(We made a list. We checked it twice. From now until New Year’s Eve, we are counting down the top ten headlines of 2018. Today, we look at #9 on our list.)
9. Conference realignments retool the ASun and occur coast to coast
Perhaps a news headline that some glazed over, the news item that a bevy of teams are changing conferences – even Divisions – this year should have a prolonged effect, specifically on the softball side of the equation.
Most notably, a pair of postseason stalwarts in USC-Upstate and Liberty will enter the 2019 season as fresh faces in new leagues. The Upstate Spartans left the ASun to join the Big South Conference, and Liberty was invited to, for all intents and purposes, take the Spartans’ spot in the ASun roster of members.
USC-Upstate advanced to five consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2013-17, representing the ASun as the tournament champions four times and once earning an at-large bid to the Regional round. The Spartans’ move to the Big South drastically changed the landscape of both conferences. The ASun’s conference RPI has regularly been near the top of the 32-league standings over the past several years, something that was made possible, at least in part, thanks to an extraordinarily competitive schedule played by the Spartans. While it takes more than one team to earn such a high RPI ranking, the Spartans regularly faced off in non-conference play against SEC foes and other quality opponents.
Just as the ASun looked to be losing one of its regularly top teams, the conference added not just one, but two newcomers: Liberty and North Alabama, which made the move up from Division II. Liberty has enjoyed a pair of impressive postseason appearances over the last two seasons, winning the inaugural NISC tournament in 2017 and advancing through the winner’s bracket to the regional final in 2018. The Flames are expected to be a postseason sleeper threat again in 2019, and the ASun looks to come out ahead in the trade-off.
Don’t look past North Alabama, either – despite being postseason ineligible during their four-year transition period to Division I, the 2016 Division II National Champions could make things very interesting for other teams, even in just their inaugural season at the D1 level. Though the Lions’ schedule includes just one Power 5 opponent, there are some quality mid-majors on the slate.
Other conference realignments to make headlines this year included Cal Baptist also making the transition from Division II to join the Western Athletic Conference; Savannah State announcing that it will leave the MEAC at an undetermined time to return to Division II; and the combination of LIU-Brooklyn and LIU-Post, a merger that is expected to take place beginning next fall, and will combine an annual Northeast Conference contender with the defending East Coast Conference (D2) champions into one, single Long Island University.
