Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

7/13/2010 at 12:41am

The dominoes are starting to fall for the Gulf South Conference, as three Oklahoma schools left the Lone Star Conference and are expected to join the six Arkansas schools that are members of the GSC.

Talks were held in Russellville on Friday as presidents and chancellors of the nine Oklahoma and Arkansas schools discussed the possibility of creating a new athletic conference to reduce travel costs.

The commissioner of the Lone Star Conference made the announcement of the departure of the three schools Monday night.

Mike Kays of the Muskogee Phoenix writes:

"LSC commissioner Stan Wagnon announced in an e-mail statement on Monday that East Central, Southeastern Oklahoma and Southwestern Oklahoma plan to withdraw from the league effective June 30, 2012, joining Gulf South Conference members Arkansas-Monticello, Arkansas Tech, Harding, Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist and Southern Arkansas to create a new conference."

The departure of the three Oklahoma schools strongly hints that it is only a matter of time before the six Arkansas schools, which make up nearly half of the GSC members, leave the Gulf South to start a new conference.

If the expected action occurs, athletic schedules would not be affected for the 2010-2011 season and conference changes would occur starting in 2011.

Football fans around the country thought that major conference shake-ups would happen in this part of the country, they just didn't get the division right. Turns out Division II could be seeing a new look soon enough.

Tagged: Lone Star Conference, Arkansas-Monticello, Southern Arkansas, Gulf South Conference, football, Arkansas Tech, Ouachita Baptist, Henderson State, Harding University