USA South Athletic Conference

Formerly	Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Dixie Conference
Association	NCAA
Founded	1963; 62 years ago (1963)
Commissioner	Dr. Tom Hart
Sports fielded	18 men's: 9 women's: 9
Division	Division III
No. of teams	10
Headquarters	Rome, Georgia
Region	South
Official website	usasouth.net
Locations

TheUSA South Athletic Conference (formerly theDixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or theDixie Conference) is anintercollegiate athletic conference which competes in theNCAA'sDivision III. Member schools are located inNorth Carolina andVirginia.

The Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was founded in 1963 as a member of theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) with the philosophy that participation would be strictly amateur, so no athletic financial aid or scholarships would be awarded by its affiliate institutions. The six charter members wereCharlotte College,College of Charleston,Methodist College,North Carolina Wesleyan College,St. Andrews Presbyterian College, andLynchburg College.^[1] In 1973, when theNational Collegiate Athletic Association divided into a three-division format, the Dixie Conference left the NAIA and moved into the non-scholarshipNCAA Division III.^[1]

On June 30, 2003, the conference changed to its name to the USA South Athletic Conference.^[2]

During the 2010–11 school year, changes to the membership of the USA South were announced. Three colleges announced plans to join the USA South Conference beginning in the 2012–13 season while one departed the league.Piedmont College,^[3]LaGrange College,^[4] andMaryville College joined from theGreat South Athletic Conference on July 1, 2012.

Shenandoah University left the USA South on the above date, to become a full member of theOld Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), a league in which it held associate membership in several sports.

Christopher Newport University left the USA South after the 2012–13 season to join theCapital Athletic Conference in all sports except for football which remained a USA South affiliate member through the 2015 season.

On May 10, 2012,Covenant College andHuntingdon College announced plans to leave the Great South and join USA South Athletic Conference beginning in the 2013–14 season.

On May 6, 2015, the USA South announced thatAgnes Scott College,Salem College, andWesleyan College would leave theGreat South Athletic Conference and join the USA South beginning in the 2016–17 school year.^[5] The conference announced the future arrival of three more schools during the 2015–16 school year. First, it announced on December 9, 2015, thatBrevard College, transitioning from theNCAA Division IISouth Atlantic Conference to Division III, would join for 2017–18 and beyond.^[6] Then, on May 4, 2016, two more incoming members were announced:Berea College, nearing completion of a transition from theNAIA to Division III, andPfeiffer University, transitioning from the Division IIConference Carolinas to Division III. Both joined in 2017–18 as well.^[7]

On June 27, 2017,Ferrum College, a conference member since 1988, announced that it would leave for theOld Dominion Athletic Conference after the 2017–18 school year.^[8]

On December 11, 2019, the USA South announced the addition ofSouthern Virginia University who joined in the 2021–22 academic year.^[9]

Later changes to the USA South membership came on March 8, 2021, whenAverett University revealed its intention to leave the USA South and joinFerrum College in the ODAC as a full member in the 2022–23 academic year,^[10] and on November 22, whenBelhaven University, then a member of theAmerican Southwest Conference, was at first accepted for membership in the conference also for 2022–23.^[11]

On February 18, 2022, the USA South Conference presidents announced a restructuring of the conference, resulting in all of its members outside North Carolina and Virginia—Agnes Scott, Berea, Covenant, Huntingdon, LaGrange, Maryville, Piedmont, and Wesleyan—leaving the USA South to form the newCollegiate Conference of the South (CCS) for the 2022-23 academic year. They were joined by incoming member Belhaven. CCS members sponsoring football, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, and women's golf remain in the USA South as associate members for those sports.^[12]

USA South Athletic Conference

120km
75miles

Methodist

Piedmont

LaGrange

Huntingdon

Belhaven

Southern Virginia

Pfeiffer

Brevard

Salem

Meredith

Mary Baldwin

William Peace

Greensboro

N.C Wesleyan

   

Location of USA South members:
Current Members
Associate Members

• 1963 – The USA South was founded as the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. It was a member of theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Charter members includedCharlotte College (now the University of North Carolina at Charlotte), theCollege of Charleston (CoC),Lynchburg College (now the University of Lynchburg),Methodist College (now Methodist University),North Carolina Wesleyan College (now North Carolina Wesleyan University), andSt. Andrews Presbyterian College (now St. Andrews University), beginning the 1963–64 academic year.
• 1966 –Greensboro College joined the Dixie Conference in the 1966–67 academic year.
• 1968 – TheUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro joined the Dixie Conference in the 1968–69 academic year.
• 1970:
  • UNC Charlotte and the College of Charleston left the Dixie Conference after the 1969–70 academic year.
  • Virginia Wesleyan College (now Virginia Wesleyan University) joined the Dixie Conference in the 1970–71 academic year.
• 1972 –Christopher Newport College (now Christopher Newport University) joined the Dixie Conference in the 1972–73 academic year.
• 1973 – The Dixie Conference left the NAIA to join theDivision III ranks of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), beginning the 1973–74 academic year.
• 1976 – Lynchburg left the Dixie Conference to join theOld Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) after the 1975–76 academic year.
• 1978 –Averett College (now Averett University) joined the Dixie Conference in the 1978–79 academic year.
• 1988:
  • UNC Greensboro and St. Andrews Presbyterian left the Dixie Conference after the 1987–88 academic year.
  • Ferrum College joined the Dixie Conference in the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1989 – Virginia Wesleyan left the Dixie Conference to join the ODAC after the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1992 –Shenandoah College (now Shenandoah University) joined the Dixie Conference in the 1992–93 academic year.
• 2000 –Chowan College (now Chowan University) joined the Dixie Conference in the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2003:
  • Peace College (now William Peace University) joined the Dixie Conference in the 2003–04 academic year.
  • The Dixie Conference was rebranded as the USA South Athletic Conference (USA South), beginning the 2003–04 academic year.
• 2004 – Chowan left the USA South to join theNCAA Division II ranks as anNCAA D-II Independent (which it would eventually join theCentral Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) in 2009–10) after the 2003–04 academic year.
• 2005 –Maryville College joined the USA South as an associate member for football in the 2005 fall season (2005–06 academic year).
• 2007 –Mary Baldwin College (now Mary Baldwin University) andMeredith College joined the USA South in the 2007–08 academic year.
• 2009 –Agnes Scott College andLaGrange College joined the USA South as associate members for women's lacrosse in the 2010 spring season (2009–10 academic year).
• 2012:
  • Shenandoah left the USA South to join the ODAC after the 2011–12 academic year.
  • Piedmont College joined the USA South (with LaGrange and Maryville adding the rest of their sports for full member status) in the 2012–13 academic year.
• 2013:
  • Christopher Newport left the USA South to join theCapital Athletic Conference (CAC) after the 2012–13 academic year; while it remained as an associate member for football, beginning the 2013 fall season (2013–14 school year).
  • Covenant College andHuntingdon College joined the USA South in the 2013–14 academic year.
• 2014 – Agnes Scott left the USA South as an associate member for women's lacrosse after the 2014 spring season (2013–14 academic year).
• 2016:
  • Christopher Newport left the USA South as an associate member for football after the 2015 fall season (2015–16 academic year).
  • Salem College andWesleyan College joined the USA South (with Agnes Scott rejoining, but for all sports) in the 2016–17 academic year.
• 2017 –Berea College,Brevard College andPfeiffer University joined the USA South in the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2018 – Ferrum left the USA South to join the ODAC after the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2021 –Southern Virginia University joined the USA South in the 2021–22 academic year.
• 2022:
  • In an amicable conference split, Agnes Scott, Berea, Covenant, Huntingdon, LaGrange, Maryville, Piedmont and Wesleyan left the USA South at the end of the 2021–22 academic year to form the newCollegiate Conference of the South (CCS). With the CCS not sponsoring football, women's golf, or men's or women's lacrosse, all CCS members that sponsored those sports remained in the USA South as associate members.
  • At the same time, Averett left the USA South to join the ODAC.
  • Also at that time,Belhaven University joined the USA South as an associate member for football. Belhaven was initially slated to join for all sports, but was admitted to the CCS as a full member instead. The three other CCS members that sponsor football (Huntingdon, LaGrange, and Maryville) became USA South football associates. Huntingdon and non-football Piedmont also became associates in women's golf and men's and women's lacrosse; LaGrange also became an associate in men's lacrosse; and Maryville became an associate in women's golf.
• 2025 – Maryville left the USA South as an associate member for football and women's golf after the 2024–25 academic year.

The USA South currently has 10 full members, allprivate schools, with Meredith as the league's only secular institution.

Notes

The USA South has four associate members, all private and faith-based schools that are full CCS members. All became charter CCS members in the 2022 conference split. Belhaven had been originally announced as an incoming USA South member for 2022, but instead opted to join the CCS for that school year.

Notes

The USA South has twenty former full members, all but four wereprivate schools:

Notes

The USA South has one former associate member, aprivate school:

Notes

 Full member (all sports)  Full member (non-football)  Associate member (football)  Associate member (sport) 

The conference sponsors championships in the following sports:

Departing members are displayed in red.

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross country	Football	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Tennis	Track & field (outdoor)	Total USA South sports
Brevard	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Greensboro	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	7
Mary Baldwin	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	6
Methodist	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
North Carolina Wesleyan	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Pfeiffer	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Southern Virginia	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
William Peace	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Totals	8	8	7	5+4	5	6+3	8	8	7	63+7
Affiliate members
Belhaven				Y						1
Huntingdon				Y		Y				2
LaGrange				Y		Y				2
Maryville				Y						1
Piedmont						Y				1

Departing members are displayed in red.

School	Basketball	Cross country	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & field (outdoor)	Volleyball	Total USA South sports
Brevard	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Greensboro	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	5
Mary Baldwin	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Meredith	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Methodist	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
North Carolina Wesleyan	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Pfeiffer	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Salem	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	Y	N	Y	4
Southern Virginia	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
William Peace	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Totals	10	8	4+3	6+2	10	9	10	8	10	75+5
Affiliate Members
Huntingdon			Y	Y						2
Maryville			Y							1
Piedmont			Y	Y						2

Wikimedia Commons has media related toUSA South Athletic Conference.

• Official website

• USA South Athletic Conference

• Pages using the EasyTimeline extension
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing OSM location maps
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Pages using the Kartographer extension