CONWAY -- Josh Hoke's book can wait.

Coastal Carolina's senior place kicker has been dreaming up his venture since he and the rest of the first full football recruiting class stepped foot on the campus. Hoke's vision is to chronicle the rapid growth of a program that five years ago had so few tangible elements.

After Saturday, Hoke had to scrap plans to begin working on the project every day.

The Chanticleers defeated Charleston Southern 31-17 on Saturday at Brooks Stadium, meaning Hoke will likely have to add at least another chapter, one involving the playoffs.

"I thought we'd be in the situation where today we'd be celebrating our first conference championship," Hoke said. "I never knew I'd have three rings after this."

Or a budding playoff berth.

The Chanticleers can thank an eight-game winning streak that included a victory over then-No. 3 Furman for the situation they find themselves in today.

Capping the streak with another outright Big South crown -- the team's second in three years -- was the only way the No. 13 Chants were going to get into the postseason. They did just that against Charleston Southern.

Jerome Simpson, exorcising the demons of last year's Super Safety debacle, caught a pair of touchdown passes and finished with 106 receiving yards.

Quarterback Tyler Thigpen, who is second in NCAA Division I-AA in total yards per game, passed for 325 yards, ran for another 47 and threw for three touchdowns.

And the Chants' defense, one that took heat after early season losses and even some victories, turned in a shut down, second-half performance on Charleston Southern quarterback Collin Drafts. On three consecutive possessions, Coastal's defense ended CSU drives with interceptions.

The defensive effort turned what looked like a shootout in a two-touchdown CCU victory.

"I can't believe the defense shut them out in the second half," coach David Bennett said. "That's amazing."

Said defensive back Marrio Norman, who had one of those three picks: "Everybody put the 'Me' to the side, and we've been playing as one unit. We've been [trying to be] known as one unit since the beginning of the year. We're clicking right now."

As a team, the Chants have been doing that most of the season, especially during the current eight-game win streak.

The payoff could come today at 1:30 p.m. when playoff selections are announced.

Nothing will be definite until then, and though it seems unlikely, Coastal could still be left out of the postseason. The mindset from CCU coaches and players is that there is no way that could happen.

"We did our part. We were 1-2 and we won out," Thigpen said. "So there's nothing we can do about it. It's a political thing.

"We gotta get our mind set right that we're going to play somewhere. Let's just get ready to go."