With Gardner-Webb leaving the A-Sun for the Big South after this season, has there been any talk about a replacement?

I'm thinking the most logical invitee would be Longwood, even though that would stretch the league's boundaries into Virginia. They would still be close enough to the Tennessee and Carolina teams to make inclusion into the North Division feasable.

N.C. Central will probably be joining Winston-Salem in the MEAC, and nobody really wants to take in a rather shaky Savannah State program.

Are there any other options out there? And does anybody know if this possibility is being explored?

This was discussed before in the thread entitled "Replacing Gardner-Webb" which is now, surprisingly, on page two as the number of new, but barely responded to, posts has picked up recently.

The consensus seemed to be that many fans, at least, do not want to extend the Atlantic Sun's footprint into Virginia because Longwood does not bring back enough in return to be worthwhile.

This idea I raised is to go after High Point and get them to switch to the Atlantic Sun. The Big South can then replace them with Longwood. It would work well, geographically, for both leagues.

The Atlantic Sun would get 3 Tennessee, 1 South Carolina, 2 North Carolina, 2 Georgia, and 4 Florida schools. The Big South would have 4 Virginia, 2 North Carolina, and 4 South Carolina schools.

I say stick with 11, and have 20 conference games every year. That would make scheduling easier for every team involved, and then everyone would have the chance to play each school twice increasing rivalries.

I like 12 teams with divisions, division standings and tournament. I like having lots of non-conference games.

Campbell should get out of the ASun as well and go back to the Big South. It makes no sense to be the only NC school with no one to play within a 5 hour drive and no natural rivalries to speak of especially now that they are getting back into football.

I like more OOC games as well. If Campbell did want to bail, that wouldn't be bad for us either. We could be a 10 team league with an 18 game conference schedule. Having fewer teams would give us a chance at a better RPI. Twelve teams is the most fun though.

What makes 12 more fun than 8?

Goldfinger Wrote:What makes 12 more fun than 8?

I agree. I would rather have fewer teams in the conference.

Aren't there still some lingering issues between Campbell and a few Big South administrations over the way they left that league before? In addition, why would the Big South want to add an 11th member, unless you think they would pick up Longwood as a 12th school at the same time?

The two-division, 12-team, type of alignment seems to suit the Atlantic Sun better than the Big South at this time because the Atlantic Sun has more spread out geography while the Big South has relatively compact geography. Number of conference games can always be manipulated.

andone Wrote:Campbell should get out of the ASun as well and go back to the Big South. It makes no sense to be the only NC school with no one to play within a 5 hour drive and no natural rivalries to speak of especially now that they are getting back into football.

I agree that Campbell should consider the Big South. I really don't know why we ever got out. The quality of the teams are similar and the travel would be much more cost effective. Nothing against the A-Sun but it is something that should be considered.

There is not a single away game in the Big South that would be too far to drive to the game if I wanted to go. That is not the case with the A-Sun. Garnder Webb is the only option to attend for an away game and they are leaving next year. There are also several Big South schools that have football. It makes much more sense to play the teams near NC than to travel all over the country to play especially when you are just trying to get a program off the ground. I will support whatever decision is made, but it just makes more sense to be in the Big South.

Campbell is going to have a non-scholarship football program, at least for the first few years, right? The Big South plays scholarship football so there is no way the Camels would be accepted right away. It takes a few years to work up to the FCS scholarship limit, which is 63, and NCAA rules only allow teams to add a certain number of new scholarships each season.

As far as non-scholarship football opponents, Campbell will have Davidson, Jacksonville, Morehead State, and then Dayton as its closest rivals in the Pioneer League. The rest of those teams - Butler, Valparaiso, Drake, and San Diego - are further away. Of course the Camels can also play a Division III team or two and face Big South teams in non-league games too.

Does anyone have a definitive answer for my question about whether there are still lingering issues between Campbell and some Big South administrations over the Camels previous departure from that league? The other thing is, since the Big South will be at 10 schools, adding Campbell would probably necessitate an expansion to 12 teams so it might help Longwood.

I don't know about lingering issues among the administrations, but as an alumnus (from the BS era) and fan, I have a problem with the Big South. CU was a charter member of the BS along with Augusta and Baptist (Charleston Southern now). CU had and still has a policy against Sunday play. Knowing that, some schools (namely Winthrop) pushed to have the MBB championship game on a Sunday. WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THEY DO THAT? Consequently, CU bolted. Can you blame them?? The TAAC (A-Sun) accomodated CU's Sunday policy and immediately accepted them. As a result of CU's departure, the BS lost their auto bid to the NCAA tournament due to not qualifying under the continuity rule (something like six members together for 5 yrs back then). The Big South tried to sue Campbell, but the lawsuit was unsuccessful in court. The whole thing was really dumb on the Big South's/Winthrop's part.

I never felt Campbell fit-in well with the other Big South schools. Academically, we match the Stetsons and Mercers better than the Coastals and Winthrops. Same for football...I'd rather be alligned with Davidson, Butler, Drake, etc. I've heard some non-conference fb possiblities, and none are from the Big South.

I have mixed feelings. I think we need to stay in the A-Sun and grow our football in the PFL. Then, MAYBE explore adding fb scholarships a few years down the road. On the other hand, the lack of local conference rivals hurts Campbell athletics' press coverage/publicity in NC. I don't think the Big South is the answer, though.

That is why the championship games aren't on sundays anymore?

I am biased, of course, but I still think getting High Point to switch to the A-Sun makes the most sense.

Belmont / Lipscomb
East Tennessee State / USC Upstate
Campbell / High Point

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

That would give the A-Sun 12 teams and very sensible divisions. The Big South could take in Longwood.

VMI / Radford
Liberty / Longwood
UNC Asheville / Gardner-Webb
Winthrop / Presbyterian
Coastal Carolina / Charleston Southern

A move such as this gives them four schools in Virginia, two in North Carolina, and four in South Carolina.

Krocker Krapp Wrote:I am biased, of course, but I still think getting High Point to switch to the A-Sun makes the most sense.

Why would Highpoint want to kill their budget with the increased travel in the A-Sun?

BucDoctor Wrote:

Krocker Krapp Wrote:I am biased, of course, but I still think getting High Point to switch to the A-Sun makes the most sense.

Why would Highpoint want to kill their budget with the increased travel in the A-Sun?

The Big South is becoming a league heavily oriented toward public schools and football schools. High Point is neither of those things.

If they joined the A-Sun, it would be divided into divisions, so would the travel really be that much worse? Campbell would become their nearest rival and is a similar type of school. USC Upstate, ETSU, Belmont, and Lipscomb would be the other North Division schools and the travel would be similar to the Big South.

Kennesaw State and Mercer are also not much further away than schools they play in the Big South now. The four Florida schools are further away but High Point would only have to travel to two of them per year while getting the other two at home if the A-Sun would adopt a typical South Division crossover schedule.

Perhaps the travel would be a killer, though, and High Point is content to become an afterthought in an otherwise malfitting league.

Krocker Krapp Wrote:

BucDoctor Wrote:

Krocker Krapp Wrote:I am biased, of course, but I still think getting High Point to switch to the A-Sun makes the most sense.

Why would Highpoint want to kill their budget with the increased travel in the A-Sun?

If they joined the A-Sun, it would be divided into divisions, so would the travel really be that much worse?

In a word yes. 12-14 sports with the additional travel = big $$.