CollegeSportsInfo.com » SoCon expansion

Appalachian St. Committee Recommends FBS Upgrade

Matt Peloquin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:33:14 +0000

A report out of Winston-Salem is citing sources who claim that the Appalachian St. committee voted on Monday to recommend to ASU Chancellor Ken Peacock, that the school upgrade to FBS football.

Appalachian St. has been the subject of many FBS upgrade rumors over the past decade due to it’s success at the FCS level of football.

Over the past year, Appalachian St. has seen other FCS schools such as UMass, Texas St. and FCS newcomer UTSA make the leap to FBS. Meanwhile, other schools such as Montana have flirted with the idea of upgrading to an FBS conference and Villanova has been working with the Big East over the past year to explore an upgrade. Other schools such as Georgia Southern, Jacksonville St., Charlotte, Georgia St. and even JMU have either publicly stated some desire to upgrade or are rumored to be potential FBS upgrade candidates.

With the changing landscape in college sports, it appears that Appalachian St. does not want to risk being left behind. Even with the hypothetical risk of the top BCS schools leaving the NCAA, such a move would send FCS football down another rung.

The issue Appalachian St. would face with an upgrade would be an NCAA rule requiring that an existing FBS conference must extend an invitation to an upgrade candidate in order for that school to transition to FBS.

In other words, just because a school wants to upgrade, does not mean that they CAN upgrade. Schools like Texas St. and UTSA have been fortunate that the WAC needed schools and gladly invited both. Others like Montana, Sacramento St., Portland St., Cal Poly and Montana St. have similar chances as 1-2 of those schools could still join the WAC. UMass has hoped to join the Big East but gladly accepted the MAC invite as it was their only way to upgrade.

But in the south, it is more complicated.

You have Appalachian St. who would ideally like to join CUSA, the same conference that Charlotte would one day hope to rejoin once it is active in football sponsorship. But CUSA has not yet offered ASU the type of deal that the WAC did for it’s newest Texas members.

So for Appalachian St. the first move would be to court a conference.

CUSA will be the top option.

If rejected, which at this time is very likely, Appalachian St. would likely approach the Sun Belt. Geographically, the Sun Belt would be a good fit. But if the Sun Belt rejects them, ASU would need to hope the WAC would be interested in adding them, and extend their footprint from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean.

Georgia Southern Looking at Move to FBS

Matt Peloquin — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:55:00 +0000

Georgia Southern University Athletics Director Sam Baker announced Thursday plans to commission an external feasibility study regarding potential movement of its football program from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A).

Read More…

ETSU Students Vote Down Football

Matt Peloquin — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 09:48:00 +0000

East Tennessee State University officials announced Wednesday evening that students have voted down a ballot referendum regarding an increase in student athletic fees that would have helped pay for a new football program.

“This was an opportunity for our students to be heard,” said ETSU President Dr. Paul E. Stanton, Jr. “This vote did not parallel the positive numbers seen in our previous survey of students last December. While that is surprising, our students have let us know where they stand on the return of a football program at ETSU.”

Samford to Join SoCon

Matt Peloquin — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 15:05:00 +0000

This one has been brewing for quite some time, but is now official.

The Southern Conference announced today that Samford University has accepted an invitation to join the Conference. Samford will become the 12th member of the SoCon beginning July 1, 2008.

The SoCon’s Council of Presidents formally ratified the unanimous endorsement of the league’s Executive Committee during a teleconference held this morning.

“We are delighted that Samford University will become the 12th member of the SoCon,” said Southern Conference commissioner John Iamarino. “Samford’s institutional profile is one that is very consistent with those of our current members – strong academics, an unwavering commitment to the welfare and graduation of the student-athlete, combined with a burning desire to operate a successful athletics program within the mission of the institution.”

More…

Socon Expansion Rumblings: Samford

Matt Peloquin — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:39:00 +0000

SoCon officials, including commissioner John Iamarino, were in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday visiting the campus of Samford University in what could be a prelude to an invitation to Samford to leave the Ohio Valley and join the SoCon. Samford would provide a 12th basketball team and a ninth football team, relieving scheduling problems in both sports. Samford would become the fifth private school in the league, joining Furman, Wofford, Elon and Davidson. We can only surmise that this means the SoCon prefers Samford over another potential member, Coastal Carolina of the Big South.

OVC and SoCon Swap Expansion Options

Matt Peloquin — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:54:00 +0000

The courtship of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has ended. UTC is staying put in the Southern Conference after rejecting the advances of Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher.

How did this ill-fated romance begin?

“I called the chancellor and inquired if they would be open to looking at alternatives,” Steinbrecher said. “Chattanooga has been on our prospective member list for any number of years. They are in what I call our sphere of influence.”

Chattanooga Chancellor Roger Brown and new Athletics Director Rick Hart studied the possibility of leaving the 86-year-old league after Steinbrecher’s call last spring and announced their decision last week. UTC has three natural rivals in the OVC in UT-Martin, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State. Reportedly the SoCon is addressing travel issues with Chattanooga to help soothe some of the Mocs’ concerns.

The expansion and contraction of college athletic leagues like summertime sidewalks has slowed in the past year or so, but the OVC-Chattanooga affair illustrates that it’s not just Conference USA and the Sun Belt and the Big Ten – er, Eleven – that are maneuvering for new teams.

The Southern Conference, now at 11 schools with eight playing scholarship football, is also interesting in expanding. New Commissioner John Iamarino said his league’s presidents told him at his first meeting in June to collect information for their November summit.

MORE…

UTC to Remain in SoCon

Matt Peloquin — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 11:04:00 +0000

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga chancellor Roger Brown said Tuesday that the school’s athletic department has turned down inquiries from the Ohio Valley Conference and will remain in the Southern Conference.

UTC has been in the SoCon since moving up to NCAA Division I athletics in 1977, but Dr. Brown and several school administrators and coaches were intrigued by the shorter traveling distances to much of the OVC.

“The bottom line is that the Southern Conference is one of the most competitive mid-major conferences in the country, and it has one of the best academic reputations of any conference in the country, and we just didn’t see a need for change at this time,” Brown said.

OVC Considers Adding UT-Chattanooga

Matt Peloquin — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 09:57:00 +0000

The Ohio Valley Conference has inquired about pulling the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga from the Southern Conference, and UTC chancellor Roger Brown said Tuesday the school is interested in exploring the possibility. Brown said incoming athletic director Rick Hart has been notified of the talks and will address the issue as quickly as possible when he reports to work around July 17.

“I want to be clear that we have not contacted any other conferences. We have been contacted by the OVC,” Brown said. “No decision has been made to leave the Southern Conference. I think the Southern Conference wants us to continue our membership.” OVC commissioner Jon A. Steinbrecher confirmed that since last fall he and Brown have had discussions regarding a UTC move. The school joined the SoCon when it entered NCAA Division I athletics in 1978.

Story…

SoCon Commish Thinks Expansion

Matt Peloquin — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 13:07:00 +0000

John Iamarino, who became the commissioner of the Southern Conference on Jan. 30, took in the league’s basketball tournament last weekend. He’ll take to the road next, completing campus visits and meeting with presidents and athletics directors of member schools.

Iamarino, who was commissioner of the Northeast Conference for nine years before taking the SoCon job, said that he expects possible conference expansion to be a major topic and is something that he plans to revisit with school presidents. The SoCon has an odd number of members (11) since the departure of East Tennessee State.

“I think we’re in a pretty good position because we could survive with the 11 we have now,” Iamarino said. “But I think if we can prove that we could open up with a new market that will help us with either TV or marketing, and if we find an institution that’s within the geographic footprint or even one that’s outside that opens up a desirable market, it could happen.”

“The presidents are obviously interested in a school with strong academics and the right mission. And you have the private vs. state issue that a lot of our schools think about. If there was a school out there that made complete sense to everybody it would have happened already, but it’s something we will revisit.”

Iamarino didn’t disclose names of possible candidates for expansion, but he said he thinks there are a “handful” of possibilities.

“I think the presidents are looking for a good combination of strong academics, a broad-based athletics program, good facilities and if they can help us with what we’re trying to do in terms of marketing and TV all the better,” Iamarino said.

He said that it’s not implausible that more than one new member could be added, if any are added.

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.”