Even though the numbers may not be that high ... the 2003 Big South slate is very impressive and worthy of the post-season for a couple of the clubs. First off, let us see just who is The Big South Conference. At last count, Elon and VMI "swapped" conferences ... so Elon is in the SoCon, while VMI is a new member of the Big South. So, who are these Chanticleers? Well, in addition to some type of bird, Coastal Carolina is a member of the Big South Conference & they do have a new I-AA football team. Although I do not think it is anything official, they do play all of the conference teams this year. I know there are rules with regard to conferences and team tenure. I am waiting for a few emails to be returned ... so if it turns out that CCU is now an official football member ... we will post their schedule as well.

1. Liberty: The Flames, in our opinion,  have the most challenging, by some margin, Big South schedule in 2003. In fact, if it was not for the weakness of the conference ... they may have the most challenging schedule in all of I-AA. In either case ... it is, arguably, the most ambitious. LU opens up 2003 at James Madison. From there, they travel to N.W. Ohio to face two of the biggest names in the MAC {IA Mid-American Conference} ... facing the Rockets of Toledo and Falcons of Bowling Green (both clubs saw time in the top-25 over the last two years). They open at home with a DII club ... then"jump right back into the fire" against YSU. Other non-conference matches include ETSU (SoCon), Norfolk St. (MEAC) and a season finally ... hosting the "Dutch" of Hofstra (A-10). So, let's review... 2 games against potential MAC conference winners in UT & BGSU (both should see bowl games this year) ... a game against the potential Gateway champ YSU (a play-off regular) and a game against a potential A-10 winner Hofstra (another play-off regular). 
   
2. VMI: VMI open 2003 in a new conference, with a new slate of opponents. A terrific season opener, as the Keydets travel to Annapolis to face the mid-shipmen. The non-conference portion of the VMI schedule includes the A-10's William & Mary and Richmond, Norfolk St. and of course ... a season finally vs. the Citadel. A couple of weaker I-AA's did bring the strength down some. VMI has not won more than 6 games since 1981 and this schedule should provide a tremendous opportunity for coach McCombs.
   
3. Gardner-Webb: Coach Patton brought his Bulldogs into the national spotlight last season ... and he certainly hopes to do the same in 2003. Although this year's schedule looks promising, there are a few "bumps" along the way. After a DII home-opener, GW heads to face Big Sky contender Montana State. Another of our, now infamous, NAIA duels really brings the schedule strength down. Back-to-back games against SoCon teams will tell fans much about the Bulldogs, as they face Chattanooga and Furman. The non-conference portion of the schedule also includes building programs Florida International and Florida Atlantic.
   
4. Charleston-Southern: The Buccaneers have a few solid games this year. However, 6 sub-IAA or I-AA non-scholarship programs are a bit much. We do have to realize that this is a very new club ... to I-AA. This is only their second year as a DI club, so some patience is in order.
   

     As we said, the 2003 Big Sky schedule is very diverse, with several IA games in the mix. However, these games are offset by several sub-IAA matches. These bring the conference schedule average to 48.14, behind the A-10 by quite some margin (38.71). I have just received word that Coastal-Carolina IS considered an official member of the Big South ... for football. So, I will have their rank in by this weekend, when we will also give you the Gateway breakdown. I have been getting many emails on this new CCU team. They have just become the #1 team in the state, in terms of top-50 "in-state" recruits. This looks serious.