Kicking Off the Kickoffs!

Conference play is everywhere, with rivalries heating up throughout the Big South in all fall sports. For football, this is just the beginning of Conference games--and it's an intriguing weekend on the gridiron...

#20 Liberty at Coastal Carolina is the headliner, with the defending champion coming in undefeated and the home team eager to dethrone the Flames. The Chanticleers lead the all-time series 3-2. Coverage includes Big South television partners MASN and SportSouth.

Gardner-Webb at Charleston Southern is the week's other Conference game--the Runnin' Bulldogs have a 6-2 edge in the series, but the Buccaneers have won two of the last three, giving this one an interesting spin.

#6 Richmond at VMI presents the match-up with the most history: Saturday is their 85th meeting. The Keydets lead the all-time series 40-39-5, and the highly-ranked Spiders will be eager to even up the record among these rivals.

North Greenville at Presbyterian gives us a pair of 1-4 teams meeting with hopes of getting back in the right direction. PC has won all three previous meetings between the schools, although last year was a shootout, so anything can happen (the Blue Hose beat the Crusaders 66-52 in a game where QB Tim Webb threw for 648 yards and seven touchdowns).

All that being said, it's NOT just about football! The volleyball and soccer schedules are already in the thick of Conference play and the games are getting bigger and better. That's as good a cue as any to look at what's On The EDGE this week for all the fall sports...

Gosh, that was really an unfortunate freeze-frame, wasn't it?

By the way, don't forget to go back to the Big South 25th Anniversary Media Center, particularly for the "Best of the Best" Voting. After a rush in the first few weeks, voting has slowed down, so jump in and help your favorite (but remember, only one vote per day--we've been pulling out the extras)! There are also updates to the profile and monthly history stories in the article library and vignettes telling you all about the "Best" honorees in the video library.

That's all for now--gotta run...believe it or not, we're already working on BASKETBALL things too--it's closer than you might think!