[Sly Fox]

I have to admit I can't help but believe this soCon Commish is either slow-witted or playing stupid in his responses in this story. I'm not sure which possibility is greatest or if he is both. The bottom line is that the Chants won't be leaving the Big South at least for awhile.

Southern Conference taking its time with expansion

By Ian Guerin
The Sun News

As Coastal Carolina football fans begin talking about another upcoming football season, at least one issue might need to be put to rest for at least the time being.

Southern Conference Commissioner John Iamarino said Monday that any expansion news will probably wait until after the league's next set of meetings, which will not happen until November.

Some expected the Southern Conference - which finished its most recent meetings earlier this month - would have news this summer. Iamarino, though, said that will not be the case.

Instead, Southern Conference school presidents will continue to discuss the matter.

"I guess [expansion] has been on the agenda the last few times," said Iamarino, who took over his position in January. "The presidents have asked for information on the subject, and that's the next step."

Iamarino addressed few elements of the topic specifically, but he did say that the league has not had contact with Coastal Carolina for some time. He also said the 11-team (eight football-playing members) league is still debating whether to expand to 12 schools or 14. During an interview with The Sun News in February, Iamarino said he preferred the larger number, although on Monday he said he would not go into those specifics either.

Iamarino's announcement that the league will continue to take its time with this issue comes just weeks after the Big South announced that Gardner-Webb will join its conference as a full-time member in 2008.

Gardner-Webb will essentially take the place of Birmingham-Southern, which voted in May to move its athletics program to non-scholarship, NCAA Division III status.

However, neither of those two schools affected the football landscape of the Big South. Gardner-Webb is already a football member, and Birmingham-Southern did not field a team.

The five-team Big South still competes one team shy of an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I-AA football playoffs. Presbyterian College is in the process of joining the Big South, but its status as a Division I program could take as many as five years to complete.

The only way the Big South could speed the playoff automatic berth process along would be to add an existing I-AA football program.

The football-rich Southern Conference accounted for three of the 16 teams in last year's NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, more representation than any other league, and Appalachian State went on to win the national title.

The other two teams, Georgia Southern and Furman, are on Coastal's 2006 schedule.

It seems likely that those matchups will predate any possible expansion announcements for the Southern Conference.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/my ... 813597.htm

[ATrain]

Is this infighting amongst the SoCon, or are they taking a wait-and-see attitude with the potential changes that may happen in the next couple of years?

[Guest]

I think the commish is ready to add schools - but the presidents don't like to move that fast. I think he may have spoken out of turn before and now is being extra cautious. But at this pace they may have someone named in a year, maybe. In 6 months they'll announce who they are interested in, then have 6 months of public visitation.

[bigsmooth]

im glad the commish cleared the air...for now. im hoping coastal stays and ETSU revives their program and joins th ebig south.....not likely though.