The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) is a

college athletic conference In college athletics in the United States, institutions typically join in conferences for regular play under different governing bodies. Varsity sports There are several national and regional associations governing the varsity teams of colleges ...

affiliated with the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) at the Division II level. The 11 member institutions are located in the

South Atlantic states The South Atlantic United States form one of the nine Census Bureau Divisions within the United States that are recognized by the United States Census Bureau. This region, U.S. Census Bureau Region 3, Division 5, corresponds to the South (states ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

. In addition, five affiliate members participate in one sport each; namely sports not sponsored by their home conferences. Since its inception came in the 1990–91 school year, the Peach Belt has, across all sanctioned sports, produced 30 national champions and additional 27 national finalists. Starting with only two championships in 1991, in men's and women's basketball, the conference has expanded to 16 championship sports with the addition of women's golf in the fall of 2009 and men's lacrosse in the summer of 2020.

History

The conference traces its roots November 1988 when 11 schools first met in Greenville, S.C. to form a Division II conference. Following a second meeting on Dec. 3, 1989, five of those 11 schools, plus two others, formed the Peach Belt Athletic Conference and began play in the fall of 1990. The seven charter members of the conference were Armstrong Atlantic State University (now Armstrong State University),

Columbus State University Columbus State University is a public university in Columbus, Georgia. Founded as Columbus College in 1958, the university was established and is administered by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. History The universit ...

, Francis Marion University,

Georgia College Georgia College & State University (Georgia College or GC) is a public liberal arts university in Milledgeville, Georgia. The university enrolls approximately 7,000 students and is a member of the University System of Georgia and the Counc ...

(now Georgia College & State University), Lander University,

USC Aiken The University of South Carolina Aiken (USC Aiken, USCA, or South Carolina Aiken) is a public university in Aiken, South Carolina. It is part of the University of South Carolina System and offers undergraduate degree programs as well as master's ...

, and

USC Upstate USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. The name Peach Belt Athletic Conference was adopted in January 1990 and modified to Peach Belt Conference in May 2000.

Augusta State University Augusta State University was a public university in Augusta, Georgia. It merged with Georgia Health Sciences University in 2012 to form Georgia Regents University, later known as Augusta University. History Augusta State University was founde ...

joined the conference as the eighth member in 1991 and

UNC Pembroke The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP or UNC Pembroke) is a public university in Pembroke, North Carolina. UNC Pembroke is a master's level degree-granting university and part of the University of North Carolina system. Its history i ...

became the ninth member on July 1, 1992. They were followed by

Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university located in the state of Georgia with two different campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in Kennesaw and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was fou ...

on July 1, 1994,

Clayton State University Clayton State University is a public university in Morrow, Georgia. It serves Metro Atlanta and is a selective Senior Unit of the University System of Georgia. The main campus includes of wooded grounds, featuring five lakes and a park-like at ...

on July 1, 1995 and the

University of North Florida The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sc ...

on July 1, 1997. Kennesaw State and North Florida departed for the Division I ranks in 2005, USC Upstate did the same in 2007, and the conference welcomed in

North Georgia College & State University The University of North Georgia (UNG) is a public senior military college with multiple campuses in Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university was established on January 8, 2013 by a merger of North Georgia Colle ...

in 2005 and Georgia Southwestern State University in 2006. In 2009–10, the

University of Montevallo The University of Montevallo is a public university in Montevallo, Alabama. Founded on October 12, 1896, the university is Alabama's only public liberal arts college and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. The University of M ...

and Flagler College were added, returning a league presence to Florida and broke new ground in Alabama. In 2012–13, the Peach Belt expanded to 14 members, the most the league has ever had, with the addition of

Young Harris College Young Harris College is a private Methodist-affiliated liberal arts college in Young Harris, Georgia, United States. History Origins The school was founded in 1886 by Artemas Lester, a circuit-riding Methodist minister who wanted to ...

. On January 8, 2013, the

University System of Georgia The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates gene ...

finalized the mergers of two conference members into new institutions. Augusta State was merged into Georgia Regents University, which was renamed in 2015 as

Augusta University Augusta University (AU) is a public university, public research university and academic medical center in Augusta, Georgia. It is a part of the University System of Georgia and has satellite medical campuses in Savannah, Georgia, Savannah, Alba ...

, and NGCSU was merged into the

University of North Georgia The University of North Georgia (UNG) is a public senior military college with multiple campuses in Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university was established on January 8, 2013 by a merger of North Georgia Coll ...

. In both cases, the new institutions inherited the Peach Belt memberships of the older schools. The Peach Belt was less than a year old before capturing its first of many national championships. The Columbus State golf team took the honor by winning the 1992 national crown, the first of three golf championships the Cougars own. One year later, the Lander men's tennis team began their record-breaking run of eight straight national titles, the first PBC dynasty. Since then, USCA men's golf has won three straight national titles from 2004 to 2006 while AASU women's tennis has captured four titles overall. The 2010–11 season was one of the most memorable the league has ever had. Clayton State became the first PBC women's basketball team to capture a national championship. Montevallo watched their men's basketball team reach the Elite Eight, eventually competing in the National Championship Game. Unfortunately, their run came to an end with a loss to

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

. The Columbus State men's tennis team reached the national semifinals while the Clayton State and Armstrong Atlantic State women's tennis teams also played in the national semifinals. The North Georgia softball team made an unprecedented third straight appearance in the NCAA Women's College World Series, while Columbus State's Meshack Koyiaki registered a runner-up finish at the Men's Cross Country National Championships. In all, 46 Peach Belt teams made appearances in the NCAA postseason, including seven men's tennis teams and six each in the sports of men's golf and women's tennis. David Brunk was named the second PBC commissioner in May 2007. Brunk replaced Marvin Vanover, who was the first PBC commissioner from 1991 to 2007. Brunk is charged with continuing the strong growth of the conference as its second era begins. Dr. Kendall Blanchard, president of Georgia Southwestern State University, began the second of his two-year term as the league president in July 2011. In April 2020, Francis Marion University and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke announced that they would leave the Peach Belt Conference starting in 2021–22, both joining

Conference Carolinas Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Divisi ...

. On April 14, 2021, the conference invited the NAIA's

University of South Carolina Beaufort The University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB or USC Beaufort) is a public university with three campuses located in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. It is part of the University of South Carolina System and enrolls about 1,900 student ...

to join in 2022–23 after applying for membership in Division II and gaining acceptance into the NCAA. By July 14, 2022, USCB was already accepted into another NAIA conference, Continental, only for its first year of provisional membership while still playing a Peach Belt schedule as part of the Sand Sharks' dual NAIA-NCAA membership, but is ineligible for a Peach Belt or NCAA postseason during the three-year transition. The conference currently holds championships in 16 sports, eight for men and eight for women. They are men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, baseball, softball, men's and women's track & field, and men's and women's golf. Men's lacrosse was added on July 10, 2020, and its first season was in spring 2021.

Chronological timeline

* 1989 - On December 3, 1989, the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) was founded as the Peach Belt Athletic Conference (PBAC). Charter members included

Armstrong State College Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong ...

(later Armstrong Atlantic University before merging with Georgia Southern University),

Columbus College Columbus State University is a public university in Columbus, Georgia. Founded as Columbus College in 1958, the university was established and is administered by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. History The university w ...

(now Columbus State University), Francis Marion College (now Francis Marion University),

(now Georgia College & State University),

Lander College The Lander College for Men is a private men's division of Touro University System located in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York City. Its stated goal is to provide a college curriculum while maintaining a traditional Yeshiva environment. Gener ...

(now Lander University), the University of South Carolina at Aiken (USC Aiken) and the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg (USC Spartanburg, now the University of South Carolina Upstate or USC Upstate) beginning the 1990-91 academic year. * 1991 - Augusta College (later Augusta State University, now Augusta University) joined the PBAC in the 1991-92 academic year. * 1992 -

University of North Carolina at Pembroke The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP or UNC Pembroke) is a public university in Pembroke, North Carolina. UNC Pembroke is a master's level degree-granting university and part of the University of North Carolina system. Its history i ...

(UNC Pembroke) joined the PBAC in the 1992-93 academic year. * 1994 -

joined the PBAC in the 1994-95 academic year. * 1995 -

joined the PBAC in the 1995-96 academic year. * 1997 - The

joined the PBAC in the 1997-98 academic year. * 2000 - The PBAC had renamed by shorten its name to the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) in the 2000-01 academic year. * 2005 - Kennesaw State and North Florida left the PBC to join the Division I ranks

(NCAA) and the

Atlantic Sun 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 Div ...

(A-Sun) after the 2004-05 academic year. * 2005 -

(now the University of North Georgia) joined the PBC in the 2005-06 academic year. * 2006 - Georgia Southwestern State University joined the PBC in the 2006-07 academic year. * 2007 - USC Upstate left the PBC to join the NCAA Division I ranks and 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). ...

after the 2006-07 academic year. * 2009 - Flagler College and the

joined the PBC in the 2009-10 academic year. * 2012 -

joined the PBAC in the 2012-13 academic year. * 2012 -

University of Alabama in Huntsville The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is a public research university in Huntsville, Alabama. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and comprises nine colleges: arts, humanities & social scienc ...

Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU or, informally, Nova) is a private nonprofit research university with its main campus in Davie, Florida. The university consists of 14 total colleges, centers, and schools offering over 150 programs of st ...

and

Shorter University Shorter University is a private Baptist university in Rome, Georgia. It was founded in 1873 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees through six colleges and schools. In addition Shorter operates the Robert H. Ledbetter College of Busines ...

joined the PBC as affiliate members for men's & women's outdoor track & field in the 2013 spring season (2012-13 academic year). * 2014 -

Florida Institute of Technology The Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. App ...

(Florida Tech) joined the PBC as an affiliate member for men's & women's outdoor track & field in the 2015 spring season (2014-15 academic year). * 2021 - Alabama–Huntsville and Shorter left the PBC as affiliate members for men's & women's outdoor track & field after the 2016 spring season (2015-16 academic year). * 2017 - Two members left the PBC to join their respective new home primary conferences: Armstrong State announced that it would discontinue its athletic program and to be merged into

Georgia Southern University 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 H ...

, and Montevallo rejoined the

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the M ...

, both after the 2016-17 academic year. * 2017 -

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is a private university focused on aviation and aerospace programs. Initially founded at Lunken Field in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1926, its main campuses are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Presc ...

joined the PBC as an affiliate member for men's & women's outdoor track & field in the 2018 spring season (2017-18 academic year). * 2019 - Two institutions joined the PBC as affiliate members:

Albany State University Albany State University is a public historically black university in Albany, Georgia. In 2017, Darton State College and Albany State University consolidated to become one university under the University System of Georgia (USG). Albany State U ...

for women's soccer, and Claflin University for baseball, both in the 2019-20 academic year. * 2021 - Francis Marion and UNC Pembroke left the PBC to join the

after the 2020-21 academic year. * 2021 - Alabama–Huntsville and Shorter rejoined the PBC as affiliate members for men's lacrosse (with former full member Montevallo also rejoining that sport) in the 2022 spring season (2021-22 academic year). * 2022 - The

University of South Carolina at Beaufort The University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB or USC Beaufort) is a public university with three campuses located in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. It is part of the University of South Carolina System and enrolls about 1,900 student ...

(USC Beaufort) joined the PBC beginning the 2022-23 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The PBC currently has 11 full members, with all but two being

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

schools. ;Notes:

Affiliate members

The PBC currently has eight affiliate members, all but three are

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

schools: ;Notes:

Former members

The PBC has seven former full members, all are

schools: ;Notes:

Former affiliate members

The PBC had two former affiliate members, one was a

school, while another was a

school: ;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1990 till:2030 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:20 top:5 Colors = id:line value:black id:Full value:rgb(0.63,0.88,0.755) # all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.88,0.755,0.63) # non-football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.88,0.63,0.63) # football-only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.755,0.755,0.63) # associate PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2017 text: Armstrong State (1990–2017) bar:2 color:FullxF from:1990 till:end text: Columbus State (1990–present) bar:3 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2021 text:

Francis Marion Brigadier-General Francis Marion ( 1732 – February 27, 1795), also known as the Swamp Fox, was an American military officer, planter and politician who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. During the Amer ...

(1990–2021) bar:4 color:FullxF from:1990 till:end text:

(1990–present) bar:5 color:FullxF from:1990 till:end text:

Lander Lander may refer to: Media and entertainment * ''Lander'' (computer game), computer game published by Psygnosis in 1999 * ''Lander'' (game demo), the 3D game demo provided with the Acorn Archimedes computer * Lander (Transformers), a fiction ...

(1990–present) bar:6 color:FullxF from:1990 till:end text:

(1990–present) bar:7 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2007 text:

(1990–2007) bar:8 color:FullxF from:1991 till:end text: Augusta (1991–present) bar:9 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2021 text:

(1992–2021) bar:10 color:FullxF from:1994 till:2005 text: Kennesaw State (1994–2005) bar:11 color:FullxF from:1995 till:end text: Clayton State (1995–present) bar:12 color:FullxF from:1997 till:2005 text:

North Florida North Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regions. It includes Jacksonville and near ...

(1997–2005) bar:13 color:FullxF from:2005 till:end text:

North Georgia North Georgia is the northern hilly/mountainous region in the U.S. state of Georgia. At the time of the arrival of settlers from Europe, it was inhabited largely by the Cherokee. The counties of north Georgia were often scenes of important eve ...

(2005–present) bar:14 color:FullxF from:2006 till:end text: Georgia Southwestern State (2006–present) bar:15 color:FullxF from:2009 till:end text: Flagler (2009–present) bar:16 color:FullxF from:2009 till:2017 text:

Montevallo Montevallo is a city in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. A college town, it is the home of the University of Montevallo, a public liberal arts university with approximately 3,000 students. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city ...

(2009–2017) bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:(2021–present) bar:17 color:FullxF from:2012 till:2023 text: Young Harris (2012–2023) bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2016 text: Alabama–Huntsville (2012–2016) bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:(2021–present) bar:19 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:end text: Nova Southeastern (2012–present) bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2016 text: Shorter (2012–2016) bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:(2021–present) bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2014 till:end text: Florida Tech (2014–present) bar:22 color:AssocOS from:2017 till:end text: Embry–Riddle (2017–present) bar:23 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text: Albany State (2019–present) bar:24 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text: Claflin (2019–present) bar:25 color:FullxF from:2022 till:end text: USC Beaufort (2022–present) bar:N color:green from:1990 till:2000 text:Peach Belt Athletic Conference bar:N color:orange from:2000 till:end text:Peach Belt Conference ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1990

History

Chronological timeline

Member schools

Current members

Affiliate members

Former members

Former affiliate members

Membership timeline

Sports

Men's sponsored sports by school

Women's sponsored sports by school

Other sponsored sports by school

Championships

References

External links