AFC South

AFC South

Conference	American Football Conference
League	National Football League
Sport	American Football
Founded	2002
No. of teams	4
Most recent champion(s)	Houston Texans (1st title)
Most titles	Indianapolis Colts (7 titles)

The AFC South is a division of the National Football League's American Football Conference. It was created before the 2002 season when the league realigned divisions after expanding to 32 teams. Since its creation, the division has had the same four members: Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans.

Before the 2002 season, the Texans did not exist, the Colts belonged to the AFC East, and the Titans and Jaguars were members of the AFC Central. Indianapolis, Tennessee, and Jacksonville all won multiple division titles and wild card berths in their prior respective divisions.

History

Further information: American Football Conference Central Division

2000s

When the NFL realigned for the 2002 schedule, the newly created AFC South was formed from two former AFC Central teams, an AFC East team, and an expansion team. Its inaugural season was won by the Tennessee Titans who went on to play in the AFC Championship game. For the next five years, the Indianapolis Colts won the division including their victory in Super Bowl XLI. In 2007, the AFC South became the best division of all time based on the combined record of 42–22 (.656 winning percentage). The record was previously held by the 1975 AFC Central's .643 winning percentage. In 2008, the Tennessee Titans won the division, ending Indianapolis' five year streak of division titles. However in 2009, the Colts would storm back to win their 6th division championship in Week 12 of the season with a win over the Houston Texans and a loss by the Jacksonville Jaguars to the San Francisco 49ers.

2010s

The Colts again won their division by winning their final four games, including a victory over the Jaguars that tied the records of the two teams. The Colts controlled their own destiny, with Jacksonville losing its last three games of the season. In 2011, Houston won their first AFC South, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In Week 14, Houston had to beat Cincinnati and New Orleans had to beat the Titans to secure the playoffs for Houston. Houston won 20-19 and New Orleans won 22-17, giving Houston their first ever playoff spot.

Division champions

Season	Team	Record	Playoff Results
2002	Tennessee Titans	11–5–0	# Lost AFC Championship Game
2003	Indianapolis Colts	12–4–0	Lost AFC Championship Game
2004	Indianapolis Colts	12–4–0	Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
2005	Indianapolis Colts	14–2–0	# Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
2006	Indianapolis Colts	12–4–0	Won Super Bowl XLI
2007	Indianapolis Colts	13–3–0	# Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
2008	Tennessee Titans	13–3–0	# Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
2009	Indianapolis Colts	14–2–0	# Lost Super Bowl XLIV
2010	Indianapolis Colts	10–6–0	Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
2011	Houston Texans	10–6–0	Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs

^# Team earned first-round bye.

Wild Card qualifiers

Season	Team	Record	Playoff Results
2002	Indianapolis Colts	10–6–0	Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
2003	Tennessee Titans	12–4–0	Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
2005	Jacksonville Jaguars	12–4–0	Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
2007	Jacksonville Jaguars Tennessee Titans	11–5–0 10–6–0	Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
2008	Indianapolis Colts	12–4–0	Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs

Total playoff berths

Team	Division Champions#	Wild Card Berths#	Playoff Berths#
Indianapolis Colts	7 (14)	2 (10)	9 (24)
Tennessee Titans	2 (9)	2 (12)	4 (21)
Jacksonville Jaguars	0 (2)	2 (4)	2 (6)
Houston Texans	1 (1)	0 (0)	1 (1)

^# Franchise totals listed in parentheses, including those won prior to AFC South.