http://laxmagazine.com/college_women/DI/...conference

Not sure if this means anything at all for future membership in all sports.

Wow. Longwood. That's spectacular.

The Big South is going to start sponsoring a women's lacrosse conference in 2013, which will break up the National Lacrosse Conference. The A-Sun is simply catching the fallout from that conference by adding Longwood, Detroit Mercy, and Howard for women's lax to go along with Jacksonville and upcoming programs at Stetson, Mercer, and Kennesaw State.

I don't see it happening. With Belmont and Campbell both leaving due to travel costs, there's no way a school in Virginia would want to go to Florida to play games without a huge check in its pocket, even for the off chance at an automatic NCAA bid in all sports. They're so bad, they would be a punching bag for Upstate and UNF in all sports.

I said this over on the Mercer board, but I'm convinced that the A-Sun either needs to add some kind of football championship or start recruiting more D-II schools in Florida and Georgia for another wave of promotions. There are better programs to be had in D-II than Longwood that wouldn't be paying huge travel costs.

There are several institutions that aren't on the same wavelength as the "core" of the conference (in particular, Stetson, JU, and Mercer), and I think we're one of them, and we most certainly will be with a new president and AD. Kennesaw is another. If both schools leave, that pretty much forces Lipscomb out on Belmont's heels if/when an OVC opening presents itself, and then the conference is down to 6 members. Gumbart has to do something to either keep the (relatively) northern schools in or secure other schools to counteract their departure. If he doesn't, it's probably time for a merger with the Big South.

(11-13-2011 11:54 PM)Mister Consistency Wrote:  The Big South is going to start sponsoring a women's lacrosse conference in 2013, which will break up the National Lacrosse Conference. The A-Sun is simply catching the fallout from that conference by adding Longwood, Detroit Mercy, and Howard for women's lax to go along with Jacksonville and upcoming programs at Stetson, Mercer, and Kennesaw State.

I don't see it happening. With Belmont and Campbell both leaving due to travel costs, there's no way a school in Virginia would want to go to Florida to play games without a huge check in its pocket, even for the off chance at an automatic NCAA bid in all sports. They're so bad, they would be a punching bag for Upstate and UNF in all sports.

I said this over on the Mercer board, but I'm convinced that the A-Sun either needs to add some kind of football championship or start recruiting more D-II schools in Florida and Georgia for another wave of promotions. There are better programs to be had in D-II than Longwood that wouldn't be paying huge travel costs.

There are several institutions that aren't on the same wavelength as the "core" of the conference (in particular, Stetson, JU, and Mercer), and I think we're one of them, and we most certainly will be with a new president and AD. Kennesaw is another. If both schools leave, that pretty much forces Lipscomb out on Belmont's heels if/when an OVC opening presents itself, and then the conference is down to 6 members. Gumbart has to do something to either keep the (relatively) northern schools in or secure other schools to counteract their departure. If he doesn't, it's probably time for a merger with the Big South.

I think it is wonderful we have the new President and certainly new AD coming on. I am thinking they HAVE to look at our situation and see it is not right. Only school in TN without football? Anybody can see that is wrong. Big South. Southern. Both would be a better fit.

Lipscomb will go to the OVC eventually. There's too many people around here that would like to see it, plus Jax St. and TSU are still considering moves. Old guard TSU people want the Tigers in an HBCU conference, even though their travel costs are minimal in the OVC. I would suspect Jacksonville St. moves up as planned, Lipscomb eases on into the OVC giving them 12 schools for basketball.
It's just a matter of time before Kennesaw, ETSU, Lipscomb, and even Gulf Coast move on, and the A-Sun will transition new, non-football playing schools in from D-2.

Slightly off-topic, but not so much so since lacrosse was mentioned.......did anyone else see that the ASun is adding beach volleyball as a conference sport? It's true.

(11-14-2011 08:58 AM)bucfan81 Wrote:  I think it is wonderful we have the new President and certainly new AD coming on. I am thinking they HAVE to look at our situation and see it is not right. Only school in TN without football? Anybody can see that is wrong. Big South. Southern. Both would be a better fit.

I agree that the Big South is a better fit for us, with its tighter geography and less exotic sports offerings, but it's quite possibly the worst football conference in the country, and it's one of the worst in basketball. I would very strongly prefer we try to get back into the SoCon if we can. It really depends on what App State does, which depends on what happens in C-USA or if the Sun Belt wants to expand.

(11-14-2011 02:32 PM)Mister Consistency Wrote:  

(11-14-2011 08:58 AM)bucfan81 Wrote:  I think it is wonderful we have the new President and certainly new AD coming on. I am thinking they HAVE to look at our situation and see it is not right. Only school in TN without football? Anybody can see that is wrong. Big South. Southern. Both would be a better fit.

I agree that the Big South is a better fit for us, with its tighter geography and less exotic sports offerings, but it's quite possibly the worst football conference in the country, and it's one of the worst in basketball. I would very strongly prefer we try to get back into the SoCon if we can. It really depends on what App State does, which depends on what happens in C-USA or if the Sun Belt wants to expand.

Agreed. I think it is a good time for change now. We do not want to pass up a golden opportunity.