Southern Conference

Southern Conference (SoCon)
Established	1921
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I FCS
Members	10
Sports fielded	20 (men's: 11; women's: 9)
Region	Southeast
Headquarters	Spartanburg, South Carolina
Commissioner	John Iamarino (since 2006)
Website	soconsports.com
Locations

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.

The Southern Conference ranks as the fifth oldest major college athletic conference in the United States.^[1] Only the Big Ten (1896), Missouri Valley (1907), Pac-12 (1915), and Southwestern Athletic (1920) conferences are older. The SoCon was the first conference to utilize 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 22 feet (6.7 m) away and the Catamounts won 77-70.^[2][3]

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. It has also garnered considerable national attention from its recent success in these sports: in particular, former member, three-time Division I NCAA Football champion Appalachian State Mountaineers, who stunned the fifth-ranked Michigan Wolverines 34–32 on September 1, 2007;^[4] from the Davidson Wildcats, who reached the Elite Eight in the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament by upsetting power programs Gonzaga (a mid-major school which became a power program in the 2000s), Georgetown, and Wisconsin.^[5] 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. ^[6] The SoCon also frequently sees multiple teams selected to participate in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.^[7]

History

Conference Commissioners

Wallace Wade	1951–1960
Lloyd Jordon	1960–1973
Ken Germann	1974–1986
Dave Hart	1986–1991
Wright Waters	1991–1998
Alfred B. White	1998–2001
Danny Morrison	2001–2005
John Iamarino	2006–present

The conference was formed on February 25, 1921 in Atlanta as fourteen member institutions split from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association.^[1] 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. Later additions included Sewanee (1923), 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).^[1] 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 in 1922. It was held at the Municipal Auditorium in Atlanta where North Carolina defeated Mercer 40-25.^[8] 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 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 eight; neither ETSU nor UNC Greensboro sponsors football. However, ETSU will relaunch its dormant football program in 2015,^[9] initially playing as an independent before eventually joining SoCon football.

Institution	Location (Population)	Founded	Type	Enrollment	U.S. News Ranking [10]	Endowment [10]	Joined	Nickname	Colors
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga	Chattanooga, Tennessee (167,674)	1886	Public (UT)	11,438 (Fall 2011)[11]	49 (Regional: South)	$87,846,993	1976	Mocs (men's) Lady Mocs (women's)	Navy and Old Gold
The Citadel	Charleston, South Carolina (124,632)	1842	Public (Military College)	3,390 (Fall 2011)[12]	4 (Regional: South)	$200,495,082	1936	Bulldogs	Blue and White
East Tennessee State University	Johnson City, Tennessee (63,152)	1911	Public (TBR)	15,530	Not Published (National)	$100,111,731	1978[a 1] 2014	Buccaneers	Navy and Gold
Furman University	Greenville, South Carolina (61,674)	1826	Private	3,121 (Fall 2011)[13]	52 (National Lib. Arts)	$550,265,503	1936	Paladins	Purple and White
Mercer University	Macon, Georgia (155,547)	1833	Private	8,500	8 (Regional: South)	$208,286,000[14]	2014	Bears	Orange and Black
Samford University	Homewood, Alabama (25,167)	1841	Private (Alabama Baptist Convention)	4,758 (Fall 2011)[15]	3 (Regional: South)	$289,110,511	2008	Bulldogs	Red and Blue
University of North Carolina at Greensboro	Greensboro, North Carolina (269,660)	1891	Public (UNC)	18,478 (Fall 2010)[16]	190 (National)	$192,532,176	1997	Spartans	Gold, White, and Navy Blue
Virginia Military Institute	Lexington, Virginia (7,042)	1839	Public (Military College)	1,569	65 (National Lib. Arts)	$308,958,261	1924[a 2] 2014	Keydets	Red, White, and Yellow
Western Carolina University	Cullowhee, North Carolina (9,428)	1889	Public (UNC)	11,379 (Fall 2010)[17]	39 (Regional: South)	$49,644,743	1976	Catamounts	Purple and Gold
Wofford College	Spartanburg, South Carolina (37,013)	1854	Private (United Methodist Church)	1,495 (Fall 2010)[18]	65 (National Lib. Arts)	$154,162,683	1997	Terriers	Old Gold and Black

Associate members

On January 9, 2014, the SoCon and Atlantic Sun Conference announced a new alliance in lacrosse that took effect with the 2014–15 school year (2015 lacrosse season). Under its terms, sponsorship of men's lacrosse shifted from the A-Sun to the SoCon, while women's lacrosse sponsorship remained with the A-Sun. Bellarmine, which had announced it would join the A-Sun for men's lacrosse for the 2015 season, instead joined the SoCon.^[19]

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary Conference	SoCon Sport
Appalachian State University	Boone, North Carolina	1899	Public (UNC)	17,589	Mountaineers	Sun Belt	wrestling
Bellarmine University[19]	Louisville, Kentucky	1950	Private (Catholic Church)	3,422	Knights	GLVC (NCAA Division II)	men's lacrosse
Campbell University[20]	Buies Creek, North Carolina	1887	Private	11,241	Fighting Camels	Big South	wrestling
Davidson College	Davidson, North Carolina	1837	Private (Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.))	1,850	Wildcats	Atlantic 10	wrestling
Gardner-Webb University[20]	Boiling Springs, North Carolina	1905	Private (Baptist State Convention of North Carolina)	5,000	Runnin' Bulldogs	Big South	wrestling
High Point University[19]	High Point, North Carolina	1924	Private (United Methodist Church)	4,500	Panthers	Big South	men's lacrosse
Jacksonville University[19]	Jacksonville, Florida	1934	Private	3,741	Dolphins	Atlantic Sun (A-Sun)	men's lacrosse
Richmond !University of Richmond[19]	Richmond, Virginia	1830	Private	4,361	Spiders	Atlantic 10 (A-10)	men's lacrosse
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville[21]	Edwardsville, Illinois	1957	Public (SIU)	13,972	Cougars	OVC	wrestling

Future associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Enrollment	Nickname	Joins	Sport	Primary Conference
Air Force !United States Air Force Academy	Colorado Springs, Colorado	1954	4,417	Falcons	2015	men's lacrosse	Mountain West

• ^[22]

Former members

Membership timeline

Full members Full members (except football) Other Conference Other Conference

• 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 eleven men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports.^[23] Five schools are associate members for wrestling. Under a cooperative agreement with the Atlantic Sun Conference, the SoCon will begin 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); women's lacrosse will be sponsored by the A-Sun.^[19]

Teams in Southern Conference competition

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	9	-
Basketball	10	8
Cross Country	10	10
Football	8	-
Golf	8	9
Lacrosse	7	-
Soccer	6	10
Softball	-	7
Tennis	8	8
Track and Field (Indoor)	9	10
Track and Field (Outdoor)	9	10
Volleyball	-	9
Wrestling	8	-

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Wrestling	Total SoCon Sports
Chattanooga	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
The Citadel	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
East Tennessee State	Y	Y	Y	N†	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	8
Furman	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	10
Mercer	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	8
Samford	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	8
UNC Greensboro	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	8
VMI	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	9
Western Carolina	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	N	7
Wofford	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	9
Totals	9	10	10	8	8	3+4*	6	8	9	9	3+5#	83+8

Notes:

• * = Lacrosse associate members Bellarmine, High Point, Jacksonville, and Richmond; with Air Force joining in 2015.
• ^# = Wrestling associate members Appalachian State, Campbell, Davidson, Gardner-Webb, and SIU Edwardsville.
• ^† = East Tennessee State will relaunch its dormant football program in 2015, but will play that season as an FCS independent before eventually joining SoCon football.

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southern Conference which are played by SoCon schools:

School	Rifle1	Swimming & Diving
The Citadel	Independent	No
VMI	Mid-Atlantic Rifle	CCSA
Wofford	Independent	No

Notes:

1: Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. The Citadel fields men's and women's teams; VMI hosts men's, women's, and coed teams; and Wofford fields a single coed team.

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Volleyball	Total SoCon Sports
Chattanooga	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
The Citadel	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	6
East Tennessee State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Furman	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Mercer	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	8
Samford	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
UNC Greensboro	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
VMI	N	Y	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	4
Western Carolina	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Wofford	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Totals	8	10	9	10	7	8	9	10	9	81

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southern Conference which are played by SoCon schools:

School	Lacrosse	Rifle1	Sand Volleyball	Swimming & Diving
The Citadel	No	Independent	No	No
Furman	A-Sun	No	No	No
Mercer	A-Sun	No	A-Sun	No
VMI	No	Mid-Atlantic Rifle	No	CCSA
Wofford	No	Independent	No	No

Notes:

1: Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. The Citadel fields men's and women's teams; VMI fields all three types of teams; and Wofford fields a single coed team.

Facilities

School	Football stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity	Baseball stadium	Capacity
Chattanooga	Finley Stadium	20,668	McKenzie Arena	10,928	Non-baseball school
The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium	21,000	McAlister Field House	6,000	Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park	6,000
East Tennessee State	Non-football school		Freedom Hall Civic Center	8,500	Thomas Stadium	1,200
Furman	Paladin Stadium	16,000	Timmons Arena	5,000	Latham Baseball Stadium	2,000
Mercer	Moye Complex	10,200	Hawkins Arena	3,500	Claude Smith Field	500
Samford	Seibert Stadium	6,700	Pete Hanna Center	4,974	Joe Lee Griffin Stadium	1,000
UNC Greensboro	Non-football school		Greensboro Coliseum (men's) Fleming Gymnasium (women's)	7,617 2,320	UNCG Baseball Stadium	3,500
VMI	Alumni Memorial Field	10,000	Cameron Hall	5,020	Gray–Minor Stadium	1,400
Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium	13,742	Ramsey Center	7,826	Hennon Stadium	1,500
Wofford	Gibbs Stadium	13,000	Benjamin Johnson Arena	3,500	Russell C. King Field	2,500

Conference champions

Football

This is a partial list of the last 10 champions. For the full history, see List of Southern Conference football champions.

Year	Champion	Record
2005	Appalachian State	6–1–0
2006	Appalachian State	7–0–0
2007	Wofford Appalachian State+	5–2–0
2008	Appalachian State	8–0–0
2009	Appalachian State	8–0–0
2010	Appalachian State Wofford+	7–1–0
2011	Georgia Southern	7–1–0
2012	Appalachian State Georgia Southern Wofford	6–2–0
2013	Chattanooga Furman Samford	6-2-0
2014	Chattanooga	7-0-0

+Denote loser of the head-to-head battle between co-champions.

• See also: College Football All-Southern Team

Men's basketball

This is a partial list of the last 10 champions. For the full history, see List of Southern Conference men's basketball champions.

The Southern Conference split into a divisional format for basketball beginning with the 1994–95 season.

Year	Regular Season Champion (North)	Record	Regular Season Champion (South)	Record	Tournament Champion
2005–06	Elon	13-5	Georgia Southern	11–4	Davidson
2006-07	Appalachian State	15–3	Davidson	17–1	Davidson
2007-08	Appalachian State Chattanooga	13–7	Davidson	20–0	Davidson
2008-09	Chattanooga Western Carolina	11–9	Davidson	18–2	Chattanooga
2009-10	Appalachian State	13–5	Wofford	15–3	Wofford
2010-11	Chattanooga Western Carolina	12–6	College of Charleston Wofford	14–4	Wofford
2011-12	UNC Greensboro	10–8	Davidson	16–2	Davidson
2012-13	Elon	10–8	Davidson	17–1	Davidson

However, the divisional format was abandoned beginning with the 2013–14 season.

Year	Regular Season Champion	Record	Tournament Champion
2013-14	Davidson	15–1	Wofford
2014–15	Wofford	16–2	Wofford

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

Year	Champion
2006	Chattanooga
2007	Chattanooga
2008	Chattanooga
2009	Western Carolina
2010	Chattanooga
2011	Samford
2012	Samford
2013	Chattanooga
2014	Chattanooga
2015	Chattanooga

Baseball

This is a partial list of the last 10 champions. For the full history, see Southern Conference Baseball Tournament.

Year	Reg. Season Champion	Tournament Champion
2005	College of Charleston	Furman
2006	Elon	College of Charleston
2007	College of Charleston Western Carolina	Wofford
2008	Elon	Elon
2009	Elon	Georgia Southern
2010	The Citadel	The Citadel
2011	Elon	Georgia Southern
2012	Appalachian State College of Charleston	Samford
2013	Western Carolina	Elon
2014	Western Carolina	Georgia Southern

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.^[24] 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.^[25]

Year	Commissioner's Cup	Germann Cup
1969–70	East Carolina William & Mary	—
1970–71	William & Mary	—
1971–72	William & Mary	—
1972–73	William & Mary	—
1973–74	East Carolina	—
1974–75	East Carolina	—
1975–76	William & Mary	—
1976–77	East Carolina	—
1977–78	Appalachian State	—
1978–79	Appalachian State	—
1979–80	Appalachian State	—
1980–81	Appalachian State	—
1981–82	Appalachian State	—
1982–83	East Tennessee State	—
1983–84	Appalachian State	—
1984–85	Appalachian State	—
1985–86	Appalachian State	—
1986–87	Appalachian State	Appalachian State
1987–88	Appalachian State	Appalachian State
1988–89	Appalachian State	Appalachian State
1989–90	Appalachian State	Appalachian State
1990–91	Furman	Appalachian State
1991–92	Appalachian State	Appalachian State
1992–93	Appalachian State	Furman
1993–94	Appalachian State	Furman
1994–95	Appalachian State	Furman
1995–96	Appalachian State	Furman
1996–97	Appalachian State	Furman
1997–98	Appalachian State	Furman
1998–99	Appalachian State	Furman
1999–00	Appalachian State	Furman
2000–01	Appalachian State	Furman
2001–02	Appalachian State	Furman
2002–03	Appalachian State	Furman
2003–04	Appalachian State	Furman
2004–05	Chattanooga	College of Charleston
2005–06	Appalachian State	Appalachian State
2006–07	Appalachian State	Appalachian State
2007–08	Appalachian State	Chattanooga
2008–09	Appalachian State	College of Charleston
2009–10	Appalachian State	Samford
2010–11	Appalachian State	Appalachian State
2011–12	Appalachian State	College of Charleston
2012–13	Appalachian State	Appalachian State
2013–14	Appalachian State	Furman

See also

• Southern Conference Hall of Fame
• List of NCAA conferences
• former members

References

External links

• Official website

Southern Conference Current members Chattanooga Mocs and Lady Mocs The Citadel Bulldogs ETSU Buccaneers Furman Paladins Mercer Bears Samford Bulldogs UNC Greensboro Spartans VMI Keydets Western Carolina Catamounts Wofford Terriers Associate members Air Force Falcons (men's lacrosse; joining in 2015) Appalachian State Mountaineers (wrestling) Bellarmine Knights (men's lacrosse) Campbell Fighting Camels (wrestling) Davidson Wildcats (wrestling) Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs (wrestling) High Point Panthers (men's lacrosse) Jacksonville Dolphins (men's lacrosse) Richmond Spiders (men's lacrosse) SIU Edwardsville Cougars (wrestling) Former members Former Southern Conference members (30+ schools) Championships & awards Southern Conference Hall of Fame

NCAA Division I FCS conferences Big Sky Conference Big South Conference Colonial Athletic Association Ivy League Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Missouri Valley Football Conference Northeast Conference Ohio Valley Conference Patriot League Pioneer Football League Southern Conference Southland Conference Southwestern Athletic Conference Independents NCAA Division I Football Championship