(08-12-2015 12:58 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  One of the more under-served college football markets is South Carolina. SC State is on the verge of non-existence. Wofford and Furman are small privates. Winthrop, College of Charleston, Charleston Southern, and USC Upstate have no team. The Citadel is the only game in town in Charleston but has the military restrictions. Coastal Carolina is the only game in town in the grand strand. Presbyterian is tiny and in BFE. I think USC Upstate would blossom just like Coastal Carolina did if they start up a program. And like the USC Upstate hoops team, they'd get the lions share of the largely overlooked I-85 corridor 5A high school talent, which is the life blood of the Clemson football program.

Charleston Southern plays football in the Big South.

Winthrop is the only South Carolina school that mentioned that they are doing a feasability study in adding a football. SC-Upstate have not said a word yet that I know of.
Many D2 schools in the area did start up a program like Limestone.

Ah CSU does indeed have a football team. Geez they're so terrible I don't even know they have a team, and I'm nearly undefeated at bar school nickname trivia.

(08-12-2015 02:58 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Ah CSU does indeed have a football team. Geez they're so terrible I don't even know they have a team, and I'm nearly undefeated at bar school nickname trivia.

They had a winning season the past couple of years. Only Coastal and Liberty took their spotlight away from their feats.

Columbia will never allow USC-Upstate to have a football program. We are talking about people who refused to work with the city of Columbia on a shared baseball stadium out of fear that a minor league team would draw attention away from their baseball program despite the fact that there isn't a lot of overlap in the seasons.

An entity who refused to allow the Charlotte Panthers play in their stadium in it's first year out of fear that it would draw attention away from their football program.

(08-13-2015 10:00 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  Columbia will never allow USC-Upstate to have a football program.

That is the big stumbling block. Upstate is better served leaving the USC system IMO.

http://therambler.org/2016/01/29/major-a...-february/



"Veilleux also hinted that the announcement would concern the possibility of adding football and lacrosse at Wesleyan: “You’ve might have heard rumors that a certain college sport is coming back to Texas Wesleyan. You might have even seen that we’re looking for a new head coach on our HR site.”"


Since October of last year, football and women's LAX was mentioned as sports that they are looking at.


https://txwes.edu/hr/

They listed head coach for football as being open for the job.


Looks like Texas Wesleyan University at the NAIA level is going to add football.

I'd expect SOMEBODY in South Carolina to be a third FBS eventually. In an ideal world, it'd probably be USC Upstate, but they can't get out from under Columbia's micromanagement. I could see Coastal Carolina making the move up. Their football stadium would double as an ideal bowl site as well being just outside Myrtle Beach.

(08-12-2015 12:58 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  One of the more under-served college football markets is South Carolina. SC State is on the verge of non-existence. Wofford and Furman are small privates. Winthrop, College of Charleston, Charleston Southern, and USC Upstate have no team. The Citadel is the only game in town in Charleston but has the military restrictions. Coastal Carolina is the only game in town in the grand strand. Presbyterian is tiny and in BFE. I think USC Upstate would blossom just like Coastal Carolina did if they start up a program. And like the USC Upstate hoops team, they'd get the lions share of the largely overlooked I-85 corridor 5A high school talent, which is the life blood of the Clemson football program.

They're two of my favorite schools in the world.

(08-13-2015 02:04 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  

(08-13-2015 10:00 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  Columbia will never allow USC-Upstate to have a football program.

That is the big stumbling block. Upstate is better served leaving the USC system IMO.

Worked for Coastal their FBS in 2017.

(01-29-2016 08:24 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  I'd expect SOMEBODY in South Carolina to be a third FBS eventually. In an ideal world, it'd probably be USC Upstate, but they can't get out from under Columbia's micromanagement. I could see Coastal Carolina making the move up. Their football stadium would double as an ideal bowl site as well being just outside Myrtle Beach.

Coastal will be the third FBS school next year.

swagger, Charleston Southern was in the FCS playoffs this year. They've done quite well these last two seasons, at least. Maybe before that, too.

I am hoping Oregon Tech restarts football by then.

Hasn't been anything official yet, but look for UT-Arlington to restart football in the next couple of years. They've added women's golf as a start on the Title IX scholarship issue adding football would cause.

Are you talking FBS football for UTA, with automatic membership in Sun Belt?

I'm not sure if they'd get automatic Sun Belt FBS, but even if they didn't I'm sure they wouldn't stay FCS for long.

If UTA adds football? I bet Little Rock would not be far behind to add football as well.

If UTA made the commitment to get FBS football, I can't see the Sun Belt denying them. They let Western Kentucky in, for example.

It would not surprise me if the Sun Belt has talked with UTA and even Little Rock as part of their due diligence on whether or not to renew Idaho and New Mexico State. I feel Idaho is safe as long as UTA doesn't restart their program.

With Sun Belt being able to hold an exempt CCG with only 10 football members, if they want to, I just can't see how it makes sense for them to keep Idaho and NM St as affiliate members. It'd be one thing if both teams were right in the footprint ...

I'm not so sure the SBC wants a championship game, although if the four-letter network were willing to monetize it sufficiently, it will happen. The other thing to remember is that the number of teams in a conference has a bearing on how many bowls with which the conference can sign contracts - shedding two members may cost the Sun Belt a bowl tie-in.