Southern Conference

Southern Conference

Association	NCAA
Commissioner	John Iamarino (since 2006)
Sports fielded	19 men's: 10 women's: 9
Division	Division I
Subdivision	FCS
Region	Southeast
Official 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, and Tennessee. The Southern Conference ranks as the fourth oldest major college athletic conference in the United States. Only the Big Ten (1896), Missouri Valley (1907), 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.

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, three-time Division I NCAA Football champion Appalachian State Mountaineers, who stunned the fifth-ranked Michigan Wolverines 34–32 on September 1, 2007; 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. 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. It was the first loss to a lower division opponent in the program's history. The SoCon also frequently sees multiple teams selected to participate in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.

History

Conference Commissioners

Wallace Wade	1951–60
Lloyd Jordon	1960–73
Ken Germann	1974–86
Dave Hart	1986–91
Wright Waters	1991–98
Alfred B. White	1998–2001
Danny Morrison	2001–05
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. 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, 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 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.

Location of Southern Conference member institutions, as of the 2013-14 academic year.

Other former members include the following:

• Virginia (1921-22 to 1936-37) - charter member
• Virginia Tech (1921-22 to 1964-65) - charter member
• Washington and Lee (1921-22 to 1957-58) - charter member
• George Washington (1936-37 to 1969-70)
• Richmond (1936-37 to 1975-76)
• William & Mary (1936-37 to 1976-77)
• West Virginia (1950-51 to 1967-68)
• East Carolina (1964-65 to 1975-76)
• Marshall (1976-77 to 1996-97)
• College of Charleston (1998-99 to 2012-13)

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. 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. ETSU will relaunch its dormant football program in the SoCon in 2015.

Institution	Location (Population	Founded	Type	Enrollment	U.S. News Ranking	Endowment	Joined	Nickname
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga	Chattanooga, Tennessee (167,674)	1886	Public (UT)	11,438 (Fall 2011)	49 (Regional: South)	$87,846,993	1976	Mocs (men's) Lady Mocs (women's)
The Citadel	Charleston, South Carolina (124,632)	1842	Public (Military College)	3,390 (Fall 2011)	4 (Regional: South)	$200,495,082	1936	Bulldogs
East Tennessee State University	Johnson City, Tennessee (63,152)	1911	Public (TBR)	15,530	not ranked	$100,111,731	2014	Buccaneers
Furman University	Greenville, South Carolina (61,674)	1826	Private	3,121 (Fall 2011)	52 (National Lib. Arts)	$550,265,503	1936	Paladins
Mercer University	Macon, Georgia (155,547)	1833	Private	8,300	8 (Regional: South)	$191,665,145	2014	Bears
Samford University	Homewood, Alabama (25,167)	1841	Private (Alabama Baptist Convention)	4,758 (Fall 2011)	3 (Regional: South)	$289,110,511	2008	Bulldogs
University of North Carolina at Greensboro	Greensboro, North Carolina (269,660)	1891	Public (UNC)	18,478 (Fall 2010)	190 (National)	$192,532,176	1997	Spartans
Virginia Military Institute	Lexington, Virginia (7,042)	1839	Public (Military College)	1,569	65 (National Lib. Arts)	$308,958,261	2014	Keydets
Western Carolina University	Cullowhee, North Carolina (9,428)	1889	Public (UNC)	11,379 (Fall 2010)	39 (Regional: South)	$49,644,743	1976	Catamounts
Wofford College	Spartanburg, South Carolina (37,013)	1854	Private (United Methodist Church)	1,495 (Fall 2010)	65 (National Lib. Arts)	$154,162,683	1997	Terriers

Associate members

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

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary Conference	SoCon Sport
Appalachian State University	Boone, North Carolina	1899	Public (UNC)	17,344 (Fall 2011)	Mountaineers	Sun Belt	wrestling
Bellarmine University	Louisville, Kentucky	1950	Private (Catholic Church)	3,422	Knights	GLVC (NCAA Division II)	men's lacrosse
Campbell University	Buies Creek, North Carolina	1887	Private (Baptist State Convention of North Carolina)	10,487	Fighting Camels	Big South	wrestling
Davidson College	Davidson, North Carolina	1837	Private (Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.))	1,756 (Fall 2011)	Wildcats	Atlantic 10	wrestling
Gardner-Webb University	Boiling Springs, North Carolina	1905	Private (Baptist State Convention of North Carolina)	4,300	Runnin' Bulldogs	Big South	wrestling
High Point University	High Point, North Carolina	1924	Private (United Methodist Church)	3,603	Panthers	Big South	men's lacrosse
Jacksonville University	Jacksonville, Florida	1934	Private	3,400	Dolphins	Atlantic Sun (A-Sun)	men's lacrosse
University of Richmond	Richmond, Virginia	1830	Private	4,249	Spiders	Atlantic 10 (A-10)	men's lacrosse
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville	Edwardsville, Illinois	1957	Public (SIU)	14,055	Cougars	OVC	wrestling

Former members

See also: List of former Southern Conference 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 was 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. 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.

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
Associate Members
Appalachian State	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	1
Bellarmine	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N	N	1
Campbell	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	1
Davidson	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	1
Gardner–Webb	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	1
High Point	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N	N	1
Jacksonville	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N	N	1
Richmond	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N	N	1
SIU Edwardsville	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	1
Totals	9	10	10	8	10	7	6	8	9	9	8	94

Notes:

• † East Tennessee State will relaunch its dormant football program in the SoCon in 2015.

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

School	Rifle1
The Citadel	Independent
Wofford	Independent

Notes:

1: Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other.

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	Y	Y	Y	9
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	9	10	80

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

School	Field Hockey	Lacrosse	Rifle1	Swimming
The Citadel	No	No	Independent	No
Furman	No	A-Sun	No	No
Wofford	No	No	Independent	No

Notes:

1: Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other.

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	To be determined		ETSU/Mountain States Health Alliance Athletic Center	6,500	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
2004	Furman Georgia Southern	6–1–0
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

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

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
2004–05	Davidson	16–0	College of Charleston Georgia Southern	10–6	Chattanooga
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

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
2005	Western Carolina
2006	Chattanooga
2007	Chattanooga
2008	Chattanooga
2009	Western Carolina
2010	Chattanooga
2011	Samford
2012	Samford
2013	Chattanooga
2014	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
2004	College of Charleston	The Citadel
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

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. 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 2010-11 athletics season saw Appalachian State winning its 31st Commissioner's Cup and 9th Germann Cup

Commissioner's Cup

Year	Champion
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
1987–88	Appalachian State
1988–89	Appalachian State
1989–90	Appalachian State
1990–91	Furman
1991–92	Appalachian State
1992–93	Appalachian State
1993–94	Appalachian State
1994–95	Appalachian State
1995–96	Appalachian State
1996–97	Appalachian State
1997–98	Appalachian State
1998–99	Appalachian State
1999–00	Appalachian State
2000–01	Appalachian State
2001–02	Appalachian State
2002–03	Appalachian State
2003–04	Appalachian State
2004–05	Chattanooga
2005–06	Appalachian State
2006–07	Appalachian State
2007–08	Appalachian State
2008–09	Appalachian State
2009–10	Appalachian State
2010–11	Appalachian State
2011–12	Appalachian State
2012–13	Appalachian State

Germann Cup

Year	Champion
1986–87	Appalachian State
1987–88	Appalachian State
1988–89	Appalachian State
1989–90	Appalachian State
1990–91	Appalachian State
1991–92	Appalachian State
1992–93	Furman
1993–94	Furman
1994–95	Furman
1995–96	Furman
1996–97	Furman
1997–98	Furman
1998–99	Furman
1999–00	Furman
2000–01	Furman
2001–02	Furman
2002–03	Furman
2003–04	Furman
2004–05	College of Charleston
2005–06	Appalachian State
2006–07	Appalachian State
2007–08	Chattanooga
2008–09	College of Charleston
2009–10	Samford
2010–11	Appalachian State
2011–12	College of Charleston
2012–13	Appalachian State

See also

• Southern Conference Hall of Fame
• List of NCAA conferences

External links

• Official website