ASUN

[The Jackal]

Reports are that Austin Peay is leaving the OVC for the ASUN.

https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/ ... 368189002/

Not sure what this means for the SoCon, but I'd bet my bottom dollar that a new football conference with EKU, JSU, KSU, Austin Peay, and Central Ark. almost certainly would have its sights set on UTC.

[mathprofhiker]

Belmont announced today they are leaving the OVC for the Missouri Valley Conference in 2022. Rumor is Murray State is going with them, and their athletic director did nothing to dispel that rumor with his statement last Friday:

https://www.kfvs12.com/2021/09/24/murra ... ement-ovc/

Belmont doesn't play football, but Murray's departure would leave the OVC with only 5 football-playing schools. As a hedge against losing UTC, maybe the SoCon should poach one or more of the OVC's Tennessee schools (Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State, or UT-Martin) and finish the OVC off?

[tim]

Tenn. Tech would be a good addition.

[youwouldno]

I don't see how/why UTC would go to the ASUN - the geography for football is less important than for the athletic dept. as a whole, and the full ASUN conference (not just football) is actually more dispersed than the SoCon. But probably most of all, the ASUN is not a good basketball conference, and UTC is not going to move to a conference with a huge basketball downgrade.

The football-playing OVC remnants could try to find another program to pull in or maybe join the Big South?

[HB88]

Tenn. Tech would be a good addition.

While convenient geographically and useful for maintaining other Tn schools (ETSU and UTC ), I'm not sure what real benefit TTU would bring. Don't know about all their sports, but Men's Basketball and Football have not been strong for quite some time.

[Davemeister]

Since everyone here thinks we won't beat Mercer until Drew makes his next move, we need to bring in another School we can beat.

[Affirm]

I wonder what conversations, if any, are going on within the SoCon leadership in Spartanburg and among the various SoCon schools' ADs and presidents.

I wonder by whom and to what extent and how the interests of the SoCon as a whole are being looked after (if at all?) in the situation presently under discussion.