The SoCon has a lot of snooty privates like Citadel, Furman, and Wofford that detest a public like Coastal, that has ambitions but has no tradition to speak of. Same reason that NDSU can never get in the MVC: too many privates like Drake, Bradley, Loyola, and Evansville that look down on Dakota schools.

The SoCon took Mercer over Coastal because Mercer is a private school. Coastal is considered a rebel institution in S Caroline, which doesn't sit wll with the privates.