 | |
| Association | NCAA |
|---|---|
| Founded | Chartered: 2011 Began play: 2012 |
| Commissioner | Stacey LaDew |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division III |
| No. of teams | 8 (9 in 2026–27) |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Official website | saa-sports.com |
| Locations | |
 | |
TheSouthern Athletic Association (SAA) is anintercollegiate athletic conference that competes in theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)Division III that began play in the 2012–13 school year. It was formed in 2011 by seven former members of theSouthern Collegiate Athletic Conference andindependentBerry College.[1]
On March 9, 2023,Trinity University andSouthwestern University of Texas announced they would join the SAA as full members, beginning in the 2025–26 academic year.[2]
On May 26, 2024,Birmingham–Southern College announced that it would close at the end of the 2023–24 school year (more precisely, on May 31 of that year).[3]
On June 11, 2024,Hendrix College announced it would return to theSouthern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) at the end of the 2024–25 school year.[4]
On July 23, 2024,Maryville College was accepted to the SAA as a full member, to join beginning in the 2026–27 academic year. Maryville's football and women's golf would join SAA competition as an associate member, beginning 2025–26.[5]
Every member in the history of the SAA, whether current, former, full, or associate, has been aprivate school.
The SAA currently has eight full members.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Endowment | Nickname | Joined[a] | Colors | Football? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berry College | Mount Berry, Georgia | 1902 | Nondenominational | 2,367[6] | $1,261,304,000 | Vikings | 2012 | Yes | |
| Centre College | Danville, Kentucky | 1819 | Presbyterian | 1,400[7] | $391,321,000 | Colonels | 2012 | Yes | |
| Millsaps College | Jackson, Mississippi | 1890 | United Methodist | 700[8] | $81,847,000 | Majors | 2012 | Yes | |
| Oglethorpe University | Atlanta, Georgia | 1835 | Nondenominational | 1,494[9] | $462,795,000 | Stormy Petrels | 2012 | No | |
| Rhodes College | Memphis, Tennessee | 1848 | Presbyterian | 2,070[10] | $406,964,000 | Lynx | 2012 | Yes | |
| Sewanee: The University of the South | Sewanee, Tennessee | 1857 | Episcopal | 1,735[11] | $462,795,000 | Tigers | 2012 | Yes | |
| Southwestern University | Georgetown, Texas | 1840 | United Methodist | 1,536 | $255,955,000 | Pirates | 2025 | Yes | |
| Trinity University | San Antonio, Texas | 1869 | Nonsectarian[b] | 2,759[12] | $1,856,100,000 | Tigers | 2025 | Yes |
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Endowment | Nickname | Joining[a] | Colors | Football | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryville College | Maryville, Tennessee | 1819 | Presbyterian (PCUSA) | 1,103 | $93,100,000 | Scots | 2026[b] | Yes | C.C. South (CCS) |
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Nickname | Joined[a] | Left[b] | Colors | Football? | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham–Southern College | Birmingham, Alabama | 1856 | United Methodist | Panthers | 2012 | 2024 | Yes | Closed in 2024 | |
| Hendrix College | Conway, Arkansas | 1876 | United Methodist | Warriors | 2012 | 2025 | Yes | Southern (SCAC) |
Two schools, theUniversity of Chicago andWashington University in St. Louis (WashU), announced their intention to become affiliate members of the conference for football, effective in 2015. Both are members of theUniversity Athletic Association (UAA), which at the time had a football scheduling alliance with theNorth Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). However, after the 2012 season, the NCAC adopted a full round-robin football schedule, making it impossible for that conference to fill in all of its non-conference dates with the four UAA members that sponsor the sport.
Over the summer of 2015, Chicago and WashU announced that they would leave the SAA after two seasons of competition in order to join more geographically-convenient conferences.[13] WashU will maintain its football affiliation with the UAA for the 2017 season before joining theCollege Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in 2018 as a football-only member. For nearly a year, Chicago did not announce a future league affiliation, but it announced in May 2016 that it would become a football-only member of theMidwest Conference in 2017.[14]
On November 18, 2015,Trinity University andAustin College announced they would affiliate with the SAA for football, renewing a relationship that was lost when the SAA split from theSouthern Collegiate Athletic Conference.[15] As a result, the SCAC will no longer offer football as a sport from 2017. On August 13, 2020, Austin College announced it would move to theAmerican Southwest Conference as a football-only affiliate beginning with the 2021 season, committing to at least four years as an affiliate.[16]
On August 19, 2021, the conference announced thatSouthwestern University, a current football-only affiliate member of the American Southwest Conference, would join the SAA as a football-only affiliate effective with the 2023 football season.[17] On March 9, 2023, the SAA announced that Southwestern University andTrinity University will join the SAA as full members in 2025.[2]
The SAA currently has one affiliate member, which will become a full member in 2026.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined[a] | Colors | SAA sport(s) | Primary conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryville College | Maryville, Tennessee | 1819 | Presbyterian (PCUSA) | 1,103 | Scots | 2025 | Football | C.C. South (CCS) | |
| 2025 | Women's golf |
Five schools have been SAA affiliate members but have since either left the conference or upgraded to full membership.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined[a] | Left[b] | Colors | SAA sport(s) | Primary conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin College | Sherman, Texas | 1849 | Presbyterian | 1,278 | 'Roos | 2017 | 2021 | Football | Southern (SCAC) | |
| University of Chicago | Chicago, Illinois | 1890 | Non-denominational | 5,134 | Maroons | 2015 | 2017 | University (UAA)[c] | ||
| Southwestern University | Georgetown, Texas | 1840 | United Methodist | 1,507 | Pirates | 2023 | 2025 | Southern (SAA) | ||
| Trinity University | San Antonio, Texas | 1869 | Nonsectarian[d] | 2,759[12] | Tigers | 2017 | 2025 | Southern (SAA) | ||
| Washington University in St. Louis | St. Louis, Missouri | 1853 | Nonsectarian | 5,997 | Bears | 2015 | 2017 | University (UAA)[e] |
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football) Associate member (sport)
The Southern Athletic Association sponsors 11 men's sports and 12 women's sports. The members mostly sponsor all the sports in the conference except that Oglethorpe University does not have a football team.
| Sport | Men's | Women's |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball | 7 | - |
| Basketball | 7 | 7 |
| Cross country | 7 | 7 |
| Football | 8 | - |
| Golf | 7 | 7 |
| Lacrosse | 7 | 7 |
| Soccer | 7 | 7 |
| Softball | - | 7 |
| Swimming &diving | 7 | 7 |
| Tennis | 7 | 7 |
| Indoortrack & field | 7 | 7 |
| Outdoortrack & field | 7 | 7 |
| Volleyball | - | 7 |
