Gulf South Conference

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Gulf South Conference
Data
Classification	NCAA Division II
Established	1970
Members	15
Sports fielded	14 (7 men's, 7 women's)
Region	Gulf Coast
States	6 - Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee
Past names	Mid-South Conference
Headquarters	Birmingham, Alabama
Commissioner	Nate Salant
Locations

The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a College Athletic Conference which operates in the southeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division II.

Contents 1 Conference History 2 Current members 3 Conference Stadiums 4 Former members 5 Conference Sanctioned Sports 6 National Championships 7 Notes 8 External links

[edit] Conference History

Originally known as the Mid-South Conference, the GSC was formed by six universities in the summer of 1970: Delta State, Florence State (now North Alabama), Jacksonville State, Livingston (now West Alabama), Tennessee-Martin and Troy State (now Troy). Scheduling problems for the 1970–71 academic year limited the league to football, won by Jacksonville State.

In 1971, the league changed its name to the Gulf South Conference; added Southeastern Louisiana (SELA) and Nicholls State (increasing the membership to eight); opened an office in Hammond, Louisiana; and began championships in all men’s sports. The following year, Mississippi College and Northwestern Louisiana (NWLA, now Northwestern State) were admitted. NWLA withdrew to go Division I two years later, followed by SELA and Nicholls State in 1979.

The conference continued with seven teams until 1981, when the presidents admitted Valdosta State. West Georgia joined in 1983. Eight years of stability ended in 1991 when Tennessee-Martin and Troy State went Division I, briefly dropping the GSC back to seven members, before the beginning of an expansion resulting in ten new members: Lincoln Memorial (1992–93); Alabama-Huntsville, Henderson State, Central Arkansas, and Mississippi University for Women (MUW) (1993–94); West Florida (1994–95); and Arkansas-Monticello, Arkansas Tech, Montevallo, and Southern Arkansas (1995–96). Jacksonville State went Division I at the end of 1992-93. Mississippi College dropped to Division III at the end of 1995–96 and was replaced by Christian Brothers to keep the Conference at 16 schools. In July 2000, the GSC welcomed Harding University and Ouachita Baptist University, making it the largest NCAA conference at any level with 18 schools. The Conference membership decreased to 17 when MUW dropped its athletics program at the end of the 2002–03 season.

2006–07 will be another season of change for the GSC. Central Arkansas is transitioning to Division I, leaving the West Division with eight schools. Lincoln Memorial will also be leaving, leaving the East Division with seven schools.

Former Commissioner Jim McCullough moved the GSC office to its present Birmingham, Alabama, location. The current Commissioner, Nathan (Nate) N. Salant, has been in office since October 1992.

[edit] Current members

Institution	Nickname	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Year Joined	Division
University of Alabama in Huntsville	Chargers	Huntsville, Alabama	Public	7,000	1993	East
University of Arkansas at Monticello	Boll Weevils and Cotton Blossoms	Monticello, Arkansas	Public	2,875	1995	West
Arkansas Tech University	Wonder Boys and Golden Suns	Russellville, Arkansas	Public	6,500	1995	West
Christian Brothers University	Buccaneers	Memphis, Tennessee	Private/Roman Catholic	1,900	1996	West
Delta State University	Statesmen	Cleveland, Mississippi	Public	4,034	1970	West
Harding University	Bisons	Searcy, Arkansas	Private/Church of Christ	5,000	2000	West
Henderson State University	Reddies	Arkadelphia, Arkansas	Public	3,700	1993	West
University of Montevallo	Falcons	Montevallo, Alabama	Public	3,200	1995	East
University of North Alabama	Lions	Florence, Alabama	Public	7,100	1970	East
Ouachita Baptist University	Tigers	Arkadelphia, Arkansas	Private/Southern Baptist	1,511	2000	West
Southern Arkansas University	Muleriders	Magnolia, Arkansas	Public	3,148	1995	West
Valdosta State University	Blazers	Valdosta, Georgia	Public	11,200	1981	East
The University of West Alabama	Tigers	Livingston, Alabama	Public	4,157	1970	East
University of West Florida	Argonauts	Pensacola, Florida	Public	10,500	1994	East
University of West Georgia	Wolves	Carrollton, Georgia	Public	10,611	1983	East

[edit] Conference Stadiums

School	Football		Basketball
	Stadium	Capacity	Arena	Capacity
Alabama-Huntsville	Non-football School	N/A	Spragins Hall	2,250
Arkansas-Monticello	Convoy Leslie-Cotton Boll Stadium	5,000	Steelman Fieldhouse	1,500
Arkansas Tech	Thone Stadium	6,000	Tucker Coliseum	3,500
Christian Brothers	Non-football School	N/A	Canale Arena	1,000
Delta State	Parker Field at McCool Stadium	8,000	Walter Sillers Coliseum	4,000
Harding	First Security Stadium	6,500	Rhodes Field House	3,000
Henderson State	Carpenter-Haygood Stadium	9,600	Duke Wells Center	3,000
Montevallo	Non-football School	N/A	People's Bank and Trust Arena	2,000
North Alabama	Braly Municipal Stadium	14,215	Flowers Hall	3,900
Ouachita Baptist	A.U. Williams Field	5,225	Bill Vining Arena	2,500
Southern Arkansas	Wilkins Stadium	6,000	W.T. Watson Athletic Center	2,600
Valdosta State	Bazemore-Hyder Stadium	11,500	The Complex	5,350
West Alabama	Tiger Stadium	7,000	Pruitt Hall	1,500
West Florida	Non-football School	N/A	UWF Fieldhouse	2,380
West Georgia	Grisham Stadium	6,500	HPE Building	2,800

[edit] Former members

Institution	Location	Conference Tenure	New Conference	Classification
University of Central Arkansas	Conway, Arkansas	1993–2006	Southland Conference	NCAA Division I FCS
Jacksonville State University	Jacksonville, Alabama	1970–1993	Ohio Valley Conference	NCAA Division I FCS
Lincoln Memorial University	Harrogate, Tennessee	1992–2006	South Atlantic Conference	NCAA Division II
Mississippi College	Clinton, Mississippi	1972–1996	American Southwest Conference	NCAA Division III
Mississippi University for Women	Columbus, Mississippi	1993–2003	Athletic Programs Discontinued	N/A
Nicholls State University	Thibodaux, Louisiana	1971–1979	Southland Conference	NCAA Division I FCS
Northwestern State University	Natchitoches, Louisiana	1971–1973	Southland Conference	NCAA Division I FCS
Southeastern Louisiana University	Hammond, Louisiana	1971–1979	Southland Conference	NCAA Division I FCS
University of Tennessee at Martin	Martin, Tennessee	1970–1991	Ohio Valley Conference	NCAA Division I FCS
Troy University	Troy, Alabama	1970–1991	Sun Belt Conference	NCAA Division I FBS

[edit] Conference Sanctioned Sports

GSC members feature comprehensive athletic programs that compete for 14 official conference championships: football, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis and men’s and women’s golf.

The GSC is perhaps best known for being the premier conference in NCAA Division II football. The three-year run put together by North Alabama in the mid-1990s is one of the most amazing feats in college football history. North Alabama went 41-1 during that span with the only loss being a 3 point loss to that season’s NCAA Division I-AA champion Youngstown State. No other football team on any level has ever won 41 games during a 3 year period.

Current Valdosta State head coach Chris Hatcher has the highest winning percentage in college football.

[edit] National Championships

Sport	School	Year(s)
Baseball	Valdosta State[1]	1979
	Delta State	2004
	Troy State	1986, 87
	Jacksonville State	1990, 91
Men's Basketball	North Alabama	1979, 91
	Jacksonville State	1985
Women's Basketball	Delta State	1975, 76, 77, 89, 90, 92
	Southeastern Louisiana	1977
Football	Valdosta State	2004, 07
	Delta State	2000
	North Alabama	1993, 94, 95
	West Alabama	1971
	Troy	1984, 87
	Jacksonville State	1992
Men's Golf	West Florida	2001, 08
	Troy	1976, 77, 84
Women's Golf	Troy	1984, 86, 89
Women's Gymnastics	Jacksonville State	1984, 85
Men's Ice Hockey [2]	Alabama-Huntsville	1996, 98
Women's Soccer	Christian Brothers	2002
Men's Tennis	Valdosta State	2006
	West Florida	2004, 05
Track and Field	Southeastern Louisiana	1975
Women's Volleyball	North Alabama	2003

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Valdosta State was not a member of the GSC in 1979
2. ^ Although not a conference-sanctioned sport, Alabama-Huntsville fields a men's ice hockey team. It won the Division II national championship in 1996 and 1998. After the NCAA discontinued Division II ice hockey, UAH moved to Division I for that sport, and currently competes in the College Hockey America conference.

[edit] External links

• Official site of the Gulf South Conference

v • d • e Gulf South Conference Western Division: Arkansas Monticello • Arkansas Tech • Christian Brothers • Delta State • Harding • Henderson State • Ouachita Baptist • Southern Arkansas Eastern Division: Alabama Huntsville • Montevallo • North Alabama • Valdosta State • West Alabama • West Florida • West Georgia

v • d • e NCAA Division II Football Conferences Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association • Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference • Great Lakes Football Conference • Great Northwest Athletic Conference • Gulf South Conference • Lone Star Conference • Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association • North Central Conference • Northeast Ten Conference • Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference • Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference • Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference • South Atlantic Conference • Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference • West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference • Independents