Winning back-to-back Southern Conference championships is not a first time occurrence for the ETSU Buccaneers.
In fact, they won four in a row from 1989-1992. The chances of another three-peat for the Bucs are good, considering the amount of talent they return to the court next season. But could it be possible for ETSU to again win four Southern Conference championships four years in a row? Probably not, considering there will be no ETSU in the SoCon by fall 2005.
After ETSU decided to drop the football program in spring 2003 due to financial reasons, it was officially in violation of Southern Conference bylaws.
The by-law states that members of the Southern Conference must field a certain amount of sports, including football. Making the situation more unusual is the fact that UNC-Greensboro, College of Charleston and Davidson are all SoCon members that do not field football teams.
“There was a lot that went into the league’s decision,” said Southern Conference Associate Commissioner Geoff Cabe. “Nobody wants to see East Tennessee go. It was an agonizing decision for everyone.”
Davidson, UNC Greensboro and College of Charleston were all granted waivers on the front end of joining the conference, Cabe added. In the history of the conference, however, no one has ever been granted a waiver after dropping a required sport. Davidson was put in a similar situation in 1988 when they left the SoCon because of football. They rejoined in 1991, receiving a waiver to compete in the conference without a football program.
“I certainly wasn’t in favor of the Southern Conference’s decision to not grant ETSU a waiver to stay in the conference,” said Chris Dortch, sports writer and editor of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. “The decision was based on out-dated SoCon bylaws that state a member school has to have a football program. The SoCon is losing a tremendous member institution in ETSU.”
ETSU sports will begin playing in the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2005-2006. The Atlantic Sun Conference consists of Belmont University, Campbell University, University of Central Florida, Florida Atlantic University, Gardener-Webb University, Georgia State University, Jacksonville University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, Stetson University and Troy State University.
“We’re real excited about having ETSU join the conference,” said Steve Sturrick, associate commissioner of the Atlantic Sun Conference. “We have made great strides as a conference to get where we are today and we’re proud of what we’ve done as a conference. We’re very proud to gain ETSU as a member.”
The Bucs enter a conference with a basketball rating percentage index of .0072 point less than the SoCon, meaning that the level of competition in the Atlantic Sun is slightly lower this season than the Southern Conference.
The Atlantic Coast Conference for example, has the highest RPI in the nation, housing teams like Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest, all teams ranked in the top 25.
The Atlantic Sun is spread out slightly farther than the SoCon. The schools of the SoCon fall within four states – Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina – that are all within fairly close proximity to ETSU. UT Chattanooga is one of the Bucs’ longest road trips and it is in state.
However, the Atlantic Sun currently has two teams in Nashville, four in Florida and one in Alabama. For those familiar with geography, that’s pretty well spread out.
“It will be different for ETSU,” said Dortch. “You can grow a beard on some of those road trips.”
Travel arrangements aside, the move looks to be a good one for the Bucs, according to Dortch.
“I think ETSU can benefit from its new alliance with the Atlantic Sun.” Dortch said. “Without question, the program has already done a fantastic job recruiting in states such as Florida. Having more of a presence in the state by playing Florida-based Atlantic Sun schools will do nothing but help recruiting. I’m also excited to see some new natural rivalries being built against Nashville schools Lipscomb and Belmont. Believe me, both of those programs are very competitive.”
“There are a lot of positives.” said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow. “There are several recruiting positives involved in with the move.”
With Georgia State in Atlanta, and Belmont and Lipscomb in Nashville, ETSU is given two large markets to recruit within, said Bartow. The four Florida schools also provide new recruiting opportunities for the Bucs.
“We gain a great amount of recruiting potential with the move,” Bartow said.
Even though the Bucs will be leaving over 20 years of history and memories behind, the Southern Conference may have not seen the last of the ETSU Buccaneers. For the time being, however, there is a commitment to the Atlantic Sun that will be honored.
Davidson left the conference once and returned. ETSU could possibly be a part of the Southern Conference again some day, Cabe said. “It’s not impossible that things could come around again.” he said. “Time does strange things.

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