Choccolocco Park plays host to the 2023 Gulf South Conference Championship, where one team will emerge with a league crown and automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

As the regular season winds down on college hoops, one of the deepest basketball leagues in Division II will put its automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament up for grabs starting when the Gulf South Conference Tournament tips off Feb. 28.

With the return of NCAA softball just days away, the storylines heading into the 2023 season are endless, particularly at the Division II level, where a new power could be emerging in the sport, while other top programs return loaded lineups, strong pitching staffs or some combination of the two – all with their sights set on a trip to Denver.

While offense has boomed in softball of late, the key to sustained success remains having dominant arms in the circle.

We’re two weeks into the Gulf South portion of the schedule, and just like we all predicted, Delta State is the lone undefeated team left in the league with wins over each of the preseason poll favorites.

Picked to finish in the bottom half of the Gulf South, and with them opening the season with four straight road games, it would have been easy to write off the Delta State Statesmen before the season even began.

Delta State helped flip the Gulf South on its head early into the conference season last week, outlasting one of the preseason favorites – West Florida – in a double-overtime classic.

The Gulf South's league slate kicked off last week with North Greenville bouncing back from an 0-2 start to earn a road win over Mississippi College by a 41-19 score and temporarily move to the top of the league standings.

The Gulf South continued its strong run of non-conference play with another 6-2 mark in Week 2 to push the league’s mark to 12-4 this season. However, the biggest news from last week came from one of the two losses.

The Gulf South opened the 2022 campaign in impressive fashion, continuing its recent run of dominant Week 1s with a 6-2 collective mark. The league’s only losses came against a Top 25 opponent (Mississippi College at Albany State) and a solid FCS program (North Greenville at Furman).

A linebacker's role in a defense has evolved with the times in college football, but the position's importance has never changed. Linebackers often function as the eyes of a defense and are often tasked with stuffing the run, but they double as vital pass-rushers and, with the proliferation of pass-heavy offenses, can even function as hybrid defensive backs.

The wait is over: College football makes its return in full force.

With a variety of the top offenses in the country, including two of the very best in Valdosta State and West Florida, it’s safe to say that the Gulf South Conference is an offensive league. But with so many standouts on offense, that does create opportunities for defensive players to make a name for themselves. Here’s a look at some of the top returning talent returning to the Gulf South Conference ahead of the 2022 season — on both sides of the ball.

Ground games on the Div. II landscape a season ago proved to be a youth movement. Two of the nation's top four, three of the top six, and four of the leading 13 rushers in 2021 were freshmen. All return in 2022 to build on their impressive debuts.

The past three seasons of Gulf South football have been ruled by Valdosta State, with the Blazers going 22-1 in the league over that time.