South Atlantic Conference

Association	NCAA
Founded	1975
Commissioner	Patrick Britz (since 2008)
Sports fielded	20 men's: 10 women's: 10
Division	Division II
No. of teams	12
Headquarters	Rock Hill, South Carolina
Region	Southeastern United States
Official website	thesac.com
Locations

TheSouth Atlantic Conference (SAC) is acollege athletic conference affiliated with theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at theDivision II level, which operates in thesoutheastern 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).

South Atlantic Conference

120km
75miles

Anderson

Emory & Henry

UVA Wise

Wingate

Tusculum

Newberry

Mars Hill

Lincoln Memorial

Lenoir–Rhyne

Coker

Catawba

Carson–Newman

   

Location of SAC members: current

The distant forerunner of theSouth Atlantic Conference was theNorth State Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NSIAC). The NSIAC was formed when the "Little Six", as it was called, broke from theNorth Carolina Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1930. The charter members includedAppalachian 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), andHigh Point College (now High Point University).

The North State continued to grow over the next 30 years, addingWestern Carolina University (1933),East Carolina University (1947) andPfeiffer College (now Pfeiffer University; 1960). A name change became necessary when the league acceptedNewberry College as its first member from the state ofSouth Carolina in 1961. The league took on the nameCarolinas 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 theSouthern Conference (SoCon).

TheSouth Atlantic Conference was founded in 1975 solely as a football conference. The league received its name from a contest in which Kurt Brenneman ofGreensboro, North Carolina became the first to submit the SAC-8 moniker.

The SAC-8 consisted ofCarson–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, andPresbyterian 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, whenWingate 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, andLincoln 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) andQueens 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 becameLimestone University.^[3]

The SAC andConference 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, now a university, then in the Division IIIOld 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 IAtlantic 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]

Starting in 2023–24, the SACC men's wrestling league was dissolved. Originally the intent was for the SAC and CC to each begin their own wrestling league; however, all the SAC schools that sponsored wrestling instead became CC affiliates in that sport. At the same time, SACC added women's wrestling and beach volleyball.^[9]

• 1975 – The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) was founded as a football-only conference. Charter members includedCarson–Newman College (now Carson–Newman University),Catawba College,Elon College (now Elon University),Gardner–Webb College (now Gardner–Webb University),Lenoir–Rhyne College (now Lenoir–Rhyne University),Mars Hill College (now Mars Hill University),Newberry College andPresbyterian College, beginning the 1975 fall season (1975–76 academic year).
• 1989:
  • Newberry left the SAC-8 after the 1988 fall season (1988–89 academic year).
  • The SAC-8 added more sports to be a full-fledged multi-sport athletic conference, beginning the 1989–90 academic year.
  • Wingate College (now Wingate University) joined the SAC (while replacing Newberry) in the 1989–90 academic year.
• 1996 – Newberry returned to the SAC as an all-sports member in the 1996–97 academic year.
• 1997 – Elon left the SAC to join theDivision I ranks of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as anNCAA D-I Independent (which would later join theBig South Conference as a provisional member, beginning the 1999–2000 school year) after the 1996–97 academic year.
• 1998 –Tusculum College (now Tusculum University) joined the SAC in the 1998–99 academic year.
• 2000 – Gardner–Webb left the SAC to join the NCAA Division I ranks as anNCAA D-I Independent (which would later join theAtlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) as a provisional member, beginning the 2002–03 school year) after the 1999–2000 academic year.
• 2006 –Lincoln Memorial University joined the SAC effective in the 2006–07 academic year.
• 2007:
  • Presbyterian left the SAC to join the NCAA Division I ranks and the Big South (as a provisional member) after the 2006–07 academic year.
  • Brevard College joined the SAC (as a provisional member) in the 2007–08 academic year.
• 2010 –Anderson University joined the SAC in the 2010–11 academic year.
• 2013 –Coker College (now Coker University) andQueens University joined the SAC in the 2013–14 academic year.
• 2017:
  • Brevard left the SAC to join theNCAA Division III ranks and theUSA South Athletic Conference (USA South) after the 2016–17 academic year.
  • Limestone College (now Limestone University) joined the SAC as an affiliate member for football in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).
• 2018 – Effective with the 2018–19 academic year, the SAC andConference Carolinas (CC) established a partnership known as "South Atlantic Conference Carolinas" (SACC) for field hockey and men's wrestling. Under the partnership, the SAC operated the joint field hockey championship, with CC filling the same role for men's wrestling. Accordingly,Belmont Abbey College andConverse College (now Converse University) joined the SAC as affiliate members for field hockey at that time. Limestone added that sport to its SAC affiliate membership.
• 2019:
  • TheUniversity of Virginia's College at Wise (UVA Wise) joined the SAC in the 2019–20 academic year.
  • TheUniversity of Mount Olive joined the SAC as an affiliate member for field hockey in the 2019 fall season (2019–20 academic year), while under the SACC partnership.
• 2020 – Limestone upgraded to become a full SAC member for all sports in the 2020–21 academic year.
• 2022:
  • Queens left the SAC to join the NCAA Division I ranks and theAtlantic Sun Conference (then known as the ASUN Conference) after the 2021–22 academic year.
  • Emory and Henry College (now Emory and Henry University) joined the SAC as a full member in the 2022–23 academic year.
  • Barton College andErskine College joined the SAC as affiliates members for football in the 2022 fall season (2022–23 academic year).
  • Effective with the 2022–23 academic year, field hockey became no longer part of the SACC partnership, with that sport now being fully governed by the SAC. The existing CC field hockey schools continued to compete as SAC affiliates. At the same time, women's triathlon was placed under the SACC umbrella.
• 2023 – Effective with the 2023–24 academic year, the SACC men's wrestling league was dissolved. Originally the intent was for the SAC and CC to each begin their own wrestling league; however, all the SAC schools that sponsored wrestling instead became CC affiliates in that sport. At the same time, SACC added women's wrestling and beach volleyball.
• 2024 – Erskine left the SAC as an affiliate member for football, but joined as an affiliate member for beach volleyball, along withEmmanuel University, both effective in the 2024–25 academic year.
• 2025:
  • Limestone left the SAC at the end of the 2024–25 academic year; as the institution announced that it will cease operations.
  • Barton left the SAC as an affiliate member for football, but joined as an affiliate member for field hockey, all beginning in the 2025–26 academic year.

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 12 full members, with all but one beingprivate schools.

Notes

The SAC currently has seven affiliate members, sixprivate schools and onepublic school.

Notes

The SAC has six former full members, allprivate schools.

Notes

The SAC had had two former affiliate members, bothprivate schools.

Notes

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

Conference sports

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	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	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	9
Emory & Henry	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Lenoir–Rhyne	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Lincoln Memorial	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	9
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	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	Y	11
Totals	12	12	12	10	12	9	11	6	12	10	11	128+1

School	Basketball	Beach Volleyball	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	Y	11
Catawba	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
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
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	Y	10
UVA Wise	Y		Y		Y	Y		Y		Y			Y	7
Wingate	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Totals	12	4+2	12	3+5	12	11	11	12	6	12	10	11	12	137
Affiliate Members
Barton				Y										1
Belmont Abbey				Y										1
Converse				Y										1
Emmanuel		Y												1
Erskine		Y												1
Lander				Y										1
Mount Olive				Y										1

In addition to the above:

• Anderson and Tusculum treat their male and female cheerleaders as varsity athletes.
• Carson–Newman and Limestone treat their female cheerleaders (though not their male cheerleaders) and all-female dance teams as varsity athletes.
• Catawba treats its male and female cheerleaders and all-female dance team as varsity athletes. The school also sponsors a coeducational varsity eSports team.
• Coker has a coeducational varsity eSports team.
• Emory & Henry treats its cheerleaders and dancers as varsity athletes without regard to gender. The school's equestrian program is coeducational, and has chosen to not affiliate with the NCAA emerging sport status. Instead, E&H riders compete in the Intercollegiate Dressage Association (IDA) andIntercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA).
• Lenoir–Rhyne treats its male and female cheerleaders and all-female dance team as varsity athletes.
• Mars Hill sponsors a varsity cycling team, with separate men's and women's squads.

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