Big South

From NCAA Wiki

Big South Conference

Established	1983
Classification
National Titles
Commissioner	Kyle B. Kallander
Members	10
Sports Fielded	18
States	North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia
Headquarters	Charlotte, North Carolina
Website	Big South Conference

The Big South Conference was founded in 1983. The Big South members compete at the NCAA FCS level in football and at the Division I level in all other sports

The Big South Conference was formed in 1983, when Charleston Southern (then Baptist College) Athletic Director Howard Bagwell and Augusta President George Christenberry began recruiting members into the Big South, receiving initial commitments from Augusta, Charleston Southern, Campbell University, Coastal Carolina and Winthrop.

A month later, Dr. Edward M. Singleton was selected as the League’s first Commissioner and continued to solicit new members. His efforts led to the additions of Armstrong State, Radford and UNC Asheville, giving the Big South more than the required six members to constitute an official conference. The Big South’s first year of competition was in the Fall of 1984, and in September 1986, the Big South Conference was granted full-fledged NCAA Division I status.

During its beginning and prior to securing automatic bids to NCAA Championships, the Big South made early strides in earning at-large berths in several national postseason events, including volleyball, women’s basketball and women’s golf. The League received its first automatic bid in 1990 to the NCAA Baseball Championship. In 1989, George F. “Buddy” Sasser replaced the retiring Dr. Singleton as Commissioner. Under Sasser’s leadership, the Conference implemented its public relations and compliance programs, and introduced its first-ever men’s basketball television package, featuring the Big South competing among some of the finest teams in the nation. Sasser was so integral to the growth and foundation of the League that in 2000, the Commissioner’s Cup -- the annual award given to the institution with the most successful athletic year -- was re-named the George F. Sasser Cup.

In August 1996, Kyle B. Kallander replaced Sasser as the League’s third Commissioner, At the helm of the Big South, Kallander has been pivotal in aggressively promoting the Conference to new levels. The Big South has enjoyed record levels in marketing revenue during the past several years, he has brought television coverage to Big South women’s basketball, baseball and softball for the first time in Conference history, as well as increased national television exposure to the League as a whole through aggressive and unique television packages.

In the Fall of 2002, the Big South welcomed the addition of football as a Conference sport, bringing the number of Division I championship programs the Big South sponsors to 18. Starting with the 2010 Football season, the Big South will receive an automatic bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.