Mid-South becomes nation’s largest football conference

The Mid-South Conference and The Sun Conference are merging to form the largest football league in college sports.

Conference officials announced Thursday that beginning with the 2017 season, the Mid-South Conference will include 20 teams which will compete in three divisions. The new, expanded football conference will allow three teams to earn an automatic bid to the NAIA Football Championship Series.

“This merger strengthens our commitment to our football institutions and their student-athletes,” said Mid-South Conference Commissioner Eric Ward. Ward said the expanded football conference will make it easier for schools to schedule football games, as well as bring together institutions with similar values.

The new conference will include the Mid-South Conference’s 13 members: Bethel (Tenn.), Bluefield (Va.), Campbellsville (Ky.), Cincinnati Christian (Ohio), Cumberland (Tenn.), Cumberlands (Ky.), Faulkner (Ala.), Georgetown (Ky.), Kentucky Christian, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Pikeville (Ky.), Reinhardt (Ga.), and Union (Ky.).

They will be joined by six teams from The Sun Conference: Ave Maria (Fla.), Edward Waters (Fla.), Point (Ga.), Southeastern (Fla.), Warner (Fla.) and Webber International (Fla.). St. Andrews (N.C.) is scheduled to begin football in 2017.

“The addition of seven institutions will increase the number of football schools in the MSC from 13 to 20, and will provide the conference with options that we haven’t had in the past,” said Randy Vernon, vice president for athletics at the University of the Cumberlands. “We will not have any scheduling issues to deal with, our fans will have a chance to watch new opponents we haven’t played in the past, and the addition of new members in different parts of the South will enable us to improve recruiting efforts in those areas. I think our coaches, athletes, and fans will be very pleased with the changes in the conference that will take place in the near future.”

The Sun Conference Commissioner, Mark Pope, echoed Ward’s sentiments in creating the new football conference.

“Throughout our discussions, Eric and I realized that our respective member institutions were remarkably similar in values, character and strategic vision with regard to football,” Pope said. “We were impressed with the Mid-South’s focus on football as its core product.”

Founded in 1987, the Mid-South Conference split into East and West football divisions in 2005. The expanded football conference’s divisions will be called the Appalachian, Bluegrass and Sun. Each division will have its own identity, producing a division champion that will earn an automatic bid into the NAIA Football Championship Series.

When the new football arrangement takes place in 2017, teams will play each school within a division once and play four non-division games against other Mid-South Conference teams.

The Mid-South Conference’s new football divisions are:

Bluegrass Division: Bethel (Tenn.), Campbellsville (Ky.), Cincinnati Christian (Ohio), Cumberland (Tenn.), Georgetown (Ky.), Kentucky Christian, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.).

Appalachian Division: Bluefield (Va.), Cumberlands (Ky.), Point (Ga.), Pikeville (Ky.), Reinhardt (Ga.), St. Andrews (N.C.), Union (Ky.).

Sun Division: Ave Maria (Fla.), Edward Waters (Fla.), Faulkner (Ala.), Southeastern (Fla.), Warner (Fla.), Webber International (Fla.).

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Mid-South becomes nation’s largest football conference."