Calling it a move that made sense, Kennesaw State announced Wednesday that it accepted an invitation to join the Big South Conference as a football-playing member.
“The Big South was a fit from everything they do, where they have been, what they were doing in football,” athletic director Vaughn Williams said.
Williams was so excited about Wednesday’s news conference at Fifth Third Bank Stadium, he said he was up at 4 a.m., ready to roll.
Forgive his enthusiasm, but finding a home was the last major hurdle for Williams and the university in developing its start-up football program, which is scheduled to play its first game in 2015. The Atlantic Sun, Kennesaw State’s home in its other sports since 2005, doesn’t offer football.
So, after the state Board of Regents approved the university’s financing plan for football in February, Williams faced the challenge of trying to find a new conference that could take all sports or become an associate member in another conference, which is what he said he preferred.
Williams reached out to Big South commissioner Kyle Kallander last summer to begin to gather information. Williams said he targeted the Big South, and not the Southern Conference, because he thought that Kennesaw State could be competitive more quickly in the conference. He liked the geographic footprint — the conference’s six current football-playing members are in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, with Monmouth (N.J.) scheduled to join as an associate member in 2014. He also referenced the conference’s recent success on the FCS level. Two Big South teams, Coastal Carolina and Stony Brook (which has since left to join the Colonial Athletic Association), won playoff games last year, a first for the conference.
“We are very excited about the progress our institutions have made in football at the FCS level,” Kallander said.
There is no entrance fee for Kennesaw State to join the Big South, and the Owls will be eligible in their first season to win the conference and participate in the FCS playoffs. To ensure conference stability, the Big South will require Kennesaw State to pay a $100,000 exit fee if they leave before 2019. Usually, a two-year written notice exempts a school from paying the fee.
Kennesaw State’s associate membership is for four years starting in 2015, with options for one-year renewals. The Owls will gain voting rights for football-related matters then, but Kallander said that they may be immediately invited to participate in discussions that could affect the university.
Atlantic Sun commissioner Ted Gumbart said Kennesaw State won’t lose any rights in his conference as a result of becoming an associate member in the Big South.
Kallander said the other Big South football members weren’t concerned that Kennesaw State’s enrollment of 24,600 is almost twice as large as the next largest university in the conference, Liberty (12,600). In evaluating Kennesaw State as a potential member, Kallander said the Big South examined many factors, including the school’s academic profile, its dedication to compete for conference and national championships, its athletic budget, facilities, and compliance with NCAA rules.
After that review, Kallander said the vote of approval of unanimous.
Now, Williams and coach Brian Bohannon can turn their attention to finalizing the 2015 schedule.
Williams said the Owls are trying to schedule four to five nonconference games. There are agreements in place for those games, but because contracts haven’t been finalized neither Williams nor Bohannon wanted to reveal the opponents. However, it will be a mix of FCS, NAIA and Division II opponents.
“We hit a home run with the Big South,” Bohannon said. “On behalf of our coaching staff, we are more than excited about getting ready to play football in 2015.”
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