South Atlantic Conference

South Atlantic Conference (SAC)
Established	1975
Association	NCAA
Division	Division II
Members	12 (11 in 2017)
Sports fielded	18 (20 in 2017) (men's: 9 (10 in 2017); women's: 9 (10 in 2017))
Region	Southeastern United States
Headquarters	Rock Hill, South Carolina
Commissioner	Patrick Britz (since 2008)
Website	thesac.com
Locations

The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the southeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division II level. 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 nine sports for men (football, cross country, soccer, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, outdoor track & field, tennis and golf) and nine sports for women (volleyball, cross country, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, outdoor track & field, softball, tennis and golf).

History

The distant forerunner of the South Atlantic Conference was the North State Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NSIAC). The NSIAC was formed when the "Little Six", as it was called, broke from the North Carolina Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1930. These charter members included such as Appalachian 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), and High Point College (now High Point University).

The North State continued to grow over the next 30 years, adding Western Carolina University (1933), East Carolina University (1947) and Pfeiffer College (now Pfeiffer University) (1960). A name change became necessary when the league accepted Newberry College as its first member from the state of South Carolina in 1961. The league took on the name Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC) on May 20th 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 the Southern Conference (SoCon).

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

The SAC-8 consisted of Carson–Newman College (now Carson–Newman University), Catawba College, Elon College, Gardner–Webb College (now Gardner–Webb University), Lenoir–Rhyne College, Mars Hill College (now Mars Hill University), Newberry College, and Presbyterian 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, when Wingate 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 was admitted as a member of the league, and Lincoln 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 and Queens University of Charlotte joined the conference.^[1]

Member schools

Charter members

Newberry College left the SAC in 1989 (as a football member), and re-joined in 1996 (as an all-sport member). Wingate replaced Newberry College as the final member for the birth of the all-sport SAC in 1989. Former members Elon, Gardner–Webb, and Presbyterian were charter members of both the SAC-8 football era and the SAC all-sport era.

Current members

• Brevard College — will join the NCAA Division III USA South Athletic Conference in 2017.^[2][3]

Former members

Membership timeline

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

Sports

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Football	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Lacrosse	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track & Field Outdoor	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Tennis	Track & Field Outdoor	Total SAC Sports
Anderson	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	Y	Y	7
Brevard	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Carson–Newman	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	8
Catawba	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		8
Coker	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Lenoir–Rhyne	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Lincoln Memorial	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Mars Hill	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Newberry	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y		7
Queens		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Tusculum	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		8
Wingate	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Totals	11	12	12	8	12	9	12	12	9	97

• SAC — Track & Field Indoor (M) begins in 2017.^[4]
• Tusculum — Track & Field Outdoor (M) begins play in 2017.^[5]

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & Field Outdoor	Volleyball	Total SAC Sports
Anderson	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Brevard	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Carson–Newman	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Catawba	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	8
Coker	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Lenoir–Rhyne	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Lincoln Memorial	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Mars Hill	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Newberry	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	8
Queens	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Tusculum	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	8
Wingate	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Totals	12	12	12	9	12	12	12	9	12	102

• SAC — Track & Field Indoor (W) begins in 2017.
• Mars Hill — Lacrosse (W) begins play in 2017.^[6]
• Tusculum — Track & Field Outdoor (W) begins play in 2017.

Other sponsored sports by school

• ^‡ — D-I sport
• Queens (IND) — Volleyball (M) begins play in 2017.^[7]

Conference stadia and arenas

References

External links

• Official website

NCAA Division II
Atlantic	Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Mountain East Conference Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Independent — Bluefield State College
Central	Great American Conference Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
East	Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference East Coast Conference Northeast-10 Conference
Midwest	Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Great Lakes Valley Conference Great Midwest Athletic Conference Independent — Oakland City University Salem International University
South	Gulf South Conference Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Sunshine State Conference Independent — Auburn University at Montgomery
South Central	Heartland Conference Lone Star Conference Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Southeast	Conference Carolinas Peach Belt Conference South Atlantic Conference
West	California Collegiate Athletic Association Great Northwest Athletic Conference Pacific West Conference
Division II	Independents ECAC Division II Lacrosse League
NCAA	Conferences Institutions Baseball (Championship) Basketball (Men, Women) Cross Country (Men, Women) Field Hockey (Championship) Football (Championship) Golf (Men, Women) Lacrosse (Men, Women) Rowing (Championship) Soccer (Men, Women) Softball (Championship) Swimming & Diving (Men, Women) Tennis (Men, Women) Track & Field (Men's indoor and outdoor, Women's indoor and outdoor) Volleyball (Championship) Wrestling (Championship) Discontinued — Ice Hockey (Championship)

NCAA Division II football conferences
Super Region 1	Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Mountain East Conference Northeast-10 Conference Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
Super Region 2	Gulf South Conference South Atlantic Conference Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Independent — Limestone College University of North Carolina at Pembroke North Greenville University
Super Region 3	Great American Conference Great Northwest Athletic Conference Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
Super Region 4	Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Great Lakes Valley Conference Lone Star Conference Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Division II	Great Midwest Athletic Conference Independents
NCAA	Conferences Institutions Football (Championship)