The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conf ...

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) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA). Member institutions are located in the states of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

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 ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

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 = ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. 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 The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

(1896) and Missouri Valley (1907) are indisputably older. The Pac-12 Conference did not operate under its current charter until 1959, but claims the history of the Pacific Coast Conference, founded in 1915, as its own. The

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

(SWC) was founded in 1914, but ceased operation in 1996. The Big Eight Conference 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 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

in 1996, the Big 12 does not claim the Big Eight's legacy. The

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

was formally organized in 1954 with athletic competition starting in 1955, but claims the history of the

Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League The Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League was an athletic conference for men's college basketball, beginning with the 1901–02 season and ending with the 1954–55 season. Its membership ranged from four to eight members; all of these te ...

, which competed from 1901 to 1955, as its own. The SoCon was the first conference to use the

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

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 Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as well as a college of Postgr ...

(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 Mid-major is a term used in American NCAA Division I college sports, particularly men's basketball, to refer to athletic conferences that are not among the "Power Five conferences" (the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC), which are alternativ ...

conference in basketball. The three-time Division I NCAA Football

champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

Appalachian State Mountaineers The Appalachian State Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, United States. The Mountaineers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and wer ...

were a member of the conference when they stunned the fifth-ranked Michigan Wolverines 34–32 on September 1, 2007. The

Davidson Wildcats The Davidson Wildcats are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams representing Davidson College of Davidson, North Carolina, United States. A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), Davidson College sponsors teams in ten men ...

reached the Elite Eight in the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament by upsetting power programs Gonzaga, Georgetown, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. More recently, the six-time Division I NCAA Football

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 jo ...

stunned

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

power-house Florida Gators 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 16–15 and

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one of six senior military colleges in the United States. ...

topped

23–22 for their second win over the Gamecocks in the past three meetings. On September 4, 2021,

East Tennessee State University 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 ...

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 athletics had started as early as fall of 1920. The conference was formed on February 25, 1921 in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

as fourteen member institutions split from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Southern Conference charter members were

, Auburn, Clemson,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The unive ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

, 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 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 to ...

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 Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

, 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 la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

(1924), and

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

(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

(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 (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 The SEC men's basketball tournament is the conference tournament in basketball for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It is a single-elimination tournament that involves all league schools (currently 14). Its seeding is based on regular season re ...

, 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 The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a collegiate athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but briefly had one Kentucky member in its early years, and expanded into Pe ...

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 Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. 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, 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. 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 Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

. Before the addition of Hampton men's lacrosse, the most recent addition to the associate membership was

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

wrestling, which joined during summer 2019. Two women's lacrosse members,

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

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 The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

; 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 The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

, 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 addition of men's lacrosse by the Atlantic 10 Conference, 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

or the Atlantic Coast Conference. Two of the former full members, Appalachian State and Davidson, maintain SoCon associate membership in

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. A third former full member, Georgia Southern, became an associate member in rifle 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:

(1921–1933) bar:1 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:2 color:Full from:1921 till:1933 text: Auburn (1921–1933) bar:2 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:3 color:Full from:1921 till:1933 text:

(1921–1933) bar:3 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:4 color:Full from:1921 till:1933 text:

(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 urb ...

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:

(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:

(1921–1933) bar:7 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:end text: SEC bar:8 color:Full from:1921 till:1937 text:

(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:

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

bar:11 color:Full from:1921 till:1953 text:

(1921–1953) bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:end text:

bar:12 color:Full from:1921 till:1953 text:

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

bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:2014 till:end text:

bar:13 color:Full from:1921 till:1958 text:

Washington and 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 = Lexington ...

(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:

(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 The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...

bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2000 till:2004 text:

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

bar:14 shift:(20) color:OtherC2 from:2004 till:end text:

bar:15 color:Full from:1922 till:1933 text:

(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:

(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 Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text: AAC 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:

(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 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 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 ...

bar:22 color:Full from:2014 till:end bar:23 color:Full from:1928 till:1953 text:

(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:

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:

(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:

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 ...

(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:

bar:31 color:Full from:1950 till:1968 text:

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

(1950–1968) bar:31 color:OtherC2 from:1968 till:1976 text:Ind. bar:31 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:1995 text:

bar:31 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:2012 text:

bar:31 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:end text:

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

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:

bar:32 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text: AAC bar:33 color:Full from:1971 till:2014 text: Appalachian State (1971–2014) bar:33 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:34 color:Full from:1976 till:1997 text:

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

(1976–1997) bar:34 color:OtherC1 from:1997 till:2005 text: MAC bar:34 color:OtherC2 from:2005 till:2022 text:

bar:34 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:35 color:Full from:1976 till:end text: Chattanooga (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 (1978–2005; 2014–) bar:37 color:FullxF from:2004 till:2005 bar:37 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2014 text: A-Sun 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: Sun Belt bar:39 color:FullxF from:1997 till:end text: UNC Greensboro (1997–present) bar:40 color:Full from:1997 till:end text: Wofford (1997–present) bar:41 color:FullxF from:1998 till:end text: Charleston (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 ASUN Conference, 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 The list of Southern Conference football champions includes 20 distinct teams that have won the college football championship awarded by the Southern Conference since its creation. In total, forty-one teams have sponsored football in the conferen ...

.'' † Automatic bid to NCAA Division I Football Championship

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 This is a list of regular season and tournament champions in men's basketball of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affilia ...

.'' 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 The Southern Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Southern Conference. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The ev ...

.''

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