Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA ' s Division I . The conference ' s football teams are part of the Football Championship Subdivision ( formerly Division I - AA ) . The Big South , founded in 1983 , is firmly rooted in the southeastern United States , with member institutions located in North Carolina , South Carolina , and Virginia . History . Charter members included Armstrong State ( now Armstrong Atlantic State University ) ( 1983 – 1987 ) , Augusta ( now Augusta State University ) ( 1983 – 1990 ) , Campbell University ( 1983 – 1994 ; 2011 – present ) , Charleston Baptist ( now Charleston Southern University ) ( 1983 – present ) , Coastal Carolina University ( 1983 – present ) , Radford University ( 1983 – present ) and Winthrop University ( 1983 – present ) . The expansion of membership occurred during the 80 ' s and 90 ' s . Some of those members are University of North Carolina at Asheville ( 1984 – present ) , Davidson College ( 1990 – 1992 ) , Liberty University ( 1991 – present ) , University of Maryland , Baltimore County ( 1992 – 1998 ) , University of North Carolina at Greensboro ( 1992 – 1997 ) , Towson University ( 1992 – 1995 ) , Elon University ( 1999 – 2003 ) , High Point University ( 1999 – present ) and Birmingham – Southern College ( 2000 – 2007 ) . The Big South Conference began sponsoring football in 2002 , with Charleston Southern University , Gardner – Webb University , and Liberty University fielding teams ; Coastal Carolina University and Virginia Military Institute joined the conference as football - playing members in 2003 . VMI also joined the conference for all sports . Presbyterian joined the conference in 2007 , moving up from Division II , and became eligible for regular - season championships and conference honors during the 2008 athletic year . Gardner – Webb , which had been a football playing member since 2002 , joined the conference for all sports on July 1 , 2008 . Longwood accepted an invitation to join the Big South on January 23 , 2012 , with membership to formally begin July 1 . - Campbell was a founding member of the Big South Conference in 1983 . The Fighting Camels left in 1994 and re - joined in 2011 for all sports , except for their football program , which remains in the Pioneer Football League . - Stony Brook football will leave the Big South after the 2012 season to join the Colonial Athletic Association ( CAA ) . - The move of Monmouth to the Big South will involve a transition year as an FCS Independent . Member schools . 2011 – 2012 divisional realignment . With the additions of Campbell and Longwood to the Big South in 2011 and 2012 , Big South commissioner Kyle Kallander stated the conference will break up into two divisions of six teams each beginning in 2012 – 2013 . He also said the Big South Tournament will be held at a single , neutral location . The divisional setup is as follows : Teams will play the 5 other divisional opponents twice , one home and one away ( 10 games ) . They will play teams outside of the division once each ( 6 games ) . This cuts the number of conference games to 16 , as opposed to 18 in previous years . Sports . The Big South sponsors championship competition in nine men ' s and ten women ' s NCAA sanctioned sports . Davidson competes as an associate in lacrosse . Stony Brook has competed as an associate in football , but is departing for membership in the Colonial Athletic Association . Football - players drafted to the NFL . The Big South has had a number of players to get drafted and play football professionally in the NFL . Conference champions . Men ' s basketball Basketball Tournament Championships by school Football Broadcasters ( Big South Network ) . In addition to basketball games being broadcasted on regional and national television , member schools of the Big South Conference are required to provide a live stream of all home games for all sports when playing teams both within and outside of the conference . These streams are run by the university hosting the event . All streams are featured on the conference website and are available for a monthly fee . The football games broadcasted on the web are branded as part of a Big South Network .