The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (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, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Established in 1921, the Southern Conference ranks as the fifth-oldest major college athletic conference in the United States, and either the third or fourth oldest in continuous operation, depending on definitions.

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. More recently, the six-time Division I NCAA football champion Georgia Southern Eagles stunned Southeastern Conference 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 South Carolina 23–22 for their second win over the Gamecocks in the past three meetings. On September 4, 2021, East Tennessee State University stunned Vanderbilt 23–3 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

Conference CommissionersWallace Wade1951–1960Lloyd Jordon1960–1973Ken Germann1974–1986Dave Hart1986–1991Wright Waters1991–1998Alfred B. White1998–2001Danny Morrison2001–2005John Iamarino2006–2019Jim Schaus2019–2023 Michael Cross 2023–present

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 as fourteen member institutions split from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Southern Conference charter members were Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Washington & Lee. In 1922, six more universities—Florida, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt joined the conference. The first year of competition for the conference was in 1922, effective January 1. The new rules banned freshman play. Later additions included Sewanee (1924), Virginia Military Institute (1924), and Duke (1929).

The SoCon is particularly notable for having spawned two other major conferences. In 1932, the 13 schools located south and west of the Appalachians (Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, University of the South (Sewanee), Tennessee, Tulane, and Vanderbilt) all departed the SoCon to form the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In 1953, seven additional schools (Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Wake Forest) withdrew from the SoCon to form the Atlantic Coast Conference (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 11 members of the Southern Conference are:

Institution Location Founded Type Enrollment Endowment Nickname Joined Colors University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chattanooga, Tennessee 1886 Public 11,728 $195 Mocs 1976 The Citadel Charleston, South Carolina 1842 S.M.C. 3,693 $423.6 Bulldogs 1936 East Tennessee State University Johnson City, Tennessee 1911 Public 9,151 $87.8 Buccaneers 1978 2014 Furman University Greenville, South Carolina 1826 Nonsectarian 2,629 $812 Paladins 1936 Mercer University Macon, Georgia 1833 Baptist 9,026 $502 Bears 2014 Samford University Homewood, Alabama 1841 Christian 5,729 $403.5 Bulldogs 2008 University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, North Carolina 1891 Public 19,764 $368.6 Spartans 1997 Tennessee Tech University Cookeville, Tennessee 1915 Public 9,902 $96.2 Golden Eagles 2026 Virginia Military Institute Lexington, Virginia 1839 S.M.C. 1,772 $703.1 Keydets 1924 2014 Western Carolina University Cullowhee, North Carolina 1889 Public 12,243 $130 Catamounts 1976 Wofford College Spartanburg, South Carolina 1854 UnitedMethodist 1,773 $417.4 Terriers 1997

Notes

Associate members On January 9, 2014, the SoCon and Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) 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. Coastal and Delaware State both returned women's lacrosse to the ASUN Conference.

The men's lacrosse partnership took a slightly different form from the 2022 spring season (2021–22 school year) forward, as the ASUN reinstated its men's lacrosse league. The two full ASUN members with men's lacrosse programs separated, with Jacksonville remaining in SoCon men's lacrosse while Bellarmine joined the ASUN men's lacrosse league. SoCon associate Air Force also left for ASUN men's lacrosse. The SoCon maintained its automatic NCAA tournament berth with the addition of Hampton.

Before the addition of Hampton men's lacrosse, the most recent addition to the associate membership was Presbyterian wrestling, which joined during summer 2019. Two women's lacrosse members, Central Michigan and Detroit Mercy, left after the 2020 season (2019–20 school year) to join the new women's lacrosse league of Central's full-time home of the Mid-American Conference; this move contributed to the eventual demise of the SoCon women's lacrosse league.

Men's soccer member Belmont left the SoCon after the 2021–22 school year when it joined the Missouri Valley Conference, 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, 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.

Institution Location Founded Type Enrollment Nickname Joined Colors SoConsport(s) Primaryconference Birmingham, Alabama 1969 Public 18,568 Blazers 2016 Rifle American Appalachian State University Boone, North Carolina 1899 Public 20,641 Mountaineers 2014 Men's wrestling Sun Belt (SBC) Bellarmine University Louisville, Kentucky 1950 Catholic 3,846 Knights 2020 Men's wrestling Atlantic Sun (ASUN) Campbell University Buies Creek, North Carolina 1887 Baptist 11,241 FightingCamels 2011 Men's wrestling Coastal (CAA) Davidson College Davidson, North Carolina 1837 Presbyterian 1,850 Wildcats 2014 Men's wrestling Atlantic 10 (A-10) Gardner–Webb University Boiling Springs, North Carolina 1905 SouthernBaptist 5,000 Runnin'Bulldogs 2011 Men's wrestling Big South (BSC) Georgia Southern University Statesboro, Georgia 1906 Public 20,517 Eagles 2016 Rifle Sun Belt (SBC) Liberty University Lynchburg, Virginia 1971 Private 16,000 Flames 2026 Men's soccer CUSA Presbyterian College Clinton, South Carolina 1880 Presbyterian 1,403 Blue Hose 2019 Men's wrestling Big South (BSC)

Notes

Former full members Most former members are currently members of either the Southeastern Conference (SEC) or the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Two of the former full members, Appalachian State and Davidson, maintain SoCon associate membership in men's wrestling. 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.