Big South Conference

The Big South Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. The conference's football teams are part of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). The Big South, founded in 1983, is firmly rooted in the southeastern United States, with member institutions located in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

History
Charter members included Armstrong State (now Armstrong Atlantic State University) (1983–1987), Augusta (now Augusta State University) (1983–1990), Campbell University (1983–1994; 2011–present), Charleston Baptist (now Charleston Southern University) (1983–present), Coastal Carolina University (1983–present), Radford University (1983–present) and Winthrop University (1983–present).

The expansion of membership occurred during the 80's and 90's. Some of those members are University of North Carolina at Asheville (1984–present), Davidson College (1990–1992), Liberty University (1991–present), University of Maryland, Baltimore County (1992–1998), University of North Carolina at Greensboro (1992–1997), Towson University (1992–1995), Elon University (1999–2003), High Point University (1999–present) and Birmingham–Southern College (2000–2007).

The Big South Conference began sponsoring football in 2002, with Charleston Southern University, Gardner–Webb University, and Liberty University fielding teams; Coastal Carolina University and Virginia Military Institute joined the conference as football-playing members in 2003. VMI also joined the conference for all sports. Presbyterian joined the conference in 2007, moving up from Division II, and became eligible for regular-season championships and conference honors during the 2008 athletic year. Gardner–Webb, which had been a football playing member since 2002, joined the conference for all sports on July 1, 2008. Longwood accepted an invitation to join the Big South on January 23, 2012, with membership to formally begin July 1.

Current full members

 * Notes
 * - Campbell was a founding member of the Big South Conference in 1983. The Fighting Camels left in 1994 and re-joined in 2011 for all sports, except for their football program, which remains in the Pioneer Football League.

Current associate members

 * Note
 * - Stony Brook football will leave the Big South after the 2012 season to join the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

Future associate members

 * Note
 * - The move of Monmouth to the Big South will involve a transition year as an FCS Independent.

2011–2012 divisional realignment
With the additions of Campbell and Longwood to the Big South in 2011 and 2012, Big South commissioner Kyle Kallander stated the conference will break up into two divisions of six teams each beginning in 2012–2013. He also said the Big South Tournament will be held at a single, neutral location. The divisional setup is as follows:

North Division South Division
 * Campbell
 * High Point
 * Liberty
 * Longwood
 * Radford
 * VMI
 * Charleston Southern
 * Coastal Carolina
 * Gardner–Webb
 * Presbyterian
 * UNC Asheville
 * Winthrop

Teams will play the 5 other divisional opponents twice, one home and one away (10 games). They will play teams outside of the division once each (6 games). This cuts the number of conference games to 16, as opposed to 18 in previous years.

Sports
The Big South sponsors championship competition in nine men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Davidson competes as an associate in lacrosse. Stony Brook has competed as an associate in football, but is departing for membership in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Football - players drafted to the NFL
The Big South has had a number of players to get drafted and play football professionally in the NFL.

Conference champions
Men's basketball

Basketball Tournament Championships by school


 * †Former member of the Big South

Football

Broadcasters (Big South Network)
In addition to basketball games being broadcasted on regional and national television, member schools of the Big South Conference are required to provide a live stream of all home games for all sports when playing teams both within and outside of the conference. These streams are run by the university hosting the event. All streams are featured on the conference website and are available for a monthly fee. The football games broadcasted on the web are branded as part of a Big South Network.