(06-19-2020 11:47 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  Lets not forget that we need to bridge northward into Tennessee. We have D2 schools like Union who was flirting to add football, Lee, Christian Brothers (makes a good travel partner for Olympic sports for UNA) and Lincoln Memorial. Bellarmine could be a flight risk to go to the Horizon. Adding a D2 Tennessee school could help keep Lipscomb in place.

If Lipscomb gets an opportunity to join the OVC or SoCon, they will go regardless of whether the A-Sun has promoted a weak Tennessee private school to join them. The same thing is true for Bellarmine and the Horizon or another league.

The A-Sun needs to be focused on their GA-FL geographic core and public universities that will fit the A-Sun's overall membership profile like North Georgia, West Georgia, Augusta, & West Florida. If the opportunity arises to add an established D-1 member in a nearby state, like SC State, they should take that opportunity. But adding these small, unknown, financially questionable private schools outside of the core area is not a good strategy unless it is truly the only option available.