Editing Big South Conference (section)

==History==
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Charter members included Armstrong State (later [[Armstrong Atlantic State University]] and now merged into [[Georgia Southern University]] as its [[Georgia Southern University–Armstrong Campus|Armstrong Campus]]) (1983–1987), Augusta (later [[Augusta State University]] and now merged into [[Augusta University]]) (1983–1990), [[Campbell University]] (1983–1994; 2011–2023), Baptist College (now [[Charleston Southern University]]) (1983–present), [[Coastal Carolina University]] (1983–2016), [[Radford University]] (1983–present) and [[Winthrop University]] (1983–present).

The expansion of membership occurred during the 1980s and 1990s. Some of those members are the [[University of North Carolina at Asheville]] (1984–present), [[Davidson College]] (1990–1992), [[Liberty University]] (1991–2018), the [[University of Maryland, Baltimore County]] (1992–1998), the [[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]] (2000–2006).

The Big South Conference began sponsoring football in 2002, with Charleston Southern, Elon (at the time) and Liberty ([[Gardner–Webb University]] also joined as a football-only member) fielding teams; Coastal Carolina and [[Virginia Military Institute]] (VMI) joined the conference as football-only members in 2003. In that same athletic year, VMI also joined the conference for all sports, but left to re-join the [[Southern Conference]] in 2014. [[Presbyterian College]] joined the conference in 2007, moving up from [[NCAA Division II|Division II]], and became eligible for regular-season championships and conference honors during the 2008–09 athletic year.<ref name="GWebb">{{cite news|title=Gardner–Webb Officially Joins Big South |publisher=Big South Sports|date=2008-07-01|url=http://www.bigsouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4800&ATCLID=1504891 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208103046/http://www.bigsouthsports.com/entries/gardner-webb-officially-joins-big-south-1504891 |archive-date=Dec 8, 2014 }}</ref> Gardner–Webb, which had been a football-only member since 2002, joined the conference for all sports on July 1, 2008.<ref name="GWebb"/> Campbell rejoined the Big South for all sports except football in the 2011–12 athletic year. [[Longwood University]] accepted an invitation to join the Big South on January 23, 2012, and membership formally began July 1 of that year; Longwood had been independent since 2004, during their transition to Division I.<ref name="Longwood">{{cite news|title=Big South Conference Adds Longwood University As Full Member |publisher=Big South Sports|date=2012-01-23|url=http://www.bigsouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4800&ATCLID=205366908 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225224/http://www.bigsouthsports.com/entries/big-south-conference-adds-longwood-university-as-full-member-205366908 |archive-date=Mar 3, 2016}}</ref> In 2014, following the departure of VMI, the conference returned to a single-division structure.<ref name="onedivision">{{cite news |url=https://www.fayobserver.com/story/sports/2014/10/27/strelow-title-race-in-balanced/22201595007/ |title=Title race in balanced Big South again tough to predict |first=Bret |last=Stretlow |publisher=[[The Fayetteville Observer]] |date=28 October 2014 |access-date=5 December 2014}}</ref> On September 1, 2015, Coastal Carolina announced they would leave the conference following the 2015–16 school year to transition to [[NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision|FBS-level football]] and the [[Sun Belt Conference]].<ref name="coastal_sunbelt">{{cite press release |url=http://www.bigsouthsports.com/entries/statement-from-big-south-commissioner-kyle-b-kallander-on-coastal-carolina |title=Statement from Big South Commissioner Kyle B. Kallander on Coastal Carolina |publisher=Big South Conference |date=September 1, 2015 |access-date=September 1, 2015 |archive-date=September 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903235638/http://www.bigsouthsports.com/entries/statement-from-big-south-commissioner-kyle-b-kallander-on-coastal-carolina |url-status=dead }}</ref> On June 30, 2016, the day before the school joined the Sun Belt, Coastal Carolina won the 2016 College World Series in baseball. This was the first time in conference history that a team won an NCAA championship in any sport.

In September 2016, the Big South and the [[ASUN Conference|ASUN Conference (ASUN)]] announced a football partnership that effectively combined the two conferences in that sport. Under its terms, any members of either conference that add or upgrade to scholarship football, provided they fall within the current geographic footprint of the two leagues, automatically join Big South football. At the time of announcement, the only ASUN member that played scholarship football, Kennesaw State, was already a Big South football member. The partnership also provides a guaranteed football home to the leagues' non-scholarship football programs (at that time, Campbell from the Big South, and Jacksonville and Stetson from the ASUN) should they upgrade to scholarship status.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://asunsports.org/general/2016-17/releases/20160913d3jpxf |title=Big South and ASUN Conference Establish FCS Membership Partnership |publisher=ASUN Conference |date=September 13, 2016 |access-date=October 30, 2016}}</ref>

In November 2016, Campbell announced that it would begin offering scholarships and move its football program from the [[Pioneer Football League]] to the Big South in 2018.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://campbell.edu/news/item/fighting-camels-football-to-join-big-south-in-2018|title=Fighting Camels football to join Big South in 2018|publisher=Campbell University|date=November 14, 2016|access-date=November 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115071607/http://campbell.edu/news/item/fighting-camels-football-to-join-big-south-in-2018|archive-date=November 15, 2016}}</ref>

In December 2016, the University of North Alabama, ASUN, and the Big South Conference announced that, effective in 2018, the school will leave the Division II Gulf South Conference and will join ASUN in non-football sports and the Big South in football. UNA has won three Division II NCAA national championships in football and has won at least a share of the Gulf South Conference football championship for four consecutive seasons through 2016.

Three months later, Liberty announced that it would begin a transition to FBS football in July 2017 and leave the Big South football league in 2018.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm?PID=10869&NewsID=17950&TeamID= |title=NCAA Approves Liberty's Waiver Request for FBS Reclassification Process |publisher=Liberty University Athletics |date=February 16, 2017 |access-date=February 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220141459/http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm?PID=10869&NewsID=17950&TeamID= |archive-date=2017-02-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Liberty and the Big South agreed later in 2017 that the school would continue to house all of its non-football sports (except for field hockey and women's swimming, neither of which is sponsored by the Big South) in that conference for the immediate future. Once Liberty became a full FBS member at the start of the 2019–20 school year, it would have technically become a Big South associate member (barring the school joining an FBS conference).<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm?PID=36963&newsID=19015 |title=Big South Conference Announces Decision on Liberty's Membership Status |publisher=Liberty University Athletics |date=September 22, 2017 |access-date=November 17, 2017}}</ref> However, Liberty's plans would change several months later, as it instead announced in May 2018 that it would move its non-football sports to the ASUN effective that July (except for the aforementioned field hockey and women's swimming, also not sponsored by the ASUN).<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://asunsports.org/general/2017-18/releases/20180516hf2r4k |title=ASUN Conference Announces Liberty University as League Member for 2018-19 |publisher=ASUN Conference |date=May 17, 2018 |access-date=May 31, 2018}}</ref>

In November 2017, the [[University of South Carolina Upstate]] and [[Hampton University]] announced that they would be leaving the ASUN and [[Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference]], respectively, to join the Big South, starting in the fall of 2018.<ref name="upstate">{{cite news |url=http://www.goupstate.com/news/20171115/usc-upstate-moving-to-big-south-conference |title=USC Upstate moving to Big South Conference |website=GoUpstate.com |first=Todd |last=Shanesy |date=November 15, 2017 |access-date=November 15, 2017}}</ref><ref name="hampton">{{cite news |url=http://www.dailypress.com/sports/hampton-university/dp-spt-hu-big-south-1117-story.html#nt=oft12aH-2la1 |title= Hampton to leave MEAC for Big South |newspaper=[[Daily Press (Virginia)|Daily Press]] |location=[[Newport News, VA]] |first=Dave |last=Johnson |date=November 16, 2017 |access-date=November 16, 2017}}</ref>

On November 19, 2017, [[Presbyterian College]] announced it would be moving its football program to the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.espn.com/espn/wire/_/section/ncf/id/21493565|title=Presbyterian to join Pioneer Football League in 2021|work=ESPN.com|access-date=2018-02-16}}</ref> Presbyterian's last Big South football season was in 2019; the Blue Hose planned to play the 2020 season as an independent before joining the Pioneer League for 2021 and beyond.<ref name="PC to Pioneer">{{cite press release|url=http://www.pioneer-football.org/news/archives/2017/1345/presbyterian-college-to-join-pioneer-football-league-in-2021/ |title=Presbyterian College to join Pioneer Football League in 2021 |publisher=Pioneer Football League |date=November 20, 2017 |access-date=November 21, 2017}}</ref> The Blue Hose remain a member of the Big South in all other sports.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/presbyterian-to-join-pioneer-football-league-in-2021-112017|title=Presbyterian to join Pioneer Football League in 2021|date=2017-11-20|work=FOX Sports|access-date=2018-02-16|language=en-US}}</ref>

A more recent change to its core membership was the July 2021 arrival of [[North Carolina A&T State University]] from the MEAC as a full member, including football.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.espn.com/espn/wire?id=28653257 |title=North Carolina A&T to join Big South in 2021 |agency=Associated Press |website=ESPN.com |date=February 7, 2020 |access-date=February 7, 2020}}</ref> At the same time, [[Robert Morris University]] was planned to join as a football-only member.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://bigsouthsports.com/news/2020/6/15/big-south-adds-robert-morris-university-as-football-member.aspx |title=Big South Conference Adds Robert Morris University as Football Member |publisher=Big South Conference |date=June 15, 2020 |access-date=June 15, 2020}}</ref> North Carolina A&T joined on the originally planned schedule, but Robert Morris became a Big South football member in November 2020. [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19]] led the conference to move its [[2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season|2020 football season]] to spring 2021. Since two of the eight Big South football members (apart from RMU) chose to play in the originally scheduled fall 2020 season and a third chose not to play football at all in 2020–21, the Big South chose to bring the Colonials into the football league for spring 2021.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://bigsouthsports.com/news/2020/11/9/big-south-announces-football-2021-spring-schedule.aspx |title=Big South Announces Football 2021 Spring Schedule |publisher=Big South Conference |date=November 9, 2020 |access-date=December 23, 2020}}</ref>

More recently, the Big South added three new single-sport members in women's lacrosse effective with the 2022 season (2021–22 school year): [[Furman University]], [[Mercer University]], and [[Wofford College]]. All three are full members of the [[Southern Conference]] (SoCon), which disbanded its women's lacrosse league after the 2021 season.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://bigsouthsports.com/news/2021/6/7/big-south-adds-three-associate-members-in-womens-lacrosse.aspx |title=Big South Adds Three Associate Members in Women's Lacrosse |publisher=Big South Conference |date=June 7, 2021 |accessdate=October 1, 2021}}</ref>

On January 25, 2022, the Colonial Athletic Association (now the [[Coastal Athletic Association]]) announced that [[Hampton University]] would join that conference, as well as [[CAA Football]], its technically separate football league, on July 1, 2022.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://caasports.com/news/2022/1/24/football-caa-welcomes-hampton-university-monmouth-university-and-stony-brook-university-as-new-members.aspx |title= "CAA Welcomes Hampton University, Monmouth University and Stony Brook University as New Members" |publisher=Colonial Athletic Association |date=Jan 25, 2022 |accessdate=Feb 23, 2022}}</ref> On February 22, that conference announced that [[North Carolina A&T State University]] would be leaving the Big South, joining the all-sports CAA on July 1. North Carolina A&T would play Big South football in 2022 and join CAA Football on July 1, 2023.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://caasports.com/news/2022/2/22/football-caa-welcomes-north-carolina-a-t-as-newest-member-of-the-conference.aspx|title=CAA Welcomes North Carolina A&T as Newest Member of the Conference |publisher=Colonial Athletic Association |date=Feb 22, 2022 |accessdate=Feb 23, 2022}}</ref>

Also on February 22, the conference announced its intent to combine its football membership with the [[Ohio Valley Conference]] beginning in 2023 and operate as the [[OVC–Big South Football Association]].<ref>[http://ovcsports.com/news/2022/2/22/big-south-conference-and-ovc-announce-football-agreement.aspx "Big South Conference and OVC Announce Football Agreement"] ''OVCSports.com''. Retrieved 2022-02-22.</ref> The following month saw [[Bryant University]] announced as a new football-only member effective with the 2022 season.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://bigsouthsports.com/news/2022/3/29/big-south-adds-bryant-university-as-associate-football-member.aspx |title=Big South Adds Bryant University as Associate Football Member |publisher=Big South Conference |date=March 29, 2022 |accessdate=March 30, 2022}}</ref> Campbell announced on August 3 that it would join both sides of the CAA in 2023 as well.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://caasports.com/news/2022/8/2/football-campbell-university-accepts-invitation-to-join-the-caa-in-2023.aspx |title=Campbell University Accepts Invitation To Join The CAA In 2023 |publisher=Colonial Athletic Association |date=August 3, 2022 |access-date=August 4, 2022}}</ref> This was followed by Bryant announcing that it would join CAA Football in 2024.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://caasports.com/news/2023/8/9/caa-football-welcomes-bryant-university-as-its-newest-member-in-2024.aspx |title=CAA Football Welcomes Bryant University As Its Newest Member In 2024|publisher=CAA Football |date=August 10, 2023 |access-date=August 10, 2023}}</ref> On November 28, it was announced that Robert Morris would also leave the association and return football to its previous home, the [[Northeast Conference]] effective after the 2023 football season.