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Southern Conference (SoCon)
Established: 1921

NCAA	Division I (FCS)
Members	12
Sports fielded	19 (men's: 10; women's: 9)
Region	Southeast
Headquarters	Spartanburg, South Carolina
Commissioner	John Iamarino (since 2006)
Website	www.soconsports.com
Locations

The Southern Conference (or SoCon) is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as 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.^[1] Only the Big Ten (1896), Missouri Valley (1907) and Southwestern Athletic (1920) conferences are older.

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;^[2] and from the Davidson Wildcats, who reached the Elite Eight in the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament by upsetting power programs Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin.^[3]

1 History
2 Sports offered
3 Members
- 3.1 Associate member
- 3.2 Membership timeline
4 Conference facilities
5 Conference champions
6 Commissioner's and Germann Cups
- 6.1 Commissioner's Cup
- 6.2 Germann Cup
7 References
8 See also
9 External links

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, Georgia 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 1933, thirteen schools located south and west of the Appalachians (Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Sewanee, Tennessee, Tulane, and Vanderbilt) departed the SoCon to form the Southeastern Conference (SEC).^[1] In 1953, seven 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]

Other former members (in addition to those listed above) include East Carolina (1964–76), East Tennessee State (1978–2005), George Washington (1936–70), Marshall (1976–97), Richmond (1936–76), William & Mary (1936–77) and West Virginia (1950–68).

Sports offered

Location of Southern Conference member institutions

The Southern Conference currently offers 19 sports, 10 for men and 9 for women.

Men's sports	Women's sports
Baseball	Basketball
Basketball	Cross Country
Cross Country	Golf
Football	Soccer
Golf	Softball
Soccer	Tennis
Tennis	Indoor Track
Indoor Track	Outdoor Track
Outdoor Track	Volleyball
Wrestling

Members

Conference membership increased to 12 full members when Samford joined on July 1, 2008,^[4] bringing the number of football playing institutions to nine. Men's basketball and volleyball are split into divisions for conference play. North Division members are: Appalachian State, Chattanooga, Elon, Samford, UNC Greensboro, and Western Carolina. South Division members include: The Citadel, College of Charleston, Davidson, Furman, Georgia Southern, and Wofford.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Joined	Nicknames
Appalachian State University	Boone, North Carolina	1899	Public (UNC)	16,969 (Fall 2009)	1971	Mountaineers
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga	Chattanooga, Tennessee	1886	Public (UT)	10,526 (Fall 2009)	1976	Mocs and Lady Mocs
The Citadel	Charleston, South Carolina	1842	Public	3,235 (Spring 2009)	1936	Bulldogs
College of Charleston	Charleston, South Carolina	1770	Public	11,772 (Fall 2009)	1998	Cougars
Davidson College^[5]	Davidson, North Carolina	1837	Private	1,700	1936–88; 1991	Wildcats
Elon University	Elon, North Carolina	1889	Private	5,666 (Fall 2009)	2003	Phoenix
Furman University	Greenville, South Carolina	1826	Private	2,958 (Fall 2009)	1936	Paladins
Georgia Southern University	Statesboro, Georgia	1906	Public (USG)	19,086 (Fall 2009)	1991	Eagles
Samford University	Homewood, Alabama	1841	Private	4,658 (Fall 2009)	2008	Bulldogs
University of North Carolina at Greensboro	Greensboro, North Carolina	1891	Public (UNC)	17,157	1997	Spartans
Western Carolina University	Cullowhee, North Carolina	1889	Public (UNC)	9,429 (Fall 2009)	1976	Catamounts
Wofford College	Spartanburg, South Carolina	1854	Private	1,439 (Fall 2009)	1997	Terriers

Associate member

There is one associate member school (wrestling only):

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname
Virginia Military Institute^[6]	Lexington, Virginia	1839	Public	1,377	Keydets

Membership timeline

Conference facilities

School	Football stadium		Basketball arena		Baseball stadium		Soccer stadium
School	Name	Capacity	Name	Capacity	Name	Capacity	Name	Capacity
Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium	21,650	Holmes Center	8,325	Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium	2,000	ASU Soccer Stadium	1,000
Chattanooga	Finley Stadium	20,668	McKenzie Arena	11,218	Non-baseball School	N/A	North River Soccer Complex	500
The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium	21,000	McAlister Field House	6,000	Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park	6,000	Washington Light Infantry Field	—
College of Charleston	Non-football School	N/A	Carolina First Arena	5,100	CofC Baseball Stadium at Patriot's Point	2,000	CofC Soccer Stadium	1,000
Davidson	Richardson Stadium^[5]	6,000	John M. Belk Arena	6,000	Wilson Field	700	Alumni Stadium	2,000
Elon	Rhodes Stadium	11,250	Alumni Gym	1,768	Latham Park	500	Rudd Field	500
Furman	Paladin Stadium	16,000	Timmons Arena	5,000	Latham Baseball Stadium	2,000	Stone Stadium	3,000
Georgia Southern	Paulson Stadium	18,000	Hanner Fieldhouse	4,358	J. I. Clements Stadium	3,000	Eagle Field	500
Samford	Seibert Stadium	6,700	Pete Hanna Center	5,000	Joe Lee Griffin Stadium	1,000	Bulldog Field	972
UNC Greensboro	Non-football School	N/A	Greensboro Coliseum	23,500	UNCG Baseball Stadium	3,500	UNCG Soccer Stadium	3,540
Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium	13,742	Ramsey Center	7,826	Hennon Stadium, McNair Field	1,500	Catamount Athletic Complex	1,000
Wofford	Gibbs Stadium	13,000	Benjamin Johnson Arena	3,500	Russell C. King Field, McNair Field	2,500	Snyder Field	2,250

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
2000	Georgia Southern	7–1–0
2001	Georgia Southern Furman	7–1–0
2002	Georgia Southern	7–1–0
2003	Wofford	8–0–0
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

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
1999–2000	Appalachian State	13–3	College of Charleston	13–3	Appalachian State
2000–01	East Tennessee State	13–3	College of Charleston	12–4	UNC Greensboro
2001–02	Davidson UNC Greensboro East Tennessee State	11–5	College of Charleston Georgia Southern Chattanooga	9–7	Davidson
2002–03	Davidson East Tennessee State Appalachian State	11–5	College of Charleston	13–3	East Tennessee State
2003–04	East Tennessee State	15–1	Davidson Georgia Southern College of Charleston	11–5	East Tennessee State
2004–05	Davidson	16–0	College of Charleston Georgia Southern	10–6	Chattanooga
2005–06	Elon	10–4	Georgia Southern	11–4	Davidson
2006–07	Appalachian State	15–3	Davidson	17–1	Davidson Tournament
2007–08	Appalachian State Chattanooga	13–7	Davidson	20–0	Davidson Tournament
2008–09	Chattanooga Western Carolina	11–9	Davidson	18–2	Chattanooga Tournament

Baseball

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

Year	Champion
2000	Georgia Southern
2001	The Citadel
2002	Georgia Southern
2003	Western Carolina
2004	The Citadel
2005	Furman
2006	College of Charleston
2007	Wofford
2008	Elon
2009	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.^[7] 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 2008–09 athletics season saw Appalachian State winning its 29th Commissioner's Cup and College of Charleston winning its 2nd Germann Cup.^[8]

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

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

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The History of the Southern Conference". Southern Conference. 2008-06-30. http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4000&KEY=&ATCLID=177772.
^ Stewart Mandel (2007-09-01). "The Mother of All Upsets". CNNSI. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_blogs/football/ncaa/2007/09/mother-of-all-upsets.html.
^ Associated Press (2008-03-28). "Curry's sweet touch continues as Davidson eludes Wisconsin". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=284000014.
^ "The Southern Conference Welcomes Samford University". Southern Conference. 2008-07-01. http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4000&ATCLID=1480651.
^ ^a ^b Davidson does not compete in the SoCon for football. Instead, they compete in the Pioneer Football League.
^ VMI competes in the Big South Conference for all other sports.
^ "Southern Conference Commissioner’s & Germann Cups". Southern Conference. 2007-06-04. http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4000&KEY=&ATCLID=264425.
^ "Appalachian State, College of Charleston Win All-Sports Cups". Southern Conference. 2009-05-27. http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4000&ATCLID=3743561.

External links

Southern Conference - Official website

v • d • e Southern Conference

Appalachian State Mountaineers • Chattanooga Mocs • The Citadel Bulldogs • College of Charleston Cougars • Davidson Wildcats • Elon Phoenix • Furman Paladins • Georgia Southern Eagles • Samford Bulldogs • UNC Greensboro Spartans • Western Carolina Catamounts • Wofford Terriers

Champions – Baseball • Basketball • Football

v • d • e NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Conferences

Big Sky Conference • Big South Conference • Colonial Athletic Association • Great West Conference • 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

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