The Longwood Lancers have been sitting out there as a D-I Independent for a few years now. But the selective A-Sun has bypassed them and plucked KSU, UNF, FGCU, and Upstate from the D-II ranks. Why? What's the deal with Longwood? (They're state-supported and need to change their name to "UVa-Farmville" or "Central Virginia"....change that nickname, too!)

Looking at the USC Upstate Website, it seems like ETSU might not be the only school having "the best year in the history of our athletics program." They boast of:

A Proud Athletic History

* 1982 <b>NAIA</b> Men

Longwood is at least decent in baseball.

One thing you have to realize is I'm critical of the A-Sun, but only critical of the A-Sun in the terms it is not the right place for ETSU.

The A-Sun is a great conference for a small southern school looking to move up that doesn't have football.

That doesn't fit the ETSU bill, though.

OrangeCamel Wrote:What's the deal with Longwood? (They're state-supported and need to change their name to "UVa-Farmville" or "Central Virginia"....change that nickname, too!)

Difficult to change their name to UVa-Farmville, they have never had an affiliation with UVa.

You may be thinking of UVa-Wise which has been a college of the University since it's inception as Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia in 1954.

How did my post on Longwood get deleted?

Noticed yesterday that Tusculum beat Florida Gulf Coast over the weekend. Pretty funny after my original post. Pitt, I'm pushing for Tusculum to be the 12th member of the ASun. The only thing holding them back is their football team (they wouldn't have anyone to play in the ASun). Here's the sales pitch to Tusculum:

1. Move to the ASun now and be a true Division I school

2. Play two years of independent football, then move from the ASun to the Southern Conference, Big South, or wherever

What everyone happened to the discussions about Radford joining?

Too bad Birmingham-Southern went to DII.

kevster Wrote:Noticed yesterday that Tusculum beat Florida Gulf Coast over the weekend. Pretty funny after my original post. Pitt, I'm pushing for Tusculum to be the 12th member of the ASun. The only thing holding them back is their football team (they wouldn't have anyone to play in the ASun). Here's the sales pitch to Tusculum:

1. Move to the ASun now and be a true Division I school

2. Play two years of independent football, then move from the ASun to the Southern Conference, Big South, or wherever

3. Beat King College in the race to move up and become the TRI's team.

PittsburghBucs Wrote:In fact, in 2003, Tusculum beat Elon. ETSU didn't.

Well that's because goofy Paul Hamilton was coaching ETSU and the QB draw just wasn't working quite well in that game. If Cavan had been coaching it would have been a route.

I am a big fan of what FGCU is building. I have seen the campus a few times and I am telling you that this school is going to be big time someday. They have the land, the have a lot of money located just on the other side of I-75 and they are building the school right. The A-Sun would do well to get them as it won't take long for them to grow into a power.

uh huh. Right.

Maybe we can get some adament FGCU posters on the Smack Talk board :)

and ksu and fgcu can be a rival..the battle of 1-75..though a lot of miles in between.

Good thought! Now, that's a rivalry!

FGCU is gonna dominate the A-Sun. They are in an area that has a lot of deep pockets. They will have the best facilites and coaching salaries. Just think of how happy a coach's wife would be living in that area with the shopping and beaches. Not to mention a golf club membership for the coach. I'm sure some of these older coaches that get canned from the BE or Big Ten would take the job in a heartbeat. O'Brien former Ohio State coach would fit that catagory.

OUBOBCATJOHN Wrote:FGCU is gonna dominate the A-Sun.

Maybe in 2025

FGCU will be a power in the A-Sun...they have the money and the location to bring in talent that will be great in this league.

With all these huge State schools coming into the conference will fully funded programs, the little guys are going to be in trouble very quickly.

Longwood seems to be the only expansion option right now for the A-Sun. There are rumors on the AGS I-AA board that non-scholly football is just a stepping stone to scholarship football for Campbell. If/when that happens they will seek membership in the Big South.

Fresno St. Alum Wrote:Longwood seems to be the only expansion option right now for the A-Sun. There are rumors on the AGS I-AA board that non-scholly football is just a stepping stone to scholarship football for Campbell. If/when that happens they will seek membership in the Big South.

I really like the Campbell posters on here, so hope I don't come off as a jerk here.... but Campbell needs to work on basketball and baseball before any football additions. They haven't had a winning record in basketball since 1995-96 and baseball had 11 wins this year. I like Campbell, but if they're gonna bolt on the A-Sun, I would open the door for them. The A-Sun has been nice to them by not forcing them to play on Sundays.