Brentwood Home Page news reports
Nashville's Belmont University will be joining the Ohio Valley Conference, whose headquarters are based in Brentwood, starting for the 2012-13 college athletics season.

Belmont coach Rick Byrd

And timely enough, Bruins basketball coach Rick Byrd, who just took Belmont to its fourth NCAA Tournament since joining Division I, will be speaking at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 17, at the Martin Center's monthly potluck lunch gathering. Cost is $2 members, $5 guests, and a large potluck dish is requested.

Belmont will become the league's 12th member officially on July 1, 2012. Expected to go over the 6,000 enrollment mark in the fall, Belmont is located just nine miles north of the OVC's headquarters and gives the conference two teams in Nashville.

"Given Belmont University's commitment to excellence, both in the classroom and on the playing fields, they are a wonderful fit for the Ohio Valley Conference," said Beth DeBauche, OVC Commissioner. "I am delighted to welcome them to the Conference. They are a wonderful addition and the right fit for the OVC."

Other current members of the OVC are Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee-Martin, Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State, Murray State, Southeast Missouri, Eastern Illinois, Southern Illinois- Edwardsville and Jacksonville State.

Belmont, which doesn't play football, competes in 17 sports (8 men's sports and 9 women's sports), 16 of which will compete in the OVC. Men's soccer is not sponsored by the OVC.

The Bruins have competed in the Atlantic Sun Conference since 2001-02, winning 30 Atlantic Sun Championships -- the second most in the conference.

Bruins athletic teams have made recent NCAA Tournament appearances in men's and women's basketball, women's soccer, men's tennis and volleyball. The men's basketball program has made four NCAA Tournament appearances in the past six seasons, including finishing 30-5 (one of nine Division I teams with at least 30 wins) and earning a No. 13 seed in the recent NCAA Tournament.

 The Bruins men's and women's cross country squads have combined for 13 conference championships and 25 All-South Region runners since 2001.

Academically, Belmont has won the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Academic Trophy in seven of the nine years it has been a member of the league. In addition, 46 student-athletes have earned Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District honors and seven athletic teams have reported single-season GPAs 's that ranked in the Top 10 nationally including four (men's and women's cross country, softball and volleyball) who had team G.P.A.'s that led the nation.