From what I have seen with RPI this past year the DII schools moving up begin with an RPI in the 330s. You could add Duke to the A-Sun and with all the DIIs and even the Dukies couldn't help the A-Sun's RPI.

alright, lets throw last year out b/c the asun was wayyy down. i don't have the time or energy(especially to argue with etsu fans) but i am fairly adament that the big south is not a better conference than the a-sun. i remember winthrop playing in the play-in game a few years ago. i remember mercer easily handling unca when they had a home and home series. so my question is over the last few years which conference has been better rpi wise? b/c i do not see the big south as a step up for g-w. eventually the big south might pass the a-sun w/ all these d-2's coming in, but i am sitting in the camp that last year in the a-sun was an aberretion and not the norm. and that the big south was just stronger last year b/c winthrop has developed into a very very good program w/ nation attention in a weak league and birmingham southern had a heck of a year last year to give them a run for their money and give them credibility. so i would like the see the conference rpi's over the last few years in basketball and see which conf. is better traditionally.

as far as another school, i would hate to see west georgia come up to d-1. huntsville wouldn't be horrible but they seem out of the way a bit(no more than campbell though). but i just don't want another d-2. but i'm not sure which school that is d-1 that would come. bibb has to have something up his sleeve b/c he had to see gw leaving when he added these two new teams, thus he must have someone in mind for 12. which venter is going to get the inside info first? or is bibb that incompetant(have fun with that statement buc fans ;-) ).

I have a question for everyone. How close is Longwood to Campbell? Would it not make sense to have them take your 12th spot since they are already in Division I and somewhat close to your area anyway? That would give you an alignment of ...

Longwood and Campbell
East Tennessee State and South Carolina Upstate
Belmont and Lipscomb

Kennesaw State and Mercer
Jacksonville and North Florida
Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast

As for the Big South, their loss of far away Birmingham Southern and addition of football minded Gardner-Webb leaves them at 10 schools. You have to assume that they would be holding any future spots for schools that sponsor football teams right?

Liberty
VMI
Radford
UNC-Asheville
High Point
Gardner-Webb
Coastal Carolina
Charleston Southern
Winthrop
Presbyterian

I realize that there is a chance of Coastal Carolina bolting for the Southern Conference, which currently has 11 members, but they have apparently been unable to make an expansion decision for more than a year already. Lots of indecision over there.

The thing that I see with the Big South- and I wanted ETSU to go to that conference for a variety of reasons when the Bucs were getting kicked out of the So Con- is that it provides football.

I recognize that schools like North Florida and Gulf Coast are up and coming schools. I also realize that they are difficult road trips for Johnson City, TN.

I also realize that Garner-Webb and Coastal Carolina are also athletic programs on the way up, but they seem to be farther along.

So, the Big South is a bit more established than the A-Sun, which isn't even sure what its name is.

Campbell needs to follow G-W and move back to the Big South now that football is on the horizon. G-W is making a big leap forward indeed. The A-Sun is a stepping stone conference. Campbell needs to get over the No Sunday play. I find it interesting that the student athletes can travel on Sundays and practise for a couple of hours on Sundays but cannot play games on Sundays. What's the difference?

Andone might be on to something. The Atlantic Sun has a year or so that they can wait before making an expansion decision anyway. What if the Southern Conference takes Coastal Carolina to get to 12 members? That knocks the Big South down to 9 members. What if the Big South then makes a major effort to lure Campbell away as a replacement in order to maintain six football teams? That would knock the Atlantic Sun down to an even 10 members. It might be better to wait and see if that happens rather than expanding to 12 with Longwood and then being stuck at 11 because of unaccounted for shifts involving Coastal Carolina and Campbell.

ATLANTIC SUN UNDER THIS SCENARIO (10)
Belmont
Lipscomb
East Tennessee State
South Carolina Upstate
Kennesaw State
Mercer
North Florida
Jacksonville
Stetson
Florida Gulf Coast

BIG SOUTH UNDER THIS SCENARIO (10)
Radford
* Liberty
* VMI
* Campbell
UNC-Asheville
High Point
* Gardner-Webb
* Presbyterian
* Charleston Southern
Winthrop

SOUTHERN UNDER THIS SCENARIO (12)
* Chattanooga
* Western Carolina
* Appalachian State
UNC-Greensboro
* Elon
Davidson
* Wofford
* Furman
* Citadel
* Coastal Carolina
Charleston
* Georgia Southern

STILL SCREWED UNDER THIS SCENARIO (1)
Longwood

Campbell football will be non-scholarship, so I don't believe we could be considered a "football school" for the Big South.

I've seen Coastal, UNCW, and Samford mentioned as possible invites into the SoCon. This will leave the Big South still searching for that 6th football school and the CAA and OVC possibly looking for replacements.....and on and on and on!!!

Well if the Southern Conference rejects Coastal Carolina and instead goes with a non-football school like UNC-Wilmington as their #12 it is good for both the Big South and Atlantic Sun.

The Big South would retain 10 schools overall (and 6 schools with football). The Atlantic Sun would still be at 11 schools and almost probably have to pick up Longwood as your new #12.

As for the CAA, they will need a new #12, but they have a bigger geographic region to select someone from. Losing their only North Carolina school wouldn't be too big a deal for them.

Campbell supposedly doesn't want to spend money on scholies for football.

Frankly, ETSU and Cambell both make some sense for us in the Big South. Longwood has been begging our league to enter since they stepped up from DII with no luck. We're jonesing for a football school ... any football school.

And frankly, across the board the Big South is a notch above the A-Sun IMHO. Granted its not much of a notch.

If the Big South is searching for scholarship football teams, then Campbell and East Tennessee don't make sense.

You will have 10 schools, 6 with football, if Coastal Carolina is forced to stay put. You would be set for a long time.

BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE (10)
Radford
* Liberty
* VMI
* Gardner-Webb
UNC-Asheville
High Point
Winthrop
* Presbyterian
* Coastal Carolina
* Charleston Southern

Actually, because PC is stepping up from D2 they won't help us in regard to an auto bid in football until the 2011 season. If a current Division I member were to add scholarship football the wait would be much shorter. But like you said, neither the Camels or Bucs seem like they have any interest right now.

Atlantic Sun Conference
Belmont
Campbell
East Tennessee
Florida Gulf Coast
Jacksonville
Lipscomb
Mercer
North Florida
South Carolina Upstate
Stetson

Big South Conference
Charleston Southern
Coastal Carolina
Gardner Webb
High Point
Liberty
North Carolina at Asheville
Presbyterian
Radford
Virginia Military Institute
Winthrop

Southern Conference
Appalachian State
Chattanooga
College of Charleston
Citadel
Davidison
Elon
Furman
Georgia Southern
North Carolina at Greensboro
Western Carolina
Wofford

Southland Conference
Central Arkansas
Lamar
McNeese State
Nichollls State
Northwestern State
Sam Houston State
Southeast Louisiana
Stephen F. Austin
Texas at Arlington
Texas at San Antonio
Texas A&M at Corpus Christi
Texas State at San Marcos