Kennesaw eying SoCon & OVC

[JSU02]

http://atlanta.sbnation.com/kennesaw-st-owls/2011/4/13/2109193/kennesaw-state-football-conference-news

Discuss...

[bigCasu]

"The SoCon is a perennially tough conference that has produced two of the three best programs in FCS history in the Georgia Southern Eagles and Appalachian State Mountaineers, but it's also home to Western Carolina,who loses to most teams besides Shorter, so it's not like a last-place year-one finish would be assured in the event of a jump."

Damn.

[Smitty]

Ouch... That's funny since 2008 we actually beat Shorter 35-0.

[GA St. MBB Fan]

I don't understand their fascination with the OVC, especially considering that JSU might be on the way out. Seems like the Big South would be a better fit.

[The Eagle's Cliff]

I don't understand their fascination with the OVC, especially considering that JSU might be on the way out. Seems like the Big South would be a better fit.

Kennesaw has a large enrollment, but is basically a Greater Atlanta Community College. They have an excellent baseball team and will probably get some athletes for football. I agree that the Big South is probably a better fit for now. Something tells me the SoCon will be minus a couple of football schools 5-8 years in the future, which might be good timing for Coastal and Kennesaw.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

2012 members of the Atlantic Sun:

Belmont - has shown interest starting up football
ETSU - with their president stepping down, boosters cannot get football started fast enough
Florida-Gulf Coast - have embarked on feasibility study
Lipscomb - "slightly considering (http://www.mustangfanpage.com/Lipscomb%20University%20Football.htm)" non-scholarship football
Jacksonville - already part of the non-scholarship PFL, may have scholarship ambitions
Kennesaw State - has announced they will start up football
Mercer - has announced they will start up football, play in PFL
North Florida - administration doesn't want football, but students have been pushing strongly for it (http://unffootball.com/)
Stetson - has announced they will start up football, play in PFL
USC Upstate - nothing formal, but some students want football

That's four schools that have a commitment to football already, and six A-Sun members with students (and, in some cases, more) breathing down their administration's necks for it.

I think a non-scholarship A-Sun football conference will ultimately result from this, so if KSU is serious about offering scholarships it could be that they are thinking about other membership.

If they move, I think the OVC or Big South is a lot more likely than the SoCon, especially if the OVC is willing to accept them as a football-only member. If the Big South is in play, it will be as an all-sports member.

[TTUEagles]

As a Nashville resident and Belmont alum, I would have to say the chances of Belmont starting up football anytime soon are basically none. As we said going to grad. school there: "Never trust a school that doesn't play football."

[WestCoastAggie]

Why isn't Kennesaw looking at the MEAC? FAMU, BCU, SSU and SCSU are all in their area. They could potentially come in and dominate the place.

[superman7515]

Florida-Gulf Coast - have embarked on feasibility study

Their feasibility study said no and they already shut it down.

[JSU02]

Why isn't Kennesaw looking at the MEAC? FAMU, BCU, SSU and SCSU are all in their area. They could potentially come in and dominate the place.

That's an option. Perhaps if the MEAC is interested in KSU they could send out some feelers.

[Blueandwhitefightfight]

Culture I would imagine. A lot of the schools in the MEAC are more proud of their band than their football team. After playing SC St. in the playoffs at Paulson last year, I can't really blame them. Great band. Bad football. I don't think Kennesaw fits in the MEAC at all.

[seantaylor]

Kennesaw has a large enrollment, but is basically a Greater Atlanta Community College. They have an excellent baseball team and will probably get some athletes for football. I agree that the Big South is probably a better fit for now. Something tells me the SoCon will be minus a couple of football schools 5-8 years in the future, which might be good timing for Coastal and Kennesaw.

When have they had an excellent baseball team? Not in my lifetime.

[WileECoyote06]

Culture I would imagine. A lot of the schools in the MEAC are more proud of their band than their football team. After playing SC St. in the playoffs at Paulson last year, I can't really blame them. Great band. Bad football. I don't think Kennesaw fits in the MEAC at all.

Great expectations for a team that hasn't played a down yet.

They should just wait on Valdosta and West Georgia. . .if UNA pulls the trigger and moves to Division I; the Gulf South will probably collapse anyway.

*peers over at Grand Valley State* yall on the clock. . . xeyebrowx

[The Eagle's Cliff]

When have they had an excellent baseball team? Not in my lifetime.

Baseball and Softball are the "big" sports at KSU. Before reclassifying to Division I, the Owls were perennial participants in the National Tournament becoming only the 3rd team in NCAA history to win both the Baseball and Softball NC in '96. Since joining DI, the Owls have been very respectable posting 30+ win seasons 3 out of 5 years and are on pace to do it again this season.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

If the SoCon wouldn't take Coastal Carolina, why would they take Kennesaw?

[seantaylor]

Baseball and Softball are the "big" sports at KSU. Before reclassifying to Division I, the Owls were perennial participants in the National Tournament becoming only the 3rd team in NCAA history to win both the Baseball and Softball NC in '96. Since joining DI, the Owls have been very respectable posting 30+ win seasons 3 out of 5 years and are on pace to do it again this season.

Excellent means something else to me I guess. That says mediocre. D2 means nothing. Rodney Hennon calls his program excellent I'm sure. It is not.

[JSU02]

If the SoCon wouldn't take Coastal Carolina, why would they take Kennesaw?

Exactly, far too large, far too public...xdeadhorsex

[gophoenix]

If the SoCon wouldn't take Coastal Carolina, why would they take Kennesaw?

Because
A) they don't have academic and APR issues
B) they aren't in the Carolinas and thus won't have the same voting issues. Western, App, Elon and GSU supported Coastal; Furman, Wofford, The Citadel, and UTC didn't. UTC didn't because they wanted something closer. Kennesaw gives UTC another closer date, and doesn't have the same in-state issues that would drive the SC schools against them.
C) Jacksonville State was never ready when the SoCon was. And now are a legitimate long-term pickup.
D) I expect Coastal here in the next 5 years anyway.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

As far as ETSU is concerned, the "boosters" in question are the Buc Football and Friends Foundation. A few years ago, they wanted to host an event on campus with their speaker being Mike Smith (ETSU alum, I need not tell you who he is). They were given the cold shoulder by the wife of ETSU's illustrious Athletics Director, Dave Mullins. A year or so after football got canned, ETSU's admin decided they wanted to host a Ludacris concert inside the Memorial Center. One problem, the effective seating capacity for that event is 6,000 (that's telling for a facility its size). The boosters are waiting for the "other shoe" (Mullins) to drop (when is he leaving). Should Mullins follow Stanton out the door, I would not be surprised if football comes back to ETSU within five years (with the right kind of leadership).