The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III that began play in the 2012–13 school year. It was formed in 2011 by seven former members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and independent Berry College.
History Recent events On March 9, 2023, Trinity University of Texas and Southwestern University of Texas announced they would join the SAA as full members, beginning in the 2025–26 academic year.
On May 26, 2024, Birmingham–Southern College announced that it would close at the end of the 2023–24 school year (more precisely, on May 31 of that year).
On June 11, 2024, Hendrix College announced it would return to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) at the end of the 2024–25 school year.
On July 23, 2024, Maryville College was accepted to the SAA as a full member, to join beginning in the 2026–27 academic year. Maryville's football and women's golf would join SAA competition as an associate member, beginning in 2025–26.
Chronological timeline 2011 – The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) was founded, whose charter members include seven member schools that were competing for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC): (Birmingham–Southern College, Centre College, Hendrix College, Millsaps College, Oglethorpe University, Rhodes College and Sewanee: The University of the South), and NCAA Division III independent Berry College, with competition to begin effective in the 2012–13 academic year. 2015 – The University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis joined the SAA as affiliate members for football in the 2015 fall season (2015–16 academic year). 2017: Chicago and Washington (Mo.) left the SAA as affiliate members for football after the 2016 fall season (2016–17 school year). Austin College and Trinity University of Texas joined the SAA as affiliate members for football in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year). 2021 – Austin College left the SAA as an affiliate member for football after the 2020 fall season (2020–21 school year). 2023 – Southwestern University of Texas joined the SAA as an affiliate member for football in the 2023 fall season (2023–24 academic year). 2024 – Birmingham–Southern left the SAA after the 2023–24 school year; as the school closed on May 31 of that year. 2025: Hendrix left the SAA to rejoin the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) after the 2024–25 academic year. Trinity (Tex.) and Southwestern (Tex.) upgraded to join the SAA for all sports as full members in the 2025–26 academic year. Maryville College joined the SAA as an affiliate member for football and women's golf in the 2025–26 academic year. 2026 – Maryville College upgraded to join the SAA for all sports as a full member, beginning the 2026–27 academic year. 2027 – Millsaps and Southwestern (Tex.) will leave the SAA to rejoin the SCAC after the 2026–27 academic year.
Member schools Every member in the history of the SAA, whether current, former, full, or associate, has been a private school.
Full members Current full members The SAA currently has nine full members.
Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Endowment Nickname Joined Colors Football? Berry College Mount Berry, Georgia 1902 Nondenominational 2,278 $1,469,124,000 Vikings 2012 Yes Centre College Danville, Kentucky 1819 Presbyterian ~1,400 $414,294,000 Colonels 2012 Yes Maryville College Maryville, Tennessee 1819 Presbyterian 1,153 $116,100,566 Scots 2026 Yes Millsaps College Jackson, Mississippi 1890 United Methodist 584 $115,460,000 Majors 2012 Yes Oglethorpe University Atlanta, Georgia 1835 Nondenominational ~1,400 $55,090,000 Stormy Petrels 2012 No Rhodes College Memphis, Tennessee 1848 Presbyterian ~1,800 $448,475,000 Lynx 2012 Yes Sewanee: The University of the South Sewanee, Tennessee 1857 Episcopal 1,724 $517,640,000 Tigers 2012 Yes Southwestern University Georgetown, Texas 1840 United Methodist 1,434 $403,500,000 Pirates 2025 Yes Trinity University San Antonio, Texas 1869 Nonsectarian 2,423 $1,938,800,000 Tigers 2025 Yes
Notes
Former full members Institution Location Founded Affiliation Nickname Joined Left Colors Football? Currentconference Birmingham–Southern College Birmingham, Alabama 1856 United Methodist Panthers 2012 2024 Yes Closed in 2024 Hendrix College Conway, Arkansas 1876 United Methodist Warriors 2012 2025 Yes Southern Collegiate (SCAC)
Notes
Affiliate members Two schools, the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), announced their intention to become affiliate members of the conference for football, effective in 2015. Both are members of the University Athletic Association (UAA), which at the time had a football scheduling alliance with the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). However, after the 2012 season, the NCAC adopted a full round-robin football schedule, making it impossible for that conference to fill in all of its non-conference dates with the four UAA members that sponsor the sport.
Over the summer of 2015, Chicago and WashU announced that they would leave the SAA after two seasons of competition in order to join more geographically-convenient conferences. WashU will maintain its football affiliation with the UAA for the 2017 season before joining the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in 2018 as a football-only member. For nearly a year, Chicago did not announce a future league affiliation, but it announced in May 2016 that it would become a football-only member of the Midwest Conference in 2017.
On November 18, 2015, Trinity University and Austin College announced they would affiliate with the SAA for football, renewing a relationship that was lost when the SAA split from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. As a result, the SCAC will no longer offer football as a sport from 2017. On August 13, 2020, Austin College announced it would move to the American Southwest Conference as a football-only affiliate beginning with the 2021 season, committing to at least four years as an affiliate.
On August 19, 2021, the conference announced that Southwestern University, a current football-only affiliate member of the American Southwest Conference, would join the SAA as a football-only affiliate effective with the 2023 football season. On March 9, 2023, the SAA announced that Southwestern University and Trinity University will join the SAA as full members in 2025.
Former affiliate members Six schools have been SAA affiliate members but have since either left the conference or upgraded to full membership.
Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Joined Left Colors SAAsport(s) Primaryconference Austin College Sherman, Texas 1849 Presbyterian 1,278 'Roos 2017 2021 Football Southern Collegiate (SCAC) Chicago, Illinois 1890 Non-denominational 5,134 Maroons 2015 2017 University (UAA) Maryville College Maryville, Tennessee 1819 Presbyterian 1,153 Scots 2025 2026 Southern (SAA) Southwestern University Georgetown, Texas 1840 United Methodist 1,507 Pirates 2023 2025 Southern (SAA) Trinity University San Antonio, Texas 1869 Nonsectarian 2,423 Tigers 2017 2025 Southern (SAA) Washington University in St. Louis 1853 Nonsectarian 5,997 Bears 2015 2017 University (UAA)
Notes
Membership timeline
Sports The Southern Athletic Association sponsors 11 men's sports and 12 women's sports. The members mostly sponsor all the sports in the conference except that Oglethorpe University does not have a football team. + Teams in Southern Athletic Association competitionSportMen'sWomen'sBaseball8-Basketball88Cross country88Football8-Golf89Lacrosse66Soccer88Softball-7Swimming & diving77Tennis88Indoor track & field88Outdoor track & field88Volleyball-8
Men's sponsored sports by school School Baseball Basketball Cross Country Football Golf Lacrosse Soccer Swimming & Diving Tennis Track & Field (Indoor) Track & Field (Outdoor) Total SAA Sports Berry 11 Centre 11 Maryville 9 Millsaps 10 Oglethorpe 9 Rhodes 11 Sewanee 11 Southwestern 11 Trinity 10 Totals 9 9 9 8 9 6 9 7 9 9 9 93
Women's sponsored sports by school School Basketball Cross Country Golf Lacrosse Soccer Softball Swimming & Diving Tennis Track & Field (Indoor) Track & Field (Outdoor) Volleyball Total SAA Sports Berry 11 Centre 11 Maryville 9 Millsaps 10 Oglethorpe 9 Rhodes 11 Sewanee 11 Southwestern 11 Trinity 10 Totals 9 9 9 6 9 8 7 9 9 9 9 93
Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southern Athletic Association which are played by SAA schools: School Field Hockey Centre CFHC Rhodes CFHC Sewanee CFHC
References
External links