According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kennesaw State has accepted an invitation to join the Big South Conference. This seems to fit with Kennesaw State set to “make a major announcement regarding football” at a press conference at 10AM on Wednesday.
The Big South is currently composed of 6 football playing members – Liberty, Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, VMI, Presbyterian and Charleston Southern. VMI has announced it is leaving for the Southern Conference beginning in the 2014 season, and Monmouth is joining the Big South for football only beginning next season. Adding Kennesaw State, without losing any other members, will get the conference to 7 football playing members. 6 football playing members is needed in order to keep the FCS playoff auto-bid.
Kennesaw State is starting a football team from scratch, and has hired Brian Bohannon, formerly an assistant at Georgia Tech, as head coach earlier this year. KSU will keep the remainder of their athletic teams in the Atlantic Sun.
Kennesaw State is located in Kennesaw, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta.
This is a potential great move for the Big South. Hopefully this pays dividends by increasing the profile of the conference but that is unlikely in the near future. Welcome Kennesaw State!