 | |
| Association | NCAA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1975 |
| Commissioner | Patrick Britz (since 2008) |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division II |
| No. of teams | 13 |
| Headquarters | Rock Hill, South Carolina |
| Region | Southeastern United States |
| Official website | thesac.com |
| Locations | |
 | |
The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as a football-only conference and became an all-sports conference beginning with the 1989–90 season.
The league currently sponsors 10 sports for men (football, cross country, soccer, basketball, wrestling, baseball, lacrosse, outdoor track & field, tennis, golf) and 10 sports for women (volleyball, cross country, field hockey, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, outdoor track & field, softball, tennis, and golf).
150km
100miles
Anderson
Emory & Henry
Limestone
UVA Wise
Wingate
Tusculum
Newberry
Mars Hill
Lincoln Memorial
Lenoir-Rhyne
Coker
Catawba
Carson–Newman
currentThe distant forerunner of the South Atlantic Conference was the North State Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NSIAC). The NSIAC was formed when the "Little Six", as it was called, broke from the North Carolina Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1930. The charter members included Appalachian State Teachers College (now Appalachian State University), Lenoir–Rhyne College (now Lenoir–Rhyne University), Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College), Catawba College, Guilford College, Elon College (now Elon University), and High Point College (now High Point University).
The North State continued to grow over the next 30 years, adding Western Carolina University (1933), East Carolina University (1947) and Pfeiffer College (now Pfeiffer University) (1960). A name change became necessary when the league accepted Newberry College as its first member from the state of South Carolina in 1961. The league took on the name Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC) on May 20 of that year.
The CIAC saw several changes in the following years as East Carolina withdrew from the league in 1962. Appalachian State and Western Carolina followed in 1971 and 1976. All three landed in the Southern Conference (SoCon).
The South Atlantic Conference was founded in 1975 solely as a football conference. The league received its name from a contest in which Kurt Brenneman of Greensboro, North Carolina became the first to submit the SAC-8 moniker.
The SAC-8 consisted of Carson–Newman College (now Carson–Newman University), Catawba College, Elon College, Gardner–Webb College (now Gardner–Webb University), Lenoir–Rhyne College (now Lenoir-Rhyne University), Mars Hill College (now Mars Hill University), Newberry College, and Presbyterian College. Dr. Fred Bentley, of Mars Hill College, was named league president for its inaugural year, by a vote of the member institutions.
After the first season of play in the SAC-8, the Bears of Lenoir–Rhyne College captured the first football title.
In 1989, the league's 15th year of operation, the South Atlantic Conference became a comprehensive, multi-sport conference. Doug Echols was named the league's first Commissioner. That year the South Atlantic Conference sponsored 10 sports – football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, men's soccer, volleyball, men's golf, men's and women's tennis. Later the conference grew to 14 championship sports by adding women's soccer (1990), men's and women's cross country (1993) and women's golf (1999). In 2013, the sports of men's and women's lacrosse and men's and women's track and field were added, increasing the number of championship sports to 18.
The South Atlantic Conference was composed of the same eight member institutions from 1975–76 until 1988–89, when Wingate College (now Wingate University) replaced Newberry College as the eighth member institution. Newberry College later re-joined the conference in the 1996–97 season.
In July 1998, Tusculum College (now Tusculum University) was admitted as a member of the league, and Lincoln Memorial University began play in the conference in the 2006–07 academic year. Brevard College was admitted to the SAC as a provisional member in 2007 and a full member in 2008.
In 2008, Echols retired after serving as Commissioner for 19 years and Patrick Britz was hired as the new Commissioner.
In July 2010, Anderson University became the league's 10th member. Three years later in July 2013, Coker College (now Coker University) and Queens University of Charlotte joined the conference.[1] On April 13, 2018, UVA Wise (in full, the University of Virginia's College at Wise) announced that it was joining the South Atlantic Conference for the 2019-20 season.[2] A more recent change to the conference membership was announced on April 5, 2019, when Limestone College, which had joined as a football-only member in 2017 and added field hockey to its SAC membership the next year, was announced as a new full member effective in 2020–21, the same time it became Limestone University.[3]
The SAC and Conference Carolinas entered into a partnership in the 2018–19 school year by which the two leagues would operate as a single conference in field hockey and men's wrestling, with championships immediately conducted in both sports. The leagues agreed that the SAC would coordinate the field hockey championship, while CC would fill the same role for men's wrestling. Accordingly, all CC field hockey programs became SAC affiliates, and all SAC men's wrestling programs became CC affiliates.[4] The SAC–CC alliance is officially branded as "South Atlantic Conference Carolinas".[5]
A more recent change in conference membership was announced on November 17, 2020. Emory & Henry College, then in the Division III Old Dominion Athletic Conference, started a transition to Division II in July 2021 and began SAC competition in 2022.[6]
In December 2021, the SAC and CC jointly announced that they would extend their existing partnership to include two women's sports, triathlon and wrestling, with triathlon competition starting in 2022–23 and wrestling in 2023–24. At the same time, both conferences agreed that after the 2021–22 school year, the SAC would become the only one of the two conferences to sponsor field hockey. The joint men's wrestling league will continue to operate through the 2022–23 season, after which both conferences will establish their own men's wrestling leagues.[7]
The most recent change was officially announced on May 10, 2022, when the Division I Atlantic Sun Conference (then branded as the ASUN Conference) announced that Queens would leave the SAC to start a transition to D-I on July 1 as a new ASUN member.[8]
Newberry College left the SAC in 1989 (as a football member) and rejoined in 1996 (as an all-sport member). Wingate replaced Newberry College as the final member for the birth of the all-sports SAC in 1989. Former members Elon, Gardner–Webb, and Presbyterian were charter members of both the SAC-8 football era and the SAC all-sports era.
|
|
The SAC currently has 13 full members, with all but one being private schools. Reclassifying members listed in yellow.
The SAC currently has six affiliate members, five private schools and one public school.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Colors | SAC sport |
Primary conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barton College | Wilson, North Carolina | 1902 | Christian Church | 1,200 | Bulldogs | 2022 | football | Carolinas (CC) | |
| Belmont Abbey College | Belmont, North Carolina | 1876 | Catholic | 1,320 | Crusaders | 2018 | field hockey | ||
| Converse University[a] | Spartanburg, South Carolina | 1889 | Nonsectarian | 750 | Valkyries | 2018 | |||
| Erskine College | Due West, South Carolina | 1839 | Presbyterian | 800 | Flying Fleet | 2022 | football | ||
| Lander University | Greenwood, South Carolina | 1872 | Public | 3,000 | Bearcats | 2022 | field hockey | Peach Belt (PBC) | |
| University of Mount Olive | Mount Olive, North Carolina | 1951 | Free Will Baptist | 2,500 | Trojans | 2019 | Carolinas (CC) |
The SAC has five former full members, all private schools.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard College | Brevard, North Carolina | 1934 | United Methodist | 708 | Tornados | 2007[a] | 2017 | USA South[b] |
| Elon University | Elon, North Carolina | 1889 | Nonsectarian | 6,991 | Phoenix | 1975[c] | 1997 | Coastal (CAA)[d][e] |
| Gardner–Webb University | Boiling Springs, North Carolina | 1905 | Baptist | 3,594 | Runnin' Bulldogs | 1975[c] | 2000 | Big South[d][f] |
| Presbyterian College | Clinton, South Carolina | 1880 | Presbyterian | 1,330 | Blue Hose | 1975[c] | 2007 | Big South[d][f] |
| Queens University of Charlotte | Charlotte, North Carolina | 1857 | Presbyterian | 2,100 | Royals | 2013 | 2022 | ASUN[d] |
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football-only) Associate member (sport)
| Sport | Men's | Women's |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball |  Y |
|
| Basketball | Y |
Y
|
| Cross Country | Y |
Y
|
| Field Hockey | Y
| |
| Football | Y |
|
| Golf | Y |
Y
|
| Lacrosse | Y |
Y
|
| Soccer | Y |
Y
|
| Softball | Y
| |
| Swimming & Diving | Y |
Y
|
| Tennis | Y |
Y
|
| Track & Field Indoor | Y |
Y
|
| Track & Field Outdoor | Y |
Y
|
| Volleyball | Y
|
| School | Baseball | Basketball | Cross Country |
Football | Golf | Lacrosse | Soccer | Tennis | Track & Field Indoor |
Track & Field Outdoor |
Total SAC Sports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
[a] | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
9 |
| Carson–Newman | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
9 | |
| Catawba | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
10 |
| Coker | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
9 | |
| Emory & Henry | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
9 | |
| Lenoir–Rhyne | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
10 |
| Limestone | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
10 |
| Lincoln Memorial | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
9 | |
| Mars Hill | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
10 |
| Newberry | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
10 |
| Tusculum | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
9 | |
| UVA Wise | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
6 | ||||
| Wingate | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
10 |
| Totals | 13 | 13 | 13 | 10+2 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 121+2 |
| Affiliate Members | |||||||||||
| Barton | Y
|
1 | |||||||||
| Erskine | Y
|
1 | |||||||||
| School | Basketball | Cross Country |
Field Hockey |
Golf | Lacrosse | Soccer | Softball | Swimming & Diving |
Tennis | Track & Field Indoor |
Track & Field Outdoor |
Volleyball | Total SAC Sports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
10 | ||
| Carson–Newman | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
10 | ||
| Catawba | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
11 | |
| Coker | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
11 | |
| Emory & Henry | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
11 | |
| Lenoir–Rhyne | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
11 | |
| Limestone | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
11 | |
| Lincoln Memorial | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
11 | |
| Mars Hill | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
11 | |
| Newberry | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
11 | |
| Tusculum | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
9 | |||
| UVA Wise | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
7 | |||||
| Wingate | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
11 | |
| Totals | 13 | 13 | 4+4 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 138 |
| Affiliate Members | |||||||||||||
| Belmont Abbey | Y
|
1 | |||||||||||
| Converse | Y
|
1 | |||||||||||
| Lander | Y
|
1 | |||||||||||
| Mount Olive | Y
|
1 | |||||||||||
| School | Men | Women | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling [a] | Swimming & Diving |
Volleyball [b] | Wrestling | Acrobatics & Tumbling [c] |
Beach volleyball [b] |
Bowling [b] | Equestrian[d] | Triathlon[e] | Wrestling [f] | ||||
| Carson–Newman | BMC | IND | |||||||||||
| Catawba | BMC | IND | |||||||||||
| Coker | IND | CC[g] | CC | ||||||||||
| Emory & Henry | BMC | CC[g] | IDA/IHSA | IND[h] | |||||||||
| Lenoir–Rhyne | BMC | ||||||||||||
| Limestone | IND[i] | CC[g] | CC | IND[h] | |||||||||
| Lincoln Memorial | IND | CC[g] | IND | CC | IND[h] | ||||||||
| Mars Hill | ASC | CC | |||||||||||
| Newberry | CC[g] | ||||||||||||
| Tusculum | IND | IND | CC | ||||||||||
| Wingate | BMC | [j] | |||||||||||
In addition to the above:
| School | Football | Basketball | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stadium | Capacity | Arena | Capacity | |
| Anderson Trojans | Spero Financial Field | 5,000 | Abney Athletic Center | 1,500 |
| Carson–Newman Eagles | Burke–Tarr Stadium | 5,500 | Holt Fieldhouse | 2,000 |
| Catawba Indians | Shuford Stadium | 4,500 | Goodman Gym | 3,500 |
| Coker Cobras |
non-football school
|
Harris E. & Louise H. DeLoach Center | 1,908 | |
| Emory & Henry Wasps | Fred Selfe Stadium | 5,500 | John Rutledge King Center | 1,240 |
| Erskine Flying Fleet | J. W. Babb Stadium | 4,000 |
football-only school
| |
| Lenoir-Rhyne Bears | Moretz Stadium | 8,500 | Shuford Memorial Gymnasium | 2,770 |
| Limestone Saints | The Reservation | 8,250 | Timken Center | 1,500 |
| Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters |
non-football school
|
Tex Turner Arena | 5,000 | |
| Mars Hill Lions | Meares Stadium | 5,000 | Stanford Arena | 2,800 |
| Newberry Wolves | Setzler Field | 4,000 | Eleazer Arena | 1,600 |
| Tusculum Pioneers | Pioneer Field | 1,850 | Pioneer Arena | 2,500 |
| UVA Wise Cavaliers | Carl Smith Stadium | 3,900 | David J. Prior Convocation Center | 3,000 |
| Wingate Bulldogs | Irwin Belk Stadium | 3,000 | Cuddy Arena | 2,300 |
| Barton Bulldogs | Truist Stadium | 3,200 |
football-only school
| |
|
| |
|---|---|
| Current members |
|
| Affiliate members |
|
|
| |
|---|---|
| Atlantic |
|
| Central |
|
| East |
|
| Midwest |
|
| South |
|
| South Central |
|
| Southeast |
|
| West |
|
| Division II |
|
