Geography and Football
(St. Louis, MO) – As the Atlantic Sun Conference prepares to announce expansion to its league, Ohio Valley Conference fans are wondering about the departure of two its members. All indications are that Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky are leaving the OVC.
In our previous story we explored the EKU side of this equation. Today, we look at JSU.
Mark Edwards is the Sports Editor for the Anniston Star and is the beat writer for JSU hoops. He tells us the reasons for leaving the OVC are simple. ‘Geography and Football.’ The Jacksonville, Alabama school simply has too far to travel to play in the OVC, and they are looking for more regional football rivalries.
Short-Lived OVC Legacy
JSU made a football-based decision to join the OVC in 2003. They left the ASUN and along with Samford formed a southern contingent to the league. When Samford left (2008) that contingent was gone. The OVC continued to expand, but according to Edwards they added non-football schools and no programs that were any closer to football-crazed Alabama.
The ASUN did not sponsor football. With this expansion, the league will begin to sponsor football this fall.
JSU is a top-flight FCS program. Head coach John Grass carries a 58-18 record into the ASUN. His teams dominated (41-6) the OVC.
Since ‘football is king’, this move makes sense from a rivalry and attendance stand point.
Geography
Tennessee State and Belmont are the second and third closest OVC ‘neighbors’ to JSU. Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville (Florida), Kennesaw State, Liberty, North Alabama, North Florida and Stetson are all closer to JSU than all the OVC programs.
Travel costs alone, will make this a better fit for the Gamecock program. Leaving the OVC can save JSU money and help create some regional football rivalries. During the 2019 season, JSU drew over 21,000 fans to their non-conference game with North Alabama. Their 2018 game with Kennesaw State drew nearly 17,000 fans. While their attendance figures don’t dip significantly when OVC teams come to Burgess-Snow Field, traveling the other direction is difficult.
What’s Next?
The ASUN has announced a press conference for Friday (1/29) and presumably this process, which according to Edwards began this past winter will come to a crescendo with the announcement that EKU and JSU are leaving the OVC and along with Central Arkansas are joining the ASUN.
📢 The ASUN Conference Has Something to Say‼️
Tune in Friday to ESPN+ at 11 AM ET for a MAJOR Announcement. #ASUNBuilt
🔗: https://t.co/kZgklP8831 pic.twitter.com/3oDqw1DXKE
— #ASUNBuilt (@ASUNSports) January 27, 2021
Edwards says the decision came rather rapidly. In mid-November the ASUN announced expansion plans and Central Arkansas, EKU and JSU were rumored to be on the conference’s short list. JSU officials told Edwards they hadn’t been contacted at that point.
The ASUN and OVC are comparable basketball leagues, and it remains to be seen how these decisions will affect the leagues or the individual programs. For now, all indications are that EKU and JSU are leaving the OVC.
Do Good
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As we near the closing of the portal window, we've reached 1900. Some of them never to play college basketball again, earn a college degree and some to play at a much lower level than they did last season.
I guess we'll be seeing this in a @RacersHoops uniform this year. Glad AJ is staying in the @ValleyHoops.
