The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

teams compete in the

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

(formerly known as Division I-AA). Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Established in 1921, the Southern Conference ranks as the fifth-oldest major college athletic conference in the United States, and either the third- or fourth-oldest in continuous operation, depending on definitions. Among conferences currently in operation, the Big Ten (1896) and Missouri Valley (1907) are indisputably older. The

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

did not operate under its current charter until 1959, but claims the history of the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

, founded in 1915, as its own. The Southwest Conference (SWC) was founded in 1914, but ceased operation in 1996. The

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

claimed the same history as the Missouri Valley from 1907 to 1928 during its existence; though it essentially merged with four SWC members to form the Big 12 Conference in 1996, the Big 12 does not claim the Big Eight's legacy. The Ivy League was formally organized in 1954 with athletic competition starting in 1955, but claims the history of the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League, which competed from 1901 to 1955, as its own. The SoCon was the first conference to use the three-point field goal in basketball in a November 29, 1980 game at

Western Carolina Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU was founded t ...

against Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), where Ronnie Carr shot the historic shot from away and the Catamounts won 77–70. The Southern Conference is considered one of the stronger football conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision and is considered a mid-major conference in basketball. The three-time Division I NCAA Football champion Appalachian State Mountaineers were a member of the conference when they stunned the fifth-ranked

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

34–32 on September 1, 2007. The Davidson Wildcats reached the Elite Eight in the

2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball ...

by upsetting power programs

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places * Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy * Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily People with the surna ...

, Georgetown, and Wisconsin. More recently, the six-time Division I NCAA Football champion

Georgia Southern Eagles The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic team(s) of Georgia Southern University (GS). The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A) and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference. Prior to joi ...

stunned Southeastern Conference power-house

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

26–20 in The Swamp on November 23, 2013—the first loss to a lower division opponent in the Florida program's history. In 2015, Furman defeated

UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

16–15 and The Citadel topped South Carolina 23–22 for their second win over the Gamecocks in the past three meetings. On September 4, 2021, East Tennessee State University stunned Vanderbilt 23–3 at their opening game. The SoCon also frequently sees multiple teams selected to participate in the

NCAA Division I Baseball Championship The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team Men's College World Series at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebr ...

History

Talks of a new conference for

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

athletics had started as early as fall of 1920. The conference was formed on February 25, 1921 in Atlanta as fourteen member institutions split from the

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...

. Southern Conference charter members were Alabama,

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and

Washington & Lee , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...

. In 1922, six more universities – Florida,

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt joined the conference. The first year of competition for the conference was in 1922, effective January 1. The new rules banned freshman play. Later additions included

Sewanee Sewanee may refer to: * Sewanee, Tennessee * Sewanee: The University of the South * ''The Sewanee Review'', an American literary magazine established in 1892 * Sewanee Natural Bridge * Saint Andrews-Sewanee School See also * Suwanee (disambiguati ...

(1924), Virginia Military Institute (1924), and Duke (1929). The SoCon is particularly notable for having spawned two other major conferences. In 1932, the 13 schools located south and west of the Appalachians (Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, University of the South (Sewanee), Tennessee, Tulane, and Vanderbilt) all departed the SoCon to form the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In 1953, seven additional schools (Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Wake Forest) withdrew from the SoCon to form the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC). The SEC and ACC have gone on to surpass their parent conference in prestige; while the SEC and ACC are considered "power" conferences in Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A), the SoCon dropped to Division I-AA (FCS) in 1982, four years after the top division was split into two levels in 1978. The SoCon became the first league to hold a post-season basketball tournament to decide a conference champion. Although first played in 1921, it did not become "official" until 1922, and in its first few years included teams which were not conference members. Held at the Municipal Auditorium in Atlanta from February 24 – March 2, 1922, the first meeting was won by North Carolina who defeated non-member Mercer in the Finals 40–25. The SoCon Basketball Tournament continues as the nation's oldest conference tournament. The next-oldest tournament overall is the SEC men's basketball tournament, founded in 1933, but that event was suspended after its 1952 edition and did not resume until 1979. With the demise of the Division II West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2013, whose tournament had been continuously held since 1936, the next-oldest conference tournament in continuous existence is now the ACC men's basketball tournament, first held in 1954.

Member schools

Current members

The all-sports membership changed to 10 schools in 2014 following the departure of Appalachian State, Davidson, Elon, and Georgia Southern, plus the arrival of East Tennessee State (ETSU), Mercer, and VMI. The current football membership stands at nine. UNC Greensboro does not sponsor football, while

ETSU East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an institutional Board of Tr ...

relaunched its previously dormant football program in 2015 and rejoined SoCon football in 2016 after one season as an independent. The 10 members of the Southern Conference are: ;Notes

Associate members

On January 9, 2014, the SoCon and Atlantic Sun Conference, now known as the

ASUN Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divisio ...

, announced a new alliance in lacrosse that took effect with the 2015 spring season (2014–15 school year). Under its terms, sponsorship of men's lacrosse shifted from the ASUN to the SoCon, while women's lacrosse sponsorship remained with the ASUN. Bellarmine, which had announced it would join the ASUN for men's lacrosse for the 2015 spring season, instead joined the SoCon. The alliance remains in effect in men's lacrosse, but the leagues amicably ended their full alliance in women's lacrosse once the SoCon began sponsoring that sport in the 2018 spring season (2017–18 school year). However, the conferences maintained their working relationship in women's lacrosse, with the SoCon adding

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

as an associate member effective with the 2021 spring season (2020–21 school year) in order to keep both conferences at five women's lacrosse members for 2021. Coastal was intended to play in SoCon women's lacrosse in the 2022 spring season (2021–22 school year) as well, but the SoCon decided to drop the sport after the 2021 spring season (2020–21 school year). While no formal announcement was made, the SoCon–ASUN women's lacrosse partnership definitively ended at that time, as the three full SoCon members who sponsored women's lacrosse moved that sport to the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

. Coastal and Delaware State both returned women's lacrosse to the ASUN Conference. The men's lacrosse partnership took a slightly different form from the 2022 spring season (2021–22 school year) forward, as the ASUN reinstated its men's lacrosse league. The two full ASUN members with men's lacrosse programs separated, with Jacksonville remaining in SoCon men's lacrosse while Bellarmine joined the ASUN men's lacrosse league. SoCon associate Air Force also left for ASUN men's lacrosse. The SoCon maintained its automatic NCAA tournament berth with the addition of Hampton. Before the addition of Hampton men's lacrosse, the most recent addition to the associate membership was Presbyterian wrestling, which joined during summer 2019. Two women's lacrosse members, Central Michigan and Detroit Mercy, left after the 2020 season (2019–20 school year) to join the new women's lacrosse league of Central's full-time home of the Mid-American Conference; this move contributed to the eventual demise of the SoCon women's lacrosse league. Men's soccer member Belmont will leave the SoCon after the 2021–22 school year when it joins the Missouri Valley Conference, which sponsors that sport. At the same time, Hampton will move men's lacrosse to its new full-time home of the

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

. The addition of men's lacrosse by the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

, announced on May 23, 2022, led to the demise of the SoCon men's lacrosse league after the 2022 season. In addition to Hampton joining the CAA, SoCon associate members High Point and Richmond (the latter a full A-10 member) moved to the A-10, and Jacksonville returned to ASUN men's lacrosse. In the table below, the "Joined" column denotes the start of the school year in which the institution became an associate member, which for spring sports differs from the first season of competition. ;Notes:

Former members

Most former members are currently members of either the Southeastern Conference or the

. Two of the former full members, Appalachian State and Davidson, maintain SoCon associate membership in wrestling. A third former full member, Georgia Southern, became an associate member in

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

when the SoCon added the sport for the 2016–17 school year.

Former associate members

In the table below, the "Joined" and "Left" columns denotes the calendar year in which each school joined and left the SoCon. For fall sports, the year of departure differs from the final year of competition. For spring sports, the year of arrival differs from the first season of competition.

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1921 till:2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:1921 till:1933 text: Alabama (1921–1933) bar:1 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:2 color:Full from:1921 till:1933 text:

(1921–1933) bar:2 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:3 color:Full from:1921 till:1933 text: Georgia (1921–1933) bar:3 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:4 color:Full from:1921 till:1933 text: Georgia Tech (1921–1933) bar:4 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:1964 text: SEC bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1964 till:1975 text:Independent bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1975 till:1979 text:

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1979 till:end text:

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

bar:5 color:Full from:1921 till:1933 text: Kentucky (1921–1933) bar:5 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:6 color:Full from:1921 till:1933 text: Mississippi A&M/State (1921–1933) bar:6 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:7 color:Full from:1921 till:1933 text: Tennessee (1921–1933) bar:7 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:8 color:Full from:1921 till:1937 text: Virginia (1921–1937) bar:8 color:OtherC2 from:1937 till:1953 text:Independent bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:end text:

bar:9 color:Full from:1921 till:1953 text: Clemson (1921–1953) bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:end text:

bar:10 color:Full from:1921 till:1953 text: North Carolina (1921–1953) bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:end text:

bar:11 color:Full from:1921 till:1953 text: North Carolina State (1921–1953) bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:end text:

bar:12 color:Full from:1921 till:1953 text: Maryland (1921–1953) bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:2014 text:

bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:2014 till:end text: Big Ten bar:13 color:Full from:1921 till:1958 text: Washington and Lee (1921–1958) bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:1958 till:1962 bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:1962 till:1976 text:

CAC CAC may refer to: Arts * California Arts Council, an agency for advancing California through the arts and creativity * Campbelltown Arts Centre, multidisciplinary contemporary arts centre south-west of Sydney, Australia * Comics Arts Conference ...

bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:end text: VCC/ODAC bar:14 color:Full from:1921 till:1965 text: Virginia Tech (1921–1965) bar:14 color:OtherC2 from:1965 till:1978 text:Independent bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:1978 till:1995 text:

bar:14 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:2000 text: A-10 bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2000 till:2004 text: Big East bar:14 shift:(20) color:OtherC2 from:2004 till:end text:

bar:15 color:Full from:1922 till:1933 text: Florida (1922–1933) bar:15 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:16 color:Full from:1922 till:1933 text:

(1922–1933) bar:16 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:17 color:Full from:1922 till:1933 text: Ole Miss (1922–1933) bar:17 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:18 color:Full from:1922 till:1933 text: Tulane (1922–1933) bar:18 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:1966 text: SEC bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:1966 till:1975 text:Independent bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:1975 till:1995 text:

bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:2014 text: C-USA bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text:

AAC AAC may refer to: Aviation * Advanced Aircraft, a company from Carlsbad, California * Alaskan Air Command, a radar network * American Aeronautical Corporation, a company from Port Washington, New York * American Aviation, a company from Cleveland, ...

bar:19 color:Full from:1922 till:1933 text: Vanderbilt (1922–1933) bar:19 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:20 color:Full from:1922 till:1953 text: South Carolina (1922–1953) bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:1971 text:

bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:1971 till:1983 text:Independent bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:1983 till:1991 text:

bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:1991 till:end text: SEC bar:21 color:Full from:1923 till:1933 text:

(1923–1933) bar:21 shift:(30) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:1940 text: SEC bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:1940 till:1962 text:Independent bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:1962 till:2012 text: CAC/SCAC bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:end text:

SAA Saa or SAA may refer to: Languages * Saa language, a language of Vanuatu * Saba language (ISO 639 code: saa) Law * Space Act Agreement, a type of legal agreement with NASA * Stabilisation and Association Process, for countries seeking to join t ...

bar:22 color:Full from:1924 till:2003 text: VMI (1924–2003; 2014–present) bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2003 till:2014 text: Big South bar:22 color:Full from:2014 till:end bar:23 color:Full from:1928 till:1953 text: Duke (1928–1953) bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:end text:

bar:24 color:Full from:1936 till:1953 text: Wake Forest (1936–1953) bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:end text:

bar:25 color:Full from:1936 till:end text: Furman (1936–present) bar:26 color:Full from:1936 till:1976 text:

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

(1936–1976) bar:26 color:OtherC2 from:1976 till:1979 text:Ind. bar:26 shift:(-2) color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1983 text: ECAC S. bar:26 color:OtherC2 from:1983 till:2001 text:

CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

bar:26 color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:end text: A-10 bar:27 color:Full from:1936 till:1977 text: William & Mary (1936–1977) bar:27 color:OtherC1 from:1977 till:1983 text: ECAC S. bar:27 color:OtherC2 from:1983 till:end text:

bar:28 color:Full from:1936 till:end text: The Citadel (1936–present) bar:29 color:Full from:1936 till:2014 text:

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

(1936–2014) bar:29 color:OtherC1 from:1988 till:1990 bar:29 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:1992 bar:29 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2014:(1992–2014) bar:29 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text: A-10 bar:30 color:Full from:1941 till:1967 text:

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

(1941–1970) bar:30 color:FullxF from:1967 till:1970 bar:30 color:OtherC2 from:1970 till:1976 text:Ind. bar:30 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:end text: A-10 bar:31 color:Full from:1950 till:1968 text: West Virginia (1950–1968) bar:31 color:OtherC2 from:1968 till:1976 text:Ind. bar:31 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1995 text: A-10 bar:31 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:2012 text: Big East bar:31 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:end text: Big 12 bar:32 color:Full from:1964 till:1977 text:

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

(1964–1977) bar:32 shift:(20) color:OtherC2 from:1977 till:1981 text:Ind. bar:32 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:2001 text:

bar:32 color:OtherC2 from:2001 till:2014 text: C-USA bar:32 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text:

bar:33 color:Full from:1971 till:2014 text:

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

(1971–2014) bar:33 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text:

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — des ...

bar:34 color:Full from:1976 till:1997 text: Marshall (1976–1997) bar:34 color:OtherC1 from:1997 till:2005 text: MAC bar:34 color:OtherC2 from:2005 till:2022 text: C-USA bar:34 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text:

bar:35 color:Full from:1976 till:end text:

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

(1976–present) bar:36 color:Full from:1976 till:end text:

(1976–present) bar:37 color:Full from:1978 till:2004 text:

East Tennessee State East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a Public university, public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an instit ...

(1978–2005; 2014–) bar:37 color:FullxF from:2004 till:2005 bar:37 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2014 text:

A-Sun The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divis ...

bar:37 color:FullxF from:2014 till:2015 bar:37 color:Full from:2015 till:end bar:38 color:Full from:1992 till:2014 text:

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...

(1992–2014) bar:38 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text:

bar:39 color:FullxF from:1997 till:end text:

UNC Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...

(1997–present) bar:40 color:Full from:1997 till:end text:

Wofford Wofford may refer to: People with the surname *Toni Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford, 1931–2019), American writer *Dan Wofford, American politician *Harris Wofford (1926–2019), U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, 1991-1995 *James C. Woffor ...

(1997–present) bar:41 color:FullxF from:1998 till:end text:

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

(1998–2013) bar:41 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:

bar:42 color:Full from:2003 till:end text: Elon (2003–2014) bar:42 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text:

bar:43 color:Full from:2008 till:end text: Samford (2008–present) bar:44 color:Full from:2014 till:end text:

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader ...

(2014–present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1925 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Southern Conference membership history" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <# * Due to space limitations, one portion of Washington and Lee's affiliation history is not indicated in the table. In 1958, W&L stopped awarding athletic scholarships; from then until 1962, it was an independent in what was then the NCAA College Division (which was split in 1973 to form today's Divisions II and III).

Sports

The Southern Conference sponsors championship competition in 11 men's, 9 women's, and one coeducational NCAA-sanctioned sports. Five schools are associate members for wrestling. Under a cooperative agreement with the

, the SoCon began sponsoring men's lacrosse in the 2014–15 school year (2015 season) with three full members (Furman, Mercer, VMI) and four associates (Bellarmine, High Point, Jacksonville, Richmond). SoCon men's lacrosse has since added Air Force. Women's lacrosse was sponsored by the ASUN through the 2017 season, after which the SoCon launched its own women's lacrosse league. Beginning in the 2016–17 academic year, after a 30-year hiatus, the SoCon resumed rifle as its 21st sport. Members for conference competition are full members The Citadel, VMI, and Wofford as well as associate members UAB, Georgia Southern, and North Georgia. The SoCon is one of only two all-sports conferences to sponsor rifle, joining the Ohio Valley Conference. Rifle is technically a men's sport for NCAA purposes, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. Women's lacrosse was added as the 22nd sport for 2017–18, but was dropped after the 2020–21 school year. The SoCon dropped men's lacrosse after the 2022 season. Affiliate member Hampton joined the Colonial Athletic Association, which sponsors that sport, and the Atlantic 10 Conference, full-time home to men's lacrosse affiliate Richmond, launched a men's lacrosse league in the 2023 season, also taking in another SoCon affiliate in High Point. With SoCon men's lacrosse being gutted by these changes, VMI moved that sport to its former men's lacrosse home of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and the two remaining men's lacrosse members, Jacksonville and Mercer, moved that sport to the ASUN.

Men's sponsored sports by school

;Notes: Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southern Conference which are played by SoCon schools:

Women's sponsored sports by school

;Notes Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southern Conference which are played by SoCon schools:

Facilities

;Notes

Conference champions

Football

''This is a partial list of the last 10 champions. For the full history, see List of Southern Conference football champions.'' † Automatic bid to

NCAA Division I Football Championship The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was kn ...

Men's basketball

''This is a partial list of the last 10 regular-season and tournament champions. For the full history, see List of Southern Conference men's basketball champions.'' The Southern Conference split into a divisional format for basketball beginning with the 1994–95 season. However, the divisional format was abandoned beginning with the 2013–14 season.

Women's basketball

''This is a partial list of the last 10 tournament champions. For the full history, see Southern Conference women's basketball tournament''

Baseball

''This is a partial list of the last 10 champions. For the full history, see Southern Conference baseball tournament.''

Rifle

Men's Lacrosse

Commissioner's and Germann Cups

The Commissioner's and Germann Cups are awarded each year to the top men's and women's program in the conference. The Commissioner's Cup was inaugurated in 1970. The Germann Cup, named for former Southern Conference Commissioner Ken Germann, was first awarded in 1987. The completion of the 2013–2014 athletics season saw Appalachian State winning its 33rd Commissioner's Cup and Furman its 13th Germann Cup.

References

External links

Relevant literature

*Iamarino, John. 2020. ''A Proud History of Athletic History.'' Mercer University Press. {{NCAA Division I FCS conference navbox Spartanburg, South Carolina Organizations based in South Carolina Sports in the Southern United States Sports organizations established in 1921 Articles which contain graphical timelines College rifle conferences in the United States