AUGUSTA, GA -- The Peach Belt Conference Board of Directors voted to change conference policy and allow provisional members to compete in PBC Championship events that carry NCAA automatic qualifiers. The board made the decision at the recent league annual meeting in Hilton Head.

The decision, which goes into effect immediately, will first impact USC Beaufort, who will be able to compete for league titles in soccer, basketball, baseball and softball starting this fall. Previously, the conference had not allowed schools transitioning to Division II to compete for any league tournament that awarded an NCAA automatic bid.

"This is a big change for us and for any school making the transition to Division II in the Peach Belt," said PBC commissioner David Brunk. "One of the major hurdles an athletic department faces when making the move to Division II is recruiting athletes when there is no championship to play towards. Now, all schools who make the move into the Peach Belt will immediately be able to compete in all of our championship events across the board."

Any provisional team that wins a PBC Tournament will still not be able to compete in the NCAA Tournament, per NCAA rules. The Peach Belt is constructing rules and regulations to determine who the automatic qualifier will be for each PBC tournament should a provisional institution win.

"The process for determining the automatic qualifier is currently being discussed by our athletic directors' council and we will have a full set of regulations covering all our championship sports before the fall season begins," said Brunk. "Our goal is to be consistent in how we award the AQ, yet have a degree of flexibility given the differing natures of our sports and the formats of our tournaments."

Full transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II is a three year process. USC Beaufort just completed the first year of their transition and are scheduled to reach full NCAA Division II status in the fall of 2025.

The PBC Board of Directors is comprised of the presidents and chancellors from the league's member institutions.