Big South & OVC FB agreement

[Laker]

Big South & OVC to associate for football in 2023

Big South Conference and OVC Announce Football Agreement; Unique Association to Benefit All Football Members - Ohio Valley Conference (ovcsports.com) (http://ovcsports.com/news/2022/2/22/big-south-conference-and-ovc-announce-football-agreement.aspx)

[WestCoastAggie]

https://twitter.com/OVCSports/status/1496198195277451266

[Laker]

Should they name the new group

A. Big Ohio
B. Big Valley
C. South Ohio
D. South Valley

I'll vote for the Big Valley, especially if they feature Audra Barkeley.

[JacksFan40]

Should they name the new group

A. Big Ohio
B. Big Valley
C. South Ohio
D. South Valley

I'll vote for the Big Valley, especially if they feature Audra Barkeley.
Big Valley sounds like something in Montana. I’d prefer South Valley.

[POD Knows]

Death Valley

[UNAPride]

Big South & OVC to associate for football in 2023

Big South Conference and OVC Announce Football Agreement; Unique Association to Benefit All Football Members - Ohio Valley Conference (ovcsports.com) (http://ovcsports.com/news/2022/2/22/big-south-conference-and-ovc-announce-football-agreement.aspx)

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Laker again.

[UNAPride]

Should they name the new group

A. Big Ohio
B. Big Valley
C. South Ohio
D. South Valley

I'll vote for the Big Valley, especially if they feature Audra Barkeley.

Only if they use the theme song!! lol


https://youtu.be/vE1bi9K-1S8

[ElCid]

Death Valley

Dead Valley.

[ElCid]

Should they name the new group

A. Big Ohio
B. Big Valley
C. South Ohio
D. South Valley

I'll vote for the Big Valley, especially if they feature Audra Barkeley.

Nice! She was a hottie.

[Mocs123]

So the A-Sun and WAC are in an scheduling alliance and the Big South and OVC are in a scheduling alliance..... It would be funnier if the A-Sun and Big South were in a scheduling alliance so KSU would have to play all the schools they just ditched to go to the A-Sun.

[ElCid]

So the A-Sun and WAC are in an scheduling alliance and the Big South and OVC are in a scheduling alliance..... It would be funnier if the A-Sun and Big South were in a scheduling alliance so KSU would have to play all the schools they just ditched to go to the A-Sun.

Absolutely hilarious.

[OhioHen]

Should they name the new group

A. Big Ohio
B. Big Valley
C. South Ohio
D. South Valley

I'll vote for the Big Valley, especially if they feature Audra Barkeley.
The Other Valley

[ElCid]

Should they name the new group

A. Big Ohio
B. Big Valley
C. South Ohio
D. South Valley

I'll vote for the Big Valley, especially if they feature Audra Barkeley.

Or how about AQ9 or 10.

[ST_Lawson]

So the A-Sun and WAC are in an scheduling alliance and the Big South and OVC are in a scheduling alliance..... It would be funnier if the A-Sun and Big South were in a scheduling alliance so KSU would have to play all the schools they just ditched to go to the A-Sun.

The OVC already had a scheduling alliance with the Southland...this sounds like something much closer to a "football conference" made up of the scholarship football-playing teams in both conferences.
If that is the case, this could really open the door for WIU to take all the other sports to the OVC, since they wouldn't be as concerned with getting football teams and WIU could stay in the MVFC for football.

[aceinthehole]

I'm very interested too see the details of this arraignment.

Certainly is good news for OVC and BS schools with football.

How will this agreement impact both existing associate football members (RMU) and potential new associate members (Bryant)?

[FUBeAR]

Should they name the new group

A. Big Ohio
B. Big Valley
C. South Ohio
D. South Valley

I'll vote for the Big Valley, especially if they feature Audra Barkeley.

…a girl too impetuous to play it safe.

[WestCoastAggie]

The Other Valley

the Heartland Football Conference.

[EKU05]

So the A-Sun and WAC are in an scheduling alliance and the Big South and OVC are in a scheduling alliance..... It would be funnier if the A-Sun and Big South were in a scheduling alliance so KSU would have to play all the schools they just ditched to go to the A-Sun.

The ASUN/WAC thing is over. Both leagues are fielding separate football conferences starting in 2022. I did notice that EKU is still hosting Sam Houston State out of conference, though.

[lionsrking2]

I'm very interested too see the details of this arraignment.

Certainly is good news for OVC and BS schools with football.

How will this agreement impact both existing associate football members (RMU) and potential new associate members (Bryant)?

I'd be interested as well considering at least two, maybe three, OVC members have been rumored to be coming to the Southland.

[caribbeanhen]

Death Valley

Valley Girls

[Laker]

Nice! She was a hottie.

Yes- and got dumped for Bo Derek!

[NY Crusader 2010]

I'd be interested as well considering at least two, maybe three, OVC members have been rumored to be coming to the Southland.

My head is spinning with all this OVC, Big South, Southland, A-Sun talk. Seems like those four leagues are all on shaky ground and should just jump into a blender and come out with two solid all-sports conferences.

[POD Knows]

Valley GirlsValley of the Dolls

[wapiti]

Is this just a scheduling agreement. Or is it a conference alignment. Is an alignment, how will it effect auto bids?

[caribbeanhen]

Valley of the Dolls

Harper Valley PTA

[aceinthehole]

Is this just a scheduling agreement. Or is it a conference alignment. Is an alignment, how will it effect auto bids?

Details still to come, but it appears to be a conference alignment, not a scheduling alliance.

Regardless, this won't be effective this season. First year is in 2023.

[Laker]

Harper Valley PTA

Jeannie C. Riley sang, but Jeannie (Barbara Eden) was in the movie.

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/w6UeJ3BmKXSrn6yvXz44lYGr8xO.jpg

[Keeper]

Should they name the new group

A. Big Ohio
B. Big Valley
C. South Ohio
D. South Valley

I'll vote for the Big Valley, especially if they feature Audra Barkeley.

BigOhio is taken (voice phone provider company)

How about Oh-BS ?

[Sir William]

This "agreement" is a somewhat desperate move on the part of both the BS and the OVC. And yes, desperate times may call for desperate measures, so I'm not judging either conference for doing this. Heck, I don't blame them, and it's probably the best move at the moment. Honestly, what else can they really do?

However, this does not solve for the long-term. It probably only solves for 1-2 years and not much beyond that, unless the conferences form some kind of official and "binding" football merger beyond the 4-yr friendly agreement. I would expect more volatility over the next couple of years for those football programs currently in the BS and OVC, as well as the Southland and ASun.

[ElCid]

BigOhio is taken (voice phone provider company)

How about Oh-BS ?

This is pretty much unbeatable. Bravo!

[Libertine]

This "agreement" is a somewhat desperate move on the part of both the BS and the OVC. And yes, desperate times may call for desperate measures, so I'm not judging either conference for doing this. Heck, I don't blame them, and it's probably the best move at the moment. Honestly, what else can they really do?

However, this does not solve for the long-term. It probably only solves for 1-2 years and not much beyond that, unless the conferences form some kind of official and "binding" football merger beyond the 4-yr friendly agreement. I would expect more volatility over the next couple of years for those football programs currently in the BS and OVC, as well as the Southland and ASun.

QFT. This arrangement solves nothing. In fact, I think it makes things ultimately worse for the Big South.

I'm sure the OVC schools have their own concerns and none of the following is intended to be insulting to them but this arrangement, while it solves one problem, only exacerbates others because running out to Illinois and Missouri without an FBS payday at the other end is only going to highlight the existing problems for some Big South schools. Sure, it's a home-and-home situation but it doesn't gain those schools anything other than a filled slot in the schedule. If the Big South can't find new members tout de suite, economic factors are going to come into play and schools who aren't sitting on a sizable endowment <cough>Charleston Southern!!<cough> are going to have to weigh how much the football program is actually helpful to the school. G-Webb, a private, religious school that wants to remain D1 but which has no realistic path to developing the program beyond what it already is, is going to have to examine if being in a league with Campbell, Robert Morris -- both of whom will be fine -- and a slate full of directional state schools is what it wants to be. Thanks to this merger, all of these factors are now going to have be studied sooner rather than later so, from my view, this whole thing only hastens the end of the Big South as a football conference.

As for RMU and Campbell could easily go independent for a while if they had to but both schools should be getting on the phone with the MEAC and SoCon, respectively. Obviously, Bobby Mo isn't an HBCU but RMU's Pittsburgh market size should help the MEAC leadership see the benefit of adding them. As for Campbell, they're in a better position today than Mercer was in 2014 and would broaden the SoCon footprint into the Raleigh area.

[ElCid]

QFT. This arrangement solves nothing. In fact, I think it makes things ultimately worse for the Big South.

I'm sure the OVC schools have their own concerns and none of the following is intended to be insulting to them but this arrangement, while it solves one problem, only exacerbates others because running out to Illinois and Missouri without an FBS payday at the other end is only going to highlight the existing problems for some Big South schools. Sure, it's a home-and-home situation but it doesn't gain those schools anything other than a filled slot in the schedule. If the Big South can't find new members tout de suite, economic factors are going to come into play and schools who aren't sitting on a sizable endowment <cough>Charleston Southern!!<cough> are going to have to weigh how much the football program is actually helpful to the school. G-Webb, a private, religious school that wants to remain D1 but which has no realistic path to developing the program beyond what it already is, is going to have to examine if being in a league with Campbell, Robert Morris -- both of whom will be fine -- and a slate full of directional state schools is what it wants to be. Thanks to this merger, all of these factors are now going to have be studied sooner rather than later so, from my view, this whole thing only hastens the end of the Big South as a football conference.

As for RMU and Campbell could easily go independent for a while if they had to but both schools should be getting on the phone with the MEAC and SoCon, respectively. Obviously, Bobby Mo isn't an HBCU but RMU's Pittsburgh market size should help the MEAC leadership see the benefit of adding them. As for Campbell, they're in a better position today than Mercer was in 2014 and would broaden the SoCon footprint into the Raleigh area.

Don't know a lot about Campbell. But with 4 private, 2 specialty public, and 4 general public schools already (with non football Greensboro), I think it would be hard to get the SOCON public membership to agree with a onesie add, either way, but I don't know the dirty politics of the issue.

[Mocs123]

Campbell would be a good fit for the SoCon and I figured they would be the call if Chattanooga had bolted for the A-Sun. Since the Mocs stayed, I don't see the SoCon adding another football school, though I could see them adding a basketball school like Lipscomb.

I may be completely wrong, but I think the SoCon is one of the more stable conferences in the country especially east of the Mississippi (not counting the ancient 8 of course)

[UNHWildcat18]

Campbell would be a good fit for the SoCon and I figured they would be the call if Chattanooga had bolted for the A-Sun. Since the Mocs stayed, I don't see the SoCon adding another football school, though I could see them adding a basketball school like Lipscomb.

I may be completely wrong, but I think the SoCon is one of the more stable conferences in the country especially east of the Mississippi (not counting the ancient 8 of course)

Outside of basketball schools only, I thought you guys should have gone after UCA or SLU if you wanted football members. A small distance yes but would have added depth.

[Mocs123]

SLU is a 14 hour drive for VMI and UCA is 13 hours - they just don't make geographical sense Nine is the perfect number for football - Play 8 conference games (4 home, 4 away) and still have 2 FCS OOC games and 1 money game.

I realize out west it just isn't possible, but for conferences east of the Mississippi river it makes sense to keep games drivable - these big spread out leagues just don't make fiscal sense at our level. Most FCS AD's are just scraping by.

[walliver]

The description was quite vague. If they want one auto-bid, that is fine. But, reading the press release it is almost like teams will count twice in an effort for each conference to keep its auto bid without having the appropriate number of teams.

The issue with the Big South is that it is a basketball conference at heart, and the non-football members are perfectly happy with their small footprint travel-friendly conference and don't want to merge with the OVC or A-Sun. In fact, USC-Upstate left the A-Sun for the Big South specifically to reduce travel expenses.

[The Cats]

QFT. This arrangement solves nothing. In fact, I think it makes things ultimately worse for the Big South.

I'm sure the OVC schools have their own concerns and none of the following is intended to be insulting to them but this arrangement, while it solves one problem, only exacerbates others because running out to Illinois and Missouri without an FBS payday at the other end is only going to highlight the existing problems for some Big South schools. Sure, it's a home-and-home situation but it doesn't gain those schools anything other than a filled slot in the schedule. If the Big South can't find new members tout de suite, economic factors are going to come into play and schools who aren't sitting on a sizable endowment <cough>Charleston Southern!!<cough> are going to have to weigh how much the football program is actually helpful to the school. G-Webb, a private, religious school that wants to remain D1 but which has no realistic path to developing the program beyond what it already is, is going to have to examine if being in a league with Campbell, Robert Morris -- both of whom will be fine -- and a slate full of directional state schools is what it wants to be. Thanks to this merger, all of these factors are now going to have be studied sooner rather than later so, from my view, this whole thing only hastens the end of the Big South as a football conference.

As for RMU and Campbell could easily go independent for a while if they had to but both schools should be getting on the phone with the MEAC and SoCon, respectively. Obviously, Bobby Mo isn't an HBCU but RMU's Pittsburgh market size should help the MEAC leadership see the benefit of adding them. As for Campbell, they're in a better position today than Mercer was in 2014 and would broaden the SoCon footprint into the Raleigh area.

I think you have to run all membership questions past the Citadel, as they seem to run the show in the SoCon...

[ElCid]

I think you have to run all membership questions past the Citadel, as they seem to run the show in the SoCon...

How do you come to that conclusion? Pretty sure each school has the same vote. 4 large publics, 4 smaller privates, and 2 specialty publics equals fairly even representation.

Now, that The Citadel AND VMI may represent the center and it may give them a more powerful position on some issue doesn't mean they run it. Far from it as we have been snubbed repeatedly in conference HOF inductees. The conf is more interested in inducting SEC and ACC members from over 50 years ago than a few deserving Bulldogs.

[caribbeanhen]

So what conference is Kennesaw State in now?

tired of trying to keep up with the shell game

[ElCid]

So what conference is Kennesaw State in now?

tired of trying to keep up with the shell game

I'm going to have to update the map I created in the spring. I toyed with idea of doing it as news happened, but before I started, things changed again.

[FUBeAR]

So what conference is Kennesaw State in now?

tired of trying to keep up with the shell game
Pretty sure Hooty told FUBeAR that the owlets were now in the SEC and, in fact, had already been named 2022 SEC Champions. Just waitin’ to see who they’ll face in the CFP.

[Libertine]

. Just waitin’ to see who they’ll face in the CFP.

Well, it probably wouldn't be Wofford or Jacksonville State so they're pretty much screwed.

[BS50]

Lindenwood fan here so new to FCS.
Can someone last out to me the pros and cons of this move? Long term implications? Why was it necessary?

Thanks!

[Libertine]

Lindenwood fan here so new to FCS.
Can someone last out to me the pros and cons of this move? Long term implications? Why was it necessary?

Thanks!

FCS football is the crowbar that allows you to pry open the door to D1 and get what your school is really after, a chunk of that sweet, sweet March Madness pie. That's a massive pro by itself and has been a good enough reason for a lot of schools to move up.

The only real cons are you're giving up your storied traditional D2 rivalries which, considering that Lindenwood was NAIA just a decade ago, you probably don't really have. You'll have to add 20-ish scholarships and probably add a couple of women's sports but those aren't necessarily bad things. Team travel for all sports but football will be about the same but football will have to hoof it out to the Carolinas now with the Big South deal in place. The upside is that, once you get to 59 schollies, you can cash in a few $$ games to pay for that so that's a wash.

tl;dr - Upside: Mo' money, mo' money, mo' money. Downside: not much.

[Mocs123]

I imagine the thoughts of moving up are similar as an FCS schools moving to FBS - there are both pro's and con's. I think a lot of it is going to depend on what happens with the larger landscape. Does the P5 break away? If so what does the G5 do? Does the G5 and FCS merge or merge and split again?

[BS50]

FCS football is the crowbar that allows you to pry open the door to D1 and get what your school is really after, a chunk of that sweet, sweet March Madness pie. That's a massive pro by itself and has been a good enough reason for a lot of schools to move up.

The only real cons are you're giving up your storied traditional D2 rivalries which, considering that Lindenwood was NAIA just a decade ago, you probably don't really have. You'll have to add 20-ish scholarships and probably add a couple of women's sports but those aren't necessarily bad things. Team travel for all sports but football will be about the same but football will have to hoof it out to the Carolinas now with the Big South deal in place. The upside is that, once you get to 59 schollies, you can cash in a few $$ games to pay for that so that's a wash.

tl;dr - Upside: Mo' money, mo' money, mo' money. Downside: not much.

Thanks. I meant specifically the OVC- BIG SOUTH football merger though. Got a breakdown of pros and cons on that? :)

Good thing about LU, is they'll step in day one fully funded at 63 scholarships to offer. They walk into the OVC with the largest athletic budget of any other school. Lindenwood is good with their money

[Libertine]

Thanks. I meant specifically the OVC- BIG SOUTH football merger though. Got a breakdown of pros and cons on that? :)

Good thing about LU, is they'll step in day one fully funded at 63 scholarships to offer. They walk into the OVC with the largest athletic budget of any other school. Lindenwood is good with their money

My bad. The big pro for the OVC-BS football deal are that it slaps a bandage on the wound of both conferences' bleeding membership, hopefully long enough for a transfusion of D2 members -- like Lindenwood -- to kick in and solidify both conferences. The con -- and it's a big one -- is that said bandage is more of a Flintstones Band-Aid, just enough to be helpful but not enough to solve the problem.
I think that this is a far more effective move for the OVC than the Big South as the OVC's football footprint is more compact, its membership is more similar and, in my opinion, has more options for new members. The Big South, on the other hand, is really just buying four more years of fraught existence as a football conference.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

My bad. The big pro for the OVC-BS football deal are that it slaps a bandage on the wound of both conferences' bleeding membership, hopefully long enough for a transfusion of D2 members -- like Lindenwood -- to kick in and solidify both conferences. The con -- and it's a big one -- is that said bandage is more of a Flintstones Band-Aid, just enough to be helpful but not enough to solve the problem.
I think that this is a far more effective move for the OVC than the Big South as the OVC's football footprint is more compact, its membership is more similar and, in my opinion, has more options for new members. The Big South, on the other hand, is really just buying four more years of fraught existence as a football conference.

I think the thing is, though, it's that the Big South has always been a duct tape conference. Monmouth was never a permanent solution and was a marriage of convenience... as was Hampton... and NCAT.... and RMU, really. Both the OVC and Big South are OK in terms of hoops, but it was football that threatened to pull them apart. Now with the merger, they are in the same situation as the MFVC (Horizon, MVC), CAA (CAA, America East, A-10, Big East), the Big Sky (BSC, Big West) in that they have a superconference of football that is large, consisting of multiple hoops conference members, and "more stable", and it doesn't threaten the basketball side of the house. That, more than everything else, is what's important to the Big South and OVC - self-preservation without needing to worry about football busting it apart.

ALL of these superconferences are strange bedfellows. Maine has little in common with Villanova institutionally or in terms of overall athletic goals. NDSU and WIU are not very similar. Cal Poly and Montana State are not, either. So while I kind of agree that the new alliance is a bunch of institutions that don't really fit well together, that describes 3/4s of FCS.

[clenz]

Difference is

MVFC is an independent conference not truly beholden to any "olympic" conference - no matter how much the cries of "It's run by the MVC/MVC admin" happen by people

The CAA, in theory, is the same way. It's it's own league. It's not part of the CAA, officially. It's the CAAFC. Now with the moves the CAA has made I can't believe it hasn't become part of the full CAA yet - and I bet that is coming down the road.

Technically there are no affiliate memberships in those two. They are one sport leagues.

The Big Sky is the Big Sky but have affiliates with Cal Poly and UC-Davis.

That can be important when it comes to the voting block that is allowed to vote on changes and membership. Drake, UMKC, Valpo, ORU, etc. don't get a say in who joins the MVFC or what exit fees there are. In theory (can't say I've looked at it) Hofstra, Northeastern, etc. have no say in who plays football in the "CAA". Now, given their additions are Olympic and football comes with it I don't know how that works. If the CAA holds a vote and then the CAAFC holds a vote and could, in theory, send a football team looking for a home not in the CAA.

It will be interesting to see if this becomes a true MVFC type league or one league will take it over (I would assume OVC) and it will be the OVC with affiliates from the Big South. Given their languaging it seems like a MVFC set up between the two. The only "concern" I'd have is the OVC clearly believes in the OVC set up for football again, which in theory would leave the Big South on an island again when the OVC adds enough D2s. Though maybe they'll be content with a "third party" league


I think the idea of separate conferences for majors sports is good, though not perfect. It allows schools to align programs with similar visions - even if their AD/university are different overall. That's a good thing. A football league of similar programs. A basketball/volleyball league of similar programs and we see a ton of sharing in smaller sports anyway.

Downside is you don't get the all sports rivalries that fan bases can build. You also have a number of different programs and admin to politic with to make things remain smooth. It's why you end up with conferences with schools and departments that have little in common. It just works better to have everyone in one spot even if they are different.....until it does - see Big East/AAC and maybe the MVC at some point down the road.

[walliver]

I question the stability of the OVC-Big South arrangement. There is a very large geographic footprint with significant travel expenses. Some of the Big South teams are not well-funded and might be better off in the Pioneer League.

[Libertine]

I question the stability of the OVC-Big South arrangement. There is a very large geographic footprint with significant travel expenses. Some of the Big South teams are not well-funded and might be better off in the Pioneer League.

As someone who has actively followed the Big South since its inception as a football conference, I agree. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Campbell and RMU will end up in other scholarship conferences but Gardner-Webb joining the PFL is practically inevitable and I'm torn as to whether CSU would follow suit or just drop the sport.

[dgtw]

The NCAA requires a non-football conference to sponsor basketball and two other men’s sports. Right now the OVC only has baseball. (Lindenwood makes four for soccer).

So it has to be run by the OVC unless they find two soccer affiliates. Chicago State has men’s soccer but that’s another discussion.

I read it is a four year deal. If the Tennessee schools stick around, the OVC really doesn’t need affiliates once Lindenwood gets up to speed. Do they really want a long term arrangement with schools way out of the footprint just to fill out a schedule? The Big South should start working on finding full football members.


On a related note, the ASUN will only have five in 2023. Did the Big South reach out to them about an alliance? If they did and got turned down, it is a real dickish move by the ASUN after the BS helped them get football started.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mocs123]

Is the A-Sun and WAC scheduling alliance now defunct? If so, it seems like they wouldn't turn the Big South down as currently they wouldn't have an auto bid.

[dgtw]

Is the A-Sun and WAC scheduling alliance now defunct? If so, it seems like they wouldn't turn the Big South down as currently they wouldn't have an auto bid.

Jax State is in the ASUN for 2022 but can’t win the championship. There isn’t a WAC alliance this year and I doubt the WAC would want to continue it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[aceinthehole]

As someone who has actively followed the Big South since its inception as a football conference, I agree. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Campbell and RMU will end up in other scholarship conferences but Gardner-Webb joining the PFL is practically inevitable and I'm torn as to whether CSU would follow suit or just drop the sport.

Where is RMU going? OVC as an associate?

[Libertine]

Where is RMU going? OVC as an associate?

I said "will end up", not "going right now". This Big South-OVC has bought another four years for the Big South to get things back to some semblance of football stability. Whether that four years ends up being life extension for the conference or its life expectancy remains to be seen.

[ST_Lawson]

Is the A-Sun and WAC scheduling alliance now defunct? If so, it seems like they wouldn't turn the Big South down as currently they wouldn't have an auto bid.

Pretty sure that was originally intended to just be a 1-year thing to get them through until a couple more members could make the move and they'd be where they need to be. Now, in the meantime, we've seen a couple of schools decide to go FBS, so that will obviously affect the numbers going forward. Haven't heard anything about them extending it though.

[Go...gate]

Yep. Victoria Barclay (Barbara Stanwyck) was also great in that series.

[mvfcfan]

This OVC / Big South agreement is the same thing the WAC and ASUN did. The difference is that this alliance is a 4 year agreement and not a 1 year agreement. Now this arrangement may become permanent down the road, but for now they are doing a 4 year deal.

Reading this thread it seems as if there are some question marks around Gardner Webb and Charleston Southern. If they both drop football or go PFL, I could see Campbell and Robert Morris becoming OVC members for football only.

In the meantime I think the Big South might try to find some D2's with football that want to move up. The OVC will also probably try to get to 12 at some point in the near future and my guess is that they will try to add a couple more D2 schools with football from the Midwest.

Seems to me both leagues are just trying to buy time to create stability for the future. I think both leagues would ideally like to get to a point where they can sponsor football again on their own. If they can't get that accomplished within the next four years then they have left the door open for this to become a permanent alliance.

[Libertine]

Dropping this here since this appears to be the most recent Big South-related thread:

Charleston Southern has "parted ways" with HC Autry Denson with after going 2-8 this season. Interim coach Zane Vance will finish out the year against...no, wait, the Bucs appear to have only scheduled ten games to begin with.
Who CSU hires to replace Denson may tell us the direction that the Bucs are headed as a program.

https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/college/charleston-southern-parts-ways-with-football-coach-autry-denson/article_6e91f9a8-6437-11ed-a95a-ebbcb91acdf5.html

[UNAPride]

Found this interesting on D1.ticker today:

Southeast Missouri and UT Martin are tied atop the OVC standings with 4-0 records heading into the final week of the FB season. Due to several factors, including unbalanced schedules from membership transition, the two teams have not played head-to-head this season. If both schools either win or lose this weekend, all tiebreaking options will have been exhausted (including beating the exact same opponents), setting the stage for the final differentiator: a coin flip. If a coin flip is necessary, it will take place on Saturday evening after both games are completed. The flip will be witnessed by individuals from both schools, recorded, and also live streamed on Twitter. #tailsneverfails

https://ovcsports.com/news/2022/11/12/ovc-football-playoff-scenarios.aspx