One of them has: Stony Brook (announcement). The America East is only one school upgrade away from being able to sponsor football with the help of 2 CAA/A10 football members. Richmond remians a wild-card. The A10 member is located closer to the CAA schools, but as an A10 full member, they might be pushed to move along with UMass and URI is there were a potential shift int he coming years. A compromise by the (3) A10 school and (3) America East schools might be to bring back the Yankee Conference for the 6 schools. The group could operate like the I-AA Gateway Conference, sponsoring only I-AA football.

The Players:

Albany: would need to upgrade it’s program
Maine: current A10/CAA football member with all other sports in the America East
Stony Brook: recently upgraded
New Hampshire: current A10/CAA football member with all other sports in the America East
Rhode Island: A10 all-sports member
Massachusetts: A10 all-sports member
Richmond: A10 all-sports member

Campbell University Adds Football – Will Join Pioneer League

Matt Peloquin — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 05:31:00 +0000

I-AA football welcomes it’s newest member, Campbell University. The team will begin play in 2008 and will join the Pioneer League. Here is the official news release…

Presbyterian College Upgrades to Division I

Matt Peloquin — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 15:22:00 +0000

In an effort to gain greater exposure for its school while competing at a higher level of athletics, Presbyterian College will join the Big South Conference for the 2007-08 school year. Big South members compete at the NCAA Division I-AA level in football and at the Division I-A level in all other sports.

The Presbyterian College board of trustees is expected to approve the move when it meets on Tuesday and votes on the proposal presented by Presbyterian president John Griffith.

Coastal Carolina and the Southern Conference

Matt Peloquin — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 14:22:00 +0000

In yesterday’s column, Terry Massey wrote about Coastal Carolina and it’s hopes for a Southern Conference invitation.

“It was two years ago the last time VMI visted Coastal Carolina, which is an eternity for a third-year football program, especially one that has come as far as the CCU’s in such a short period of time.”