Conference Carolinas, formerly known as theCarolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or theCarolinas Conference, is acollege athletic conference affiliated with theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at theDivision II level. It is also considered as one of the sevenDivision I conferences for men's volleyball. Originally formed in 1930, the league reached its modern incarnation in 1994. Member institutions are located in thesoutheastern United States in the states ofGeorgia,North Carolina,South Carolina, andTennessee. The Conference Carolinas membership currently consists of 15 small colleges or universities, 13 private and two public.
Conference Carolinas dates to its inception on December 6, 1930. The conference was formed then as an athletic association "for the greater advantage of the small colleges in North Carolina". The official name given back then was theNorth State Intercollegiate Conference but known informally as theOld North State Conference. The birthplace was the Washington Duke Hotel inDurham, North Carolina, and the seven charter members were Appalachian, Atlantic Christian (now Barton College), Catawba, Guilford, Elon, High Point, and Lenoir–Rhyne.
The conference followed a policy of expansion for a period of time. Western Carolina became a member in 1933, East Carolina in 1947, Pfeiffer in 1960, Newberry in 1961, and Presbyterian in 1964, followed closely by Mars Hill.
With the acceptance of the first member from South Carolina in Newberry College, a name change became necessary. Thus on May 20, 1961 the official name of the conference was changed to theCarolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC) but commonly known less formally as theCarolinas Conference.
East Carolina resigned in 1962 to join theSouthern Conference and Appalachian and Western Carolina followed. Football sponsorship in the Carolinas Conference was dropped in 1975 when Lenoir–Rhyne, Newberry, Presbyterian, and Mars Hill joined theSouth Atlantic Conference.
Pembroke State University, now the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, became a first-time member in 1976 followed by Wingate College in 1979, and Lenoir–Rhyne re-joined in 1984.
While Guilford College withdrew in 1988, St. Andrews and Mount Olive were added that same year.
The 1989–90 academic year started a new era as Catawba, Elon, Lenoir–Rhyne and Wingate all withdrew to compete in the first year that the South Atlantic Conference provided championships in all sports, not just football.
The Carolinas Conference then added Belmont Abbey in 1989, Coker College (now Coker University) in 1991, and Lees-McRae in 1993. Pembroke State left in 1992.
The 1995–96 year brought dramatic change to the conference. First, full membership into NCAA Division II was acquired and NAIA affiliation dropped. Thus, this was the first official year of full competition and championship play for the conference in NCAA D-II status. Secondly, this was also the same year that Erskine, Longwood, and Queens were accepted as full members of the conference. With Longwood becoming the first Virginia member, another name change occurred and the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference (known more universally as the 'CVAC') was born.
Following the 1997 academic year High Point resigned to join the NCAA D-I ranks while in 1998 Limestone soon joined and were quickly followed by Anderson in 1999.
In 2003, Longwood University left the conference to explore possibilities inNCAA Division I. Then in 2005 the CVAC added Converse College (becoming Converse University in July 2021) as an affiliate member before becoming a full member starting in the 2007–08 season.
With the lone Virginia school in Longwood leaving, the league decided to go back to its roots and change its name to Conference Carolinas June 1, 2007.
On June 1, 2011, King College and North Greenville University became official members of the conference and opened the conference to its first Tennessee member in King.
In 2014–15, Emmanuel College (Georgia) and Southern Wesleyan University became official members of the conference (under provisional status) and opened the conference to its first Georgia member in Emmanuel. Southern Wesleyan began official full NCAA D-II membership in 2016–17 while Emmanuel started in 2018–19.
After 57 years as a league member Pfeiffer University moved down to the NCAA D-III ranks on June 1, 2017.
Conference Carolinas and theSouth Atlantic Conference 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 wrestling, with championships immediately conducted in both sports. The leagues agreed that CC would coordinate the wrestling championship, while the SAC would fill the same role for field hockey. Accordingly, all CC field hockey programs became de facto affiliates of the SAC, while SAC wrestling programs became de facto CC affiliates.[1] The CC–SAC alliance is officially branded as "South Atlantic Conference Carolinas".[2]
After the completion of the 2018–19 athletic year, former Commissioner Alan Patterson retired and was replaced by Chris Colvin. One of the first moves made by Colvin was to move the league headquarters to Greenville, South Carolina to be more centrally located to all member institutions.
The league now has 13 members, with the most recent changes taking place in 2021.Francis Marion University joined for the first time, and theUniversity of North Carolina at Pembroke returned after an absence of nearly 30 years.[3] They were the first public schools to join CC since Longwood's 2003 departure. The most recent departure from CC was that of Limestone College (now Limestone University), which moved to the SAC in 2020.[4]
Many institutions have been members of the league during its rich history including Anderson, Appalachian, Barton (formerly Atlantic Christian), Belmont Abbey, Catawba, Coker, Converse, East Carolina, Erskine, Emmanuel, Francis Marion, Guilford, Elon, High Point, King, Lees-McRae, Lenoir–Rhyne, Limestone, Longwood, Mars Hill, Mount Olive, Newberry, North Greenville, Pfeiffer, Presbyterian, Queens, St. Andrews, UNC Pembroke (both as Pembroke State and under its current name), Western Carolina and Wingate.
Barton is the only remaining charter member followed in longevity by Mount Olive's joining in 1988.
For the 2020–21 school year, CC addedacrobatics andtumbling, newly added to theNCAA Emerging Sports for Women program in that same school year, as its newest sport. Initially, five full members and one associate were to start competition,[5] but two more associates were added before competition began.[6]
The arrival of Francis Marion and return of UNC Pembroke were not the only changes to the conference membership in 2021. Converse admitted men to its residential undergraduate program for the first time, and also added men's sports. Converse initially planned to field seven teams,[7] but did not field the initially announced men's volleyball team.[8] Also in 2021–22, current SAC memberLincoln Memorial University added men's wrestling;[2]Emory & Henry College, which sponsors that sport, started a transition from Division III to Division II, joining the SAC (although it did not start full SAC competition until 2022–23);[9] andMars Hill University became an associate member in acrobatics & tumbling.[10] Emory & Henry and Lincoln Memorial became de facto CC affiliates as part of South Atlantic Conference Carolinas.
Also for the 2021–22 season, CC announced a partnership with theGreat Midwest Athletic Conference to conduct joint men's and women's bowling championship events (even though men's bowling is not considered a varsity sport by the NCAA). Each conference organizes its regular season independently, but the postseason is called Conference Carolinas/Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Bowling Championships. CC also announcedLincoln Memorial andTusculum as new affiliate members for bowling.[11][12]
In December 2021, CC and the SAC 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 continued to operate through the 2022–23 season. Initial plans were for both conferences to establish their own men's wrestling leagues,[13] but this changed in 2023, when the two conferences agreed that only CC would sponsor men's wrestling from 2023–24.[14]
On June 24, 2022, CC addedWingate as an acrobatics and tumbling affiliate starting with that program's first season in 2023–24.[15]
On January 26, 2023, CC announced the addition ofShorter University as its 15th member for 2024–25 school year. The addition of Shorter gave the Conference Carolinas its sixth football sponsoring institution, and accordingly that same day, it was also announced that the Conference Carolinas would begin sponsoring football in 2025. Sponsoring members would include Shorter and North Greenville, whose programs played in theGulf South Conference, Barton and Erskine, affiliates of theSouth Atlantic Conference, UNC Pembroke, affiliate of theMountain East Conference, and Chowan, up until 2022 was an affiliate of theCentral Intercollegiate Athletics Association. It was also announced that Chowan will begin affiliation with the Gulf South Conference for the 2023 and 2024 seasons and that Shorter will compete as aD-II football independent for the 2024 season, with Erskine switching affiliations from the SAC to the GSC that season only to take their place, in order to accommodate programs until league play can begin.[16][17] On April 5, 2024,Ferrum College was announced as the conference's 16th member, as well as its seventh football program for CC's inaugural football season.[18]
CC announced the addition of women'sflag football on July 2, 2024, with the first season to take place in 2025–26. Six schools were announced as the league's inaugural members—Chowan, Emmanuel, incoming member Ferrum, King, Lees–McRae, and Mount Olive.[19] Before the end of 2024, two more full CC members, Barton[20] and Erskine,[21] announced they would also add the sport in 2025–26. Then, on April 2, 2025, three affiliates were announced as joining CC flag football for its inaugural season—Mars Hill and Wingate, already CC affiliates in acrobatics & tumbling, plusDivision I memberMount St. Mary's.[22]
1995 – The CIAC had achieved full membership status within the NCAA Division II ranks, hence leaving the NAIA in the process, beginning the 1995–96 academic year.
1995 – The CIAC was rebranded as the Carolinas–Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) in the 1995–96 academic year.
1997 – High Point left the CVAC to join the NCAA Division II ranks as anNCAA D-II Independent (who would later join the NCAA Division I ranks and theBig South Conference beginning the 1999–2000 school year) after the 1996–97 academic year.
2003 – Longwood left the CVAC to join the NCAA Division II ranks as anNCAA D-II Independent after the 2002–03 academic year.
2005 –Converse College (now Converse University) joined the CVAC as an affiliate member for women’s cross country, soccer, tennis and volleyball in the 2005–06 academic year.
2007 – The CVAC was rebranded as the Conference Carolinas (CC) in the 2007–08 academic year.
2007 – Converse had upgraded to join the CVAC (now the CC) for all sports as a provisional member in the 2007–08 academic year.
2008 – Converse began full member competition within the NCAA Division II ranks and the CC in the 2008–09 academic year.
2010 – Anderson (S.C.) left the CC to join the SAC after the 2009–10 academic year.
2016 – Southern Wesleyan began full member competition within the NCAA Division II ranks and the CC in the 2016–17 academic year.
2016 –Chowan University joined the CC as an affiliate member for women's golf, and men's & women's lacrosse in the 2017 spring season (2016–17 academic year).[23]
2017 – Chowan added men's & women's soccer into its CC affiliate membership in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).[23]
2018 – Emmanuel (Ga.) began full member competition within the NCAA Division II ranks and the CC in the 2018–19 academic year.
2018 – Coker, Newberry and Queens (N.C.) rejoined the CC as affiliate members for field hockey and men's wrestling in the 2018–19 academic year.
2019:
Chowan had upgraded to join the CC for all sports in the 2019–20 academic year.
Salem University joined the CC as an affiliate member for men's and women's swimming & diving in the 2019–20 academic year.
2020:
Limestone left the CC to join the SAC after the 2019–20 academic year; while it would remain in the conference as an affiliate member for acrobatics and tumbling, field hockey and men's wrestling in the 2020–21 school year.
Two other institutions joined the CC as affiliate members (and/or added other single sports into their affiliate memberships), all effective in the 2020–21 academic year:
Lander University (with Coker rejoining) for acrobatics and tumbling
2021:
The CC added what it calls "Developmental Championships" for its members in 2021–22. The conference claims to be the first in the NCAA to sponsor sub-varsity championships.[24] According to CC, developmental teams consist of individuals who competed either sparingly or not at all at the varsity level in the season of the championship.[25] The first such championships were held in baseball, men's basketball, and men's & women's soccer.[26]
Francis Marion University joined and UNC Pembroke (formerly Pembroke State) rejoined the CC in the 2021–22 academic year.
Converse added men's sports into its athletic program, also effective beginning the 2021–22 academic year.
Four institutions joined the CC as affiliate members, all effective in the 2021–22 academic year:
Emory & Henry College (now Emory and Henry University) for men's wrestling, although it would later begin competition in the following school year
Three institutions left the CC as affiliate members (and/or removed other single sports from their affiliate memberships), all effective after the 2021–22 academic year:
Limestone for field hockey
Lincoln Memorial for men's bowling
and Queens started a transition to Division I as a new member of theAtlantic Sun Conference (ASUN), thus departing from its affiliate memberships in field hockey and men's wrestling.
Women's basketball was intended to be added to the CC developmental championships roster for 2022–23,[25] but no competition was held in that season.
2023:
Two institutions left the CC as affiliate members (and/or removed other single sports from their affiliate memberships), all effective after the 2022–23 academic year:
Wingate University joined the CC as an affiliate member for acrobatics and tumbling in the 2023–24 academic year:
The CC and the SAC dissolved their men's wrestling partnership after the 2022–23 season, agreeing that only the CC would sponsor that sport from 2023–24. Accordingly, the five full SAC members that sponsor the sport (Coker, Emory & Henry, Limestone, Lincoln Memorial, and Newberry) would officially become CC affiliates. Three new associates joined for that sport—Allen University,Bluefield State University, and theUniversity of Montevallo.[14]
Developmental championships in women's basketball, men's volleyball, and men's wrestling were added for 2023–24. The women's basketball championship was delayed from its originally announced 2022–23 schedule.[27]
2024:
Lincoln Memorial left CC as an affiliate member for women's bowling after the 2023–24 academic year.
CC added women's wrestling as a sponsored sport in collaboration with the SAC. Five new associates joined for that sport—Allen, Bluefield State, Emory and Henry, Lincoln Memorial and Newberry.
CC announced the addition of women's flag football as a sponsored sport, effective in 2025–26. Initially, then-current members Chowan, Emmanuel, King, Lees–McRae, and Mount Olive, plus incoming member Ferrum, would form the new league. Before the end of the year, two more full members, Barton and Erskine, announced they would add flag football and play in the new CC league in its first season.
2025:
Ferrum College joined CC beginning the 2025–26 academic year.
CC began sponsoring football again after 50 years, with sponsoring members Barton, Chowan, Erskine, Ferrum, North Greenville, Shorter and UNC Pembroke.
CC also added women's flag football as a sponsored sport, with sponsoring full members Barton, Chowan, Emmanuel, Erskine, Ferrum, King, Lees–McRae, and Mount Olive. Mars Hill and Wingate added flag football to their CC membership, and Mount St. Mary's also became an affiliate for that sport.
Limestone left the CC as an affiliate member for acrobatics & tumbling and men's wrestling at the end of the 2024–25 academic year; as the institution announced that it would cease operations.
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^Chowan competed in the CC as an affiliate member for women's golf, and men's & women's lacrosse in the 2017 spring season (2016–17 school year). Later it added men's & women's soccer to its CC affiliate membership in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 school year). Their final season as an affiliate within the CC occurred during the 2018–19 school year.
^Converse, traditionally a women's college, did not field men's sports until 2021–22, when it opened its residential undergraduate program to men for the first time. Converse is initially fielding six men's teams.
^Converse competed in the CC as an affiliate member for its women's sports (cross country, soccer, tennis and volleyball) from 2005–06 to 2006–07; before upgrading to join as a women's sports-based provisional member in the 2007–08 school year; before the school later began full NCAA D-II and CC competition for all sponsored sports in 2008–09.
^Emmanuel (Ga.) joined the CC as a provisional member in the 2014–15 school year; before the school later began full NCAA D-II and CC competition for all sponsored sports in 2018–19.
^Southern Wesleyan joined the CC as a provisional member in the 2014–15 school year; before the school later began full NCAA D-II and CC competition for all sponsored sports in 2016–17.
^UNC Pembroke had been a full conference member of the CC (then known as the CIAC) from 1976–77 to 1991–92 under its previous name ofPembroke State University.
A total of 19 schools are former CC members, with 15 of them beingprivate schools. School names and nicknames reflect those in use during the final year each institution was a member.
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
^abcAppalachian State, East Carolina, and Western Carolina did not become part of the University of North Carolina system until 1972, after all had left the conference.
When Barton became the sixth member to sponsor men's volleyball in 2011–12, Conference Carolinas became the fourth official scholarship-granting conference in NCAA men's volleyball. It also became the first all-sports conference (i.e., one that sponsors men's and women's basketball) ever to sponsor men's volleyball as a scholarship sport,[43] and is also the first men's volleyball conference to consist solely of Division II members. No D-I all-sports conference sponsored the sport until theBig West Conference launched a men's volleyball league in the 2018 season (2017–18 school year).
Conference Carolinas sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in the following sports:
A divisional format is used for men's & women's soccer, men's & women's basketball, softball and women's volleyball.
In men's wrestling and women's triathlon, Conference Carolinas and theSouth Atlantic Conference have operated as a single league known as South Atlantic Conference Carolinas (SACC), holding joint conference tournaments in each sport. SACC will start sponsoring women's wrestling in 2023–24. SACC also operated in field hockey until the two conferences agreed that only the SAC would sponsor that sport starting in 2022–23. As noted previously, the men's wrestling championship was operated by CC through 2022–23; initially, the SAC was to establish its own men's wrestling league, but the two conferences later agreed that only CC would sponsor that sport from 2023–24.
In bowling, Conferences Carolinas and theGreat Midwest Athletic Conference made a partnership to make a men's and women's bowling championship (even though men's bowling is not considered a varsity sport by the NCAA). Each conference will organize its regular season independently but the postseason will be called Conference Carolinas/Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Bowling Championships.
^De facto Division I sport. The NCAA operates a combined Division I/II championship in men's volleyball, and scholarship limits in that sport are the same for members of both divisions.
^Currently part of theNCAA Emerging Sports for Women program, but expected to become an official NCAA championship sport in 2026–27. It will become a de facto Division I sport at that time, with the championship open to members of all three divisions.
^abDe facto Division I sport. The NCAA operates single championship events in bowling and women's wrestling that are open to members of all three divisions.
^De facto Division I sport. The NCAA operates a single championship event in beach volleyball that is open to members of all three divisions. Schools in Divisions I and II operate under the same scholarship limits in both sports. Will be a part of Conference Carolinas as a joint conference with SAC in 2024.
^abDe facto South Atlantic Conference affiliate as part of South Atlantic Conference Carolinas.
^Francis Marion men's golf currently plays in Division I.
In addition to the above:
Belmont Abbey fields varsity teams in the non-NCAA sports of cycling (coeducational with men's and women's squads), men's bowling, and men's triathlon. It also considers its band, cheerleaders (male and female), and dance team (all-female) to be varsity athletes.
Chowan fields a coeducational esports team, and also considers its cheerleaders (male and female) to be varsity athletes.
Converse fields a coeducational esports team, and its equestrian program is also coeducational, although only women compete in NCAA-recognized events.
Emmanuel fields teams in four non-NCAA sports. Three teams are coeducational: archery (with men's and women's squads), bass fishing, and clay target shooting. The fourth is in men's bowling. It also considers its cheerleaders (male and female) to be varsity athletes.
Erskine fields a men's beach volleyball team, as well as coeducational teams in the non-NCAA sports of bass fishing and rodeo.
King fields a coeducational esports team, plus coeducational teams in the non-NCAA sports of cycling (men's and women's squads) and bass fishing. It also considers its cheerleaders (male and female) and dance team (all-female, though listed on its athletics website as coeducational) to be varsity athletes.
Lees–McRae fields a varsity team in the non-NCAA sport of cycling (coeducational with men's and women's squads). It also considers its cheerleaders (male and female) to be varsity athletes. Unlike other CC members that field esports teams, Lees–McRae treats its esports program as a club sport.
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