The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller Division (sport), divisions, with the best teams competing at successively ...

affiliated with the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (F ...

(formerly known as Division I-AA). Member institutions are located in the states of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. 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 in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

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 collegiate 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 (includin ...

, 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 also included schools from Oklaho ...

(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 American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

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 collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

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

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

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 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 34–32 on September 1, 2007. The Davidson Wildcats 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 U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. More recently, the six-time Division I NCAA football champion Georgia Southern Eagles stunned

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

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 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. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...

stunned Vanderbilt 23–3 in their opening game. The SoCon also frequently sees multiple teams selected to participate in the NCAA Division I baseball championship. The SoCon was the first conference to use the three-point field goal in basketball in a November 29, 1980, game at Western Carolina against Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), where Ronnie Carr shot the historic shot from away and the Catamounts won 77–70.

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 List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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

, Auburn, Clemson,

, Georgia Tech,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, Mississippi State,

, North Carolina State,

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, and Washington & Lee. In 1922, six more universities—

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, 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 (1924), Virginia Military Institute (1924), and

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

(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 The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC). The ACC and SEC have gone on to surpass their parent conference in prestige; while the ACC and SEC 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 to 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 full 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 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, 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 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), ...

. 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 Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

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 The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

; this move contributed to the eventual demise of the SoCon women's lacrosse league. Men's soccer member Belmont left the SoCon after the 2021–22 school year when it joined the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

, which sponsors that sport. At the same time, Hampton moved men's lacrosse to its new full-time home of the Colonial Athletic Association, now known as the Coastal Athletic Association. The addition of men's lacrosse by the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

, 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:

Future associate members

;Notes:

Former full members

Most former members are currently members of either the

or the

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

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

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

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

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.

SoCon 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: 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 bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1979 till:end text: ACC 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: ACC bar:9 color:Full from:1921 till:1953 text: Clemson (1921–1953) bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:end text: ACC bar:10 color:Full from:1921 till:1953 text:

(1921–1953) bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:end text: ACC bar:11 color:Full from:1921 till:1953 text: North Carolina State (1921–1953) bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:end text: ACC bar:12 color:Full from:1921 till:1953 text:

(1921–1953) bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:2014 text: ACC 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 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: Metro 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: ACC 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: 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: Metro bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:2014 text:

C-USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern United States, Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Associ ...

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: ACC bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:1971 till:1983 text:Independent bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:1983 till:1991 text: Metro bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:1991 till:end text: SEC bar:21 color:Full from:1923 till:1933 text: Sewanee (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 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: ACC bar:24 color:Full from:1936 till:1953 text: Wake Forest (1936–1953) bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:end text: ACC bar:25 color:Full from:1936 till:end text: Furman (1936–present) bar:26 color:Full from:1936 till:1976 text: Richmond (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 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: CAA bar:28 color:Full from:1936 till:end text: The Citadel (1936–present) bar:29 color:Full from:1936 till:2014 text: Davidson (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 (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

(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 West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

(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 (1964–1977) bar:32 shift:(20) color:OtherC2 from:1977 till:1981 text:Ind. bar:32 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:2001 text: CAA 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 (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 Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

(1976–present) bar:36 color:Full from:1976 till:end text: Western Carolina (1976–present) bar:37 color:Full from:1978 till:2004 text: East Tennessee State (1978–2005; 2014–present) 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 (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: CAA bar:42 color:Full from:2003 till:end text: Elon (2003–2014) bar:42 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text: CAA bar:43 color:Full from:2008 till:end text: Samford (2008–present) bar:44 color:Full from:2014 till:end text: Mercer (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 co-educational 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 co-ed 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 list of recent 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 ca ...

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.''

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.

Relevant literature

*Iamarino, John. 2020. ''A Proud History of Athletic History.'' Mercer University Press.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control 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