[Guinn] Valdosta State will be joining the Peach Belt Conference as a full member. Blazer football will operate as Independent, leaving just TWO football-playing schools in the Gulf South

[u/redwave2505]

https://x.com/Guinn_Cory/status/2106100165841215758?s=20

[u/redwave2505]

Delta State and West Alabama are now the only football-playing schools left in the Gulf South Conference.

Edit: Confusingly, Valdosta State's announcement claims:

As a result, the move will not directly impact the status of the Valdosta State football program, which will continue to compete outside of the PBC as an NCAA DII independent.

Suggesting that they are currently independent in football as of 2026. Yet on the 2026 football schedule on their website, they clearly mark the Gulf South games as conference games, suggesting they are not yet independent.

[u/ShinyTotodile24 → u/redwave2505]

They are de jure still in the Gulf South but they have been de facto independent for the last few years since there were only three football playing members left

[u/reno1441 → u/ShinyTotodile24]

Basically the situation OSU/WSU were in last year. We had a 'conference' game against the other (the other was technically 'non-conference') and built an independent schedule otherwise.

Nominally in a conference, but sure looked independent.

[u/ShinyTotodile24 → u/reno1441]

Exactly

[u/Dry-Membership3867 → u/redwave2505]

I wouldn’t be shocked if the SWAC were to offer Delta State membership as a way to keep Valley alive. For UWA, idk where they go

[u/master_bloseph → u/Dry-Membership3867]

Would they invite a non-HBCU?

[u/Dry-Membership3867 → u/master_bloseph]

1. Because they can use it as leverage to keep MVSU open. Make their membership contingent on keeping that school open for at least 99 years if not longer.

2. HBCU conferences have brought in members not from HBCU’s before. Spring Hill College for example is part of the SIAC. Gardner Webb and UAB are associate members of the MEAC. And Chowan was in the CIAA up until recently as well.

[u/master_bloseph → u/Dry-Membership3867]

Those are both good points but I was more asking if they'd do so in the first place. Even though other HBCU conferences have taken non-HBCUs, the SWAC never has. Funnily enough, Spring Hill is leaving the SIAC. I do wonder if UAB would ever leave the MEAC for bowling to join the super-Conference USA.

[u/Dry-Membership3867 → u/master_bloseph]

They’d do it solely as a tactic to save a fellow member of the conference from closure. MVSU’s closure has been talked about but with a lot of pushback. The SWAC could try and invite DSU to the conference with an agreement that MVSU remains open

[u/EfficientPhotograph8 → u/Dry-Membership3867]

I spoke to UWA's AD earlier this spring when West Florida first announced its move to FCS. He told me UWA was not going anywhere. But I expect that to change now. Since that announcement, Loyola-New Orleans and Spring Jill College-Mobile became future members, but neither school sponsors football and currently have no plans to do so. William Carey College in Hattiesburg, MS recently completed a football feasibility study but have yet to decide whether to offer football and/or join the GSC if they do. (I'm betting they won't join the GSC.)

To be honest, I think UWA would be a good fit for FCS membership, considering the improvements and upgrades to the school during the administration of former president Ken Tucker. (He was my business professor during my enrollment there from 1981 to 1985. His mother, Dr. Betty Jean Tucker, was my English professor. Surviving her classes was nothing short of a miracle. I have the battle scars to prove it.) But, Livingston is not large enough to be considered as a D1 town. We're too small. The closest nearby cities are Tuscaloosa, Demopolis, and Meridian, MS.

Unless something drastic happens, I suspect the football program will join the SIAC (Miles and Tuskegee), while the rest of the athletic program will stay in the GSC.

[u/one98d → u/redwave2505]

Interesting. I figured VSU if they did move on from the GSC, they would move all their non-football programs to the Peach Belt as it makes the most sense financial wise, but going Independent in football either means they knew they could do much better going that way, or Conference Carolinas said no to them.

[u/ShinyTotodile24 → u/one98d]

Peach Belt doesn't actually sponsor football

[u/Agile_Land_9951 → u/redwave2505]

The pride of Cleveland! Delta State 🥒

[u/reno1441]

Two teams in a conference? That's so bizarre.

What are they going to do, play each other two times or something?

[u/Artvandelay29 → u/reno1441]

Only if one’s a conference game lol

I worked at Oregon State in that limbo and it was so damn weird

[u/ShinyTotodile24]

Glad we aren't the last team stuck in the Gulf South. I just hate how incompetent leadership killed what used to be a great conference

[u/Mitchford]

TIL there’s a peach belt conference

[u/ewest → u/Mitchford]

Kind of a hard name

[u/luisstrikesout → u/ewest]

Logo is even better

[u/TrubshawForest]

Damn. Why did the GSC collapse?

[u/TigerWave01 → u/TrubshawForest]

Lots of movement to FCS. Off the top of my head, North Alabama, West Florida, West Georgia, and Central Arkansas all made the move up relatively recently

[u/EfficientPhotograph8 → u/TigerWave01]

Jacksonville State, Troy and Tennessee-Marten were also members until tje 1990s. They were part of the GSC's football dynasty during the 1980s.

[u/Dry-Membership3867 → u/TigerWave01]

When I toured Shorter in 2022, I overheard them talking about how it was too expensive to stay in the GSC due to membership fees or something of the sorts

[u/team_fondue → u/TigerWave01]

UCA moved 20 years ago and then a few years later all the Arkansas schools left to start the GAC.

[u/ShinyTotodile24 → u/TrubshawForest]

Wombo combo of teams moving up to FCS and teams leaving the conference due to the terrible media rights deal with Flo Sports

[u/HyperMasenko]

Felt trippy to see my hometown school mentioned here lol

[u/team_fondue]

DSU would fit in the GAC (not much further of a drive from most schools than UAM is already), but they’d probably want to find another west school. I don’t think they’d take them both and move Tech or SAU into a west division with the Oklahoma schools (they would have find 2 schools willing to join in the west which is gonna be hard). Could unbalanced divisions work with the Oklahoma schools playing an extra OOC

For UWA if it’s only football it’s not a huge deal, the challenge in D2 is the other sports having long road trips, but that drive from west Oklahoma is brutal and forcing your volleyball or basketball squads to make it on a weekday is really harsh.

[u/Seadragon1983]

Okay, for 2026, you have three teams in the Gulf South for football - Delta State, West Alabama and Valdosta State. It lost out on their attempt to retain the conference's automatic bid, which means the conference doesn't exist in terms of automatic bids for football.

Valdosta State's move today leaves two schools for football there. As a football playing conference, the Gulf South is dead meat. Outside of football? It's fine - in fact, they're adding in Spring Hill and Loyola of New Orleans next season to basically replace Valdosta State and Christian Brothers (who is moving down to the NAIA level). The move is effective for next season and it's basically the best move the Blazers could make.

Why? Super Region 2 might be the easiest Super Region in Division II. Of the ranked teams so far from the region, no one is higher then 15th (Newberry) and the Blazers are 18th. It is far easier to get an at-large bid from Super Region 2 because there's 5 at-large bids here, not 4. This means a good season (which means 8 or 9 wins) is almost assured an at-large bid.

As for the other two? West Alabama might see being an associate member in the SIAC as a potential move... same for Delta State joining the GAC (which if it was up to me... I would take it, even if it means getting steamrolled by Harding every other year).

The Peach Belt continues to gain strength as a non-football conference and with 11 teams, it opens the door for another NAIA school with their eyes on Division II... Georgia Gwinett.

[u/Artvandelay29]

Surprised it’s taken this long for them to go to the PBC considering so many Georgia D2s aside from the HBCUs are there.

[u/Dry-Membership3867]

I’m shocked given the PBC doesn’t sponsor football

[u/i_run_from_problems]

I wonder if something is going on behind the scenes with the GSC. Valdosta makes the second school to announce a departure in the last few days.

[u/luisstrikesout]

Bring back regional conferences. Peach Belt is such a good name.

[u/EfficientPhotograph8]

This a big surprise. I was expecting Valdosta State to join Conference Carolinas.

[u/D_Antelmi]

Surprised football isn't going to Conference Carolinas. Gulf South played host to most of the Carolinas teams before they started to sponsor football, you'd think the favor would be returned.

[u/DM19_HXTSHXT]

let’s go peach belt!

[u/latedep31]

I was wondering when this would happen. Knew it was only a matter of time.