Southern Athletic Association
| Association | NCAA |
|---|---|
| Founded | Chartered: 2011 Began play: 2012 |
| Commissioner | Stacey LaDew |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division III |
| No. of teams | 8 + 2 football-only affiliates (9 in 2026–27) |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Official website | saa-sports.com |
| Locations | |
Current members
Future members
The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (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]
History
Chronological timeline
- 2011 – The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) was founded, whose charter members include seven member schools that were competing for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC): (Birmingham–Southern College, Centre College, Hendrix College, Millsaps College, Oglethorpe University, Rhodes College and Sewanee: The University of the South), and NCAA Division III independent Berry College, with competition to begin effective in the 2012–13 academic year.
- 2015 – The University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis joined the SAA as affiliate members for football in the 2015 fall season (2015–16 school year).
- 2017
- Chicago and Washington (MO) left the SAA as affiliate members for football after the 2016 fall season (2016–17 school year).
- Austin College and Trinity University joined the SAA as affiliate members for football in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 school year).
- 2021
- Austin College left the SAA as an affiliate member for football after the 2020 fall season (2020–21 school year).
- Southwestern University of Texas joined the SAA as an affiliate member for football, beginning the 2023 fall season (2023-24 school year).
- 2023 – Trinity University and Southwestern University of Texas announced they would join the SAA as full members, beginning in the fall of 2025.[2]
- 2024
- Birmingham–Southern closed at the end of the 2023–24 school year (more precisely, on May 31).[3]
- Hendrix announced it would return to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) after the 2024–25 school year.[4]
- Maryville College was accepted to the SAA as a full member, to join during the fall of 2026. Maryville's football and women's golf joined SAA competition for the fall of 2025 as an associate member.[5]
Member schools
Every member in the history of the SAA, whether current, former, full, or associate, has been a private school.
Full members
Current full members
The SAA currently has eight full members.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Endowment | Nickname | Joined[a] | Colors | Football? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berry College | Mount Berry, Georgia | 1902 | Nondenominational | 2,367[6] | $1,261,304,000 | Vikings | 2012 | Yes | ||
| Centre College | Danville, Kentucky | 1819 | Presbyterian | 1,400[7] | $ 391,321,000 | Colonels | 2012 | Yes | ||
| Millsaps College | Jackson, Mississippi | 1890 | United Methodist | 700[8] | $81,847,000 | Majors | 2012 | Yes | ||
| Oglethorpe University | Atlanta, Georgia | 1835 | Nondenominational | 1,494[9] | $462,795,000 | Stormy Petrels | 2012 | No | ||
| Rhodes College | Memphis, Tennessee | 1848 | Presbyterian | 2,070[10] | $406,964,000 | Lynx | 2012 | Yes | ||
| Sewanee: The University of the South | Sewanee, Tennessee | 1857 | Episcopal | 1,735[11] | $462,795,000 | Tigers | 2012 | Yes | ||
| Southwestern University | Georgetown, Texas | 1840 | United Methodist | 1,536 | $255,955,000 | Pirates | 2025 | Yes | Southern Collegiate (SCAC) | |
| Trinity University | San Antonio, Texas | 1869 | Nonsectarian[b] | 2,759[12] | $1,856,100,000 | Tigers | 2025 | Yes | Southern Collegiate (SCAC) |
- Notes
- ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
- ^ Partially affiliated with the Presbyterian Church.
Future full members
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Endowment | Nickname | Joining[a] | Colors | Football | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryville College | Maryville, Tennessee | 1819 | Presbyterian (PCUSA) |
1,103 | $93,100,000 | Scots | 2026[b] | Yes | CCS |
- Notes
Former full members
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Nickname | Joined[a] | Left[b] | Colors | Football? | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham–Southern College | Birmingham, Alabama | 1856 | United Methodist | Panthers | 2012 | 2024 | Yes | Closed in 2024 | |
| Hendrix College | Conway, Arkansas | 1876 | United Methodist | Warriors | 2012 | 2025 | Yes | Southern Collegiate (SCAC) |
- Notes
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.[13] 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.[14]
On November 18, 2015, Trinity University and Austin College announced they would affiliate with the SAA for football, renewing a relationship that was lost when the SAA split from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.[15] 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.[16]
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.[17] On March 9, 2023, the SAA announced that Southwestern University and Trinity University will join the SAA as full members in 2025.[2]
Current affiliate members
The SAA currently has one affiliate member, which will become a full member in 2026.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined[a] | Colors | SAA sport |
Primary conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryville College | Maryville, Tennessee | 1819 | Presbyterian (PCUSA) |
1,103 | Scots | 2025 | football women's golf |
CCS (primary) |
- Notes
- ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
Former affiliate members
Five schools have been SAA affiliate members but have since either left the conference or upgraded to full membership.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined[a] | Left[b] | Colors | SAA sport |
Primary conference |
Conference in former SAA sport |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin College | Sherman, Texas | 1849 | Presbyterian | 1,278 | 'Roos | 2017 | 2021 | football | Southern (SCAC) | American Southwest (ASC) | |
| University of Chicago | Chicago, Illinois | 1890 | Non-denominational | 5,134 | Maroons | 2015 | 2017 | University (UAA) | Midwest (MWC) | ||
| Southwestern University | Georgetown, Texas | 1840 | United Methodist | 1,507 | Pirates | 2023 | 2025 | football | SAA | ||
| Trinity University | San Antonio, Texas | 1869 | Nonsectarian[c] | 2,759[12] | Tigers | 2017 | 2025 | football | SAA | ||
| Washington University in St. Louis | St. Louis, Missouri | 1853 | Nonsectarian | 5,997 | Bears | Illinois–Wisconsin (CCIW) | |||||
- Notes
- ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
- ^ Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
- ^ Partially affiliated with the Presbyterian Church.
Membership timeline
Full member Full member except football Associate member for football Other conference
Sports
The Southern Athletic Association sponsors 11 men's sports and 12 women's sports. The members mostly sponsor all the sports in the conference except that Oglethorpe University does not have a football team.
| Sport | Men's | Women's |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball | 7 | - |
| Basketball | 7 | 7 |
| Cross country | 7 | 7 |
| Football | 8 | - |
| Golf | 7 | 7 |
| Lacrosse | 7 | 7 |
| Soccer | 7 | 7 |
| Softball | - | 7 |
| Swimming & diving | 7 | 7 |
| Tennis | 7 | 7 |
| Indoor track & field | 7 | 7 |
| Outdoor track & field | 7 | 7 |
| Volleyball | - | 7 |
References
- ^ "Eight Division III Southeastern Colleges Form Southern Athletic Association". Rhodes College. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
- ^ a b "SAA Welcomes Southwestern University and Trinity University (Texas) as Full-time Members" (Press release). Southern Athletic Association. March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
- ^ Taylor, Drew; McQueen, Maddie. "Birmingham-Southern College closing its doors May 31". CBS 42. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
- ^ "Hendrix College Announces Return to SCAC in 2025". Hendrix College Athletics. June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
- ^ "Maryville College Approved for Full SAA Membership". saa-sports.com. SAA. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ^ "BERRY QUICK FACTS". Berry College. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "ABOUT CENTRE COLLEGE". Centre College. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "About Millsaps". Millsaps College. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ McCray, Vanessa (November 28, 2022). "How some Georgia colleges defy trend toward enrollment drops". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "About Rhodes". Rhodes College. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "SEWANEE AT A GLANCE". Sewanee University. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ a b Perez, Danya (November 1, 2022). "San Antonio's big universities recover enrollment — but most smaller ones still have post-pandemic blues". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "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" (Press release). Retrieved December 21, 2015.
- ^ "'Roo Football to Join ASC as Affiliate Member" (Press release). 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" (Press release). August 19, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.