FCS conference belt
The Big South Belt
A companion lineage restricted to Big South: the belt passes to whoever beats the holder, exactly like the real belt, but only games between two Big South members COUNT — and only for the seasons both sides were actually in Big South at the time. This belt is retired. Gardner-Webb held it when Big South played its last game on November 19, 2022, and the reign is closed as of June 30, 2023: Big South football merged into the Big South-OVC Football Association in 2023.
| # | Team | Reign | Length | Def. | Won it | Lost it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gardner-Webb | October 4, 2003 – October 2, 2004 | 364 days | 3 | Established it (first game on record) | lost to Liberty |
| 2 | Liberty | October 2, 2004 – October 23, 2004 | 21 days | 0 | beat Gardner-Webb 17–9 | lost to Coastal Carolina |
| 3 | Coastal Carolina | October 23, 2004 – November 19, 2005 | 1 yr, 27 days | 5 | beat Liberty 33–6 | lost to Charleston Southern |
| 4 | Charleston Southern | November 19, 2005 – November 11, 2006 | 357 days | 2 | beat Coastal Carolina 34–27 | lost to Liberty |
| 5 | Liberty | November 11, 2006 – November 1, 2008 | 1 yr, 356 days | 8 | beat Charleston Southern 34–20 | lost to Presbyterian |
| 6 | Presbyterian | November 1, 2008 – November 8, 2008 | 7 days | 0 | beat Liberty 31–28 | lost to Charleston Southern |
| 7 | Charleston Southern | November 8, 2008 – October 17, 2009 | 343 days | 1 | beat Presbyterian 29–18 | lost to Gardner-Webb |
| 8 | Gardner-Webb | October 17, 2009 – October 31, 2009 | 14 days | 0 | beat Charleston Southern 27–20 | lost to Stony Brook |
| 9 | Stony Brook | October 31, 2009 – November 20, 2010 | 1 yr, 20 days | 6 | beat Gardner-Webb 24–14 | lost to Liberty |
| 10 | Liberty | November 20, 2010 – November 19, 2011 | 364 days | 4 | beat Stony Brook 54–28 | lost to Stony Brook |
| 11 | Stony Brook | November 19, 2011 – November 24, 2012 | 1 yr, 5 days | 0 | beat Liberty 41–31 | vacated — left Big South before the 2013 season |
| 12 | Liberty | November 25, 2012 – October 19, 2013 | 328 days | 0 | reverted after Stony Brook left Big South | lost to Coastal Carolina |
| 13 | Coastal Carolina | October 19, 2013 – November 9, 2013 | 21 days | 1 | beat Liberty 55–52 | lost to Charleston Southern |
| 14 | Charleston Southern | November 9, 2013 – November 16, 2013 | 7 days | 0 | beat Coastal Carolina 31–26 | lost to Gardner-Webb |
| 15 | Gardner-Webb | November 16, 2013 – October 25, 2014 | 343 days | 1 | beat Charleston Southern 27–10 | lost to Liberty |
| 16 | Liberty | October 25, 2014 – November 15, 2014 | 21 days | 2 | beat Gardner-Webb 34–0 | lost to Charleston Southern |
| 17 | Charleston Southern | November 15, 2014 – November 5, 2016 | 1 yr, 356 days | 8 | beat Liberty 38–36 | lost to Gardner-Webb |
| 18 | Gardner-Webb | November 5, 2016 – October 21, 2017 | 350 days | 1 | beat Charleston Southern 17–10 | lost to Kennesaw State |
| 19 | Kennesaw State | October 21, 2017 – November 2, 2019 | 2 yrs, 12 days | 11 | beat Gardner-Webb 17–3 | lost to Monmouth |
| 20 | Monmouth | November 2, 2019 – November 20, 2021 | 2 yrs, 18 days | 9 | beat Kennesaw State 45–21 | lost to Kennesaw State |
| 21 | Kennesaw State | November 20, 2021 – December 4, 2021 | 14 days | 0 | beat Monmouth 49–17 | vacated — left Big South before the 2022 season |
| 22 | Gardner-Webb | December 5, 2021 – June 30, 2023 | 1 yr, 207 days | 5 | reverted after Kennesaw State left Big South | — belt retired — |
No reigns match “.”
Membership is judged season by season from every game a team played, so realignment moves a team’s games with it. A holder that stays in Big South keeps the belt through any stretch without a game against another member; a holder that leaves vacates the belt on its last game as a member, and it reverts to the most recent earlier holder that is a member of the season it left for. If no one is left to inherit it, the belt retires with its last holder. Days count the offseason; switch to games to measure a reign by belt games only.