Southern Athletic Association
Southern Athletic Association | |
---|---|
SAA | |
Established | Chartered: 2011 Began play: 2012 |
Association | NCAA |
Division | Division III |
Members | 8 (+2 football-only affiliates) |
Sports fielded |
|
Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
Commissioner | Jay Gardiner |
Website | www |
Locations | |
The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) is a college athletic conference in NCAA Division III that began play in the 2012–13 school year. It was formed in 2011 by seven former members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and independent Berry College.[1]
Member schools[]
Full members[]
Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Colors | Football? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Berry College | Mount Berry, Georgia | 1902 | Private/Non-denominational | 1,937 | Vikings | Yes | |
Birmingham–Southern College | Birmingham, Alabama | 1856 | Private/United Methodist | 1,600 | Panthers | Yes | |
Centre College | Danville, Kentucky | 1819 | Private/Presbyterian | 1,415 | Colonels | Yes | |
Hendrix College | Conway, Arkansas | 1876 | Private/United Methodist | 1,400 | Warriors | Yes | |
Millsaps College | Jackson, Mississippi | 1890 | Private/United Methodist | 1,146 | Majors | Yes | |
Oglethorpe University | Atlanta, Georgia | 1835 | Private/Non-denominational | 1,000 | Stormy Petrels | No | |
Rhodes College | Memphis, Tennessee | 1848 | Private/Presbyterian | 2,000 | Lynx | Yes | |
Sewanee: The University of the South | Sewanee, Tennessee | 1857 | Private/Episcopal | 1,384 | Tigers | Yes |
Affiliate members[]
Two schools, the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), announced their intention to become affiliate members of the conference for football, effective in 2015. Both are members of the University Athletic Association (UAA), which at the time had a football scheduling alliance with the North 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.[2] WashU will maintain its football affiliation with the UAA for the 2017 season before joining the College 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 the Midwest Conference in 2017.[3]
On November 18, 2015, Trinity University (Texas) and Austin College announced [4] they would affiliate with the SAA for football, renewing a relationship that was lost when the SAA split from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. 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 the American Southwest Conference as a football-only affiliate beginning with the 2021 season, committing to at least four years as an affiliate. [5]
On August 19, 2021, the conference announced that Southwestern 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.[6]
Current[]
Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Colors | SAA sport | Primary conference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trinity University | San Antonio, Texas | 1869 | Private/Presbyterian (covenant) | 2,353 | Tigers | 2017 | Football | SCAC |
Future[]
Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Colors | SAA sport | Primary conference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Southwestern University | Georgetown, Texas | 1840 | Private | 1,507 | Pirates | 2023 | Football | SCAC |
Former affiliate members[]
Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Colors | SAA sport |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
University of Chicago | Chicago, Illinois | 1890 | Private/Non-denominational | 5,134 | Maroons | 2015 | 2016 | Football | |
Washington University in St. Louis | St. Louis, Missouri | 1853 | Private | 5,997 | Bears | 2015 | 2016 | Football | |
Austin College | Sherman, Texas | 1849 | Private/Presbyterian | 1,278 | 'Roos | 2017 | 2021 | Football |
Membership timeline[]
Blue = Full member, Green = Full member except football, Red = Associate member for football
References[]
- ^ "Eight Division III Southeastern Colleges Form Southern Athletic Association". Rhodes College. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
- ^ "Wash U, Chicago already leaving SAA". [d3football.com]. June 12, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
- ^ "UChicago football set to join Midwest Conference as affiliate member in 2017" (Press release). Athletics & Recreation, The University of Chicago. May 11, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- ^ "Austin College; Trinity Accept Football Affiliate Membership Offer from SAA". Retrieved December 21, 2015.
- ^ "'Roo Football to Join ASC as Affiliate Member". Austin College Athletics. August 13, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "SAA announces that Southwestern University will join the league as an affiliate member in football". August 19, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
External links[]
- Southern Athletic Association
- 2011 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)