FCS has a limit of 30 initial grants-in-aid per year. If that restriction applies to programs converting from non-scholarship to scholarship, it would take Mercer 3 seasons to go from 0 to 63 scholarships. I'm not sure what other scholarships and/or sports Mercer would need to add on the women's side to keep in compliance with Title IX.

ETSU is in the same boat as well, but ETSU already has one more women's sport than men's sport (volleyball). They would probably add women's lacrosse since both the Atlantic Sun and Big South sponsor it and neither are in position to turn down affiliate members.

(02-03-2013 08:52 AM)etsuandpurdue3 Wrote:  

(02-03-2013 02:52 AM)catdaddy_2402 Wrote:  Mercer fits the SoCon profile. Small private school.

ETSU, Kennesaw State, and North Alabama don't. The SoCon last added a public football playing school in 1992. Every other football school added has been a small private school.

I say that's why all the football playing, public schools are going to jump ship. Also ETSU/Chattanooga is a package deal for OVC/Sun Belt.

Not all of them. The Citadel is a public, football playing school. However they tend to vote with the small privates more than the public schools.

A friend says The Citadel is a public that thinks its private and Furman is a private that thinks its a public.

Furman fans are very proud to call themselves a private school, but yes Citadel acts more like a private school.

(02-02-2013 10:50 PM)etsuandpurdue3 Wrote:  Some new developments I've been hearing rumors about are that the SoCon expansion is in a mess,and that ETSU/UTC going to the OVC/Sun Belt is becoming more likely.(The Sun Belt will take Chatt right now,and with Noland in place here at ETSU were most likely going to have state of the art facilites)

Really? Where did you read that?

(02-03-2013 09:57 PM)GoApps70 Wrote:  

(02-02-2013 10:50 PM)etsuandpurdue3 Wrote:  Some new developments I've been hearing rumors about are that the SoCon expansion is in a mess,and that ETSU/UTC going to the OVC/Sun Belt is becoming more likely.(The Sun Belt will take Chatt right now,and with Noland in place here at ETSU were most likely going to have state of the art facilites)

Really? Where did you read that?

I didn't say the Sun Belt is going to take them. I said they could possibly take them due to their stadium/facilities.

"The Sun Belt will take Chatt right now"
Specifically says that the Sun Belt will take them meaning that they would meet all necessary financial, stadium, academic and other requirements and has an open invite. So where did you read that?