Get to Know the FCS, 2023: SoCon
Established: 1921
Headquarters: Spartanburg, South Carolina
Commissioner: Michael Cross
History
The Southern Conference, or SoCon, was established in 1921 after 14 members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) split from that conference. These charter members were Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Washington & Lee. In 1922 an additional 6 members—Florida, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt—would join, with 1922 being the first official year of play for the conference.
This early of a founding means that the SoCon is either the 3rd or 4th longest continuous running major athletic conference in the nation, depending on how you measure it. Only the Big Ten and Missouri Valley Conference are unquestionably older, with the Pac 12 claiming the history of Pacific Coast Conference which was formed in 1915 (although the Pac 12’s charter does not actually begin until 1959, and may very well not exist by the time you read this).
From 1922 to 1932, the conference would not officially recognize a conference champion, but it would begin to establish itself as the home of football powerhouses and legendary coaches. This would include the likes of Robert Neyland (Tennessee), Wallace Wade (Alabama), and William Alexander (Georgia Tech) all helping to shape the success of their respective programs.
During this time the conference would have anywhere from 20 to 23 members, and would see teams win 4 separate national championships (three of Alabama’s claims in 1925, 1926, and 1930, along with a national championship for Georgia Tech in 1928).
Following the 1932 season, the 13 teams in the conference west or south of the Appalachian Mountains—Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, University of the South (Sewanee), Tennessee, Tulane, and Vanderbilt—would leave the SoCon to form the Southeastern Conference (SEC). With this departure reducing the member count, the conference would begin naming conference champions each season.
Between 1933 and 1953, five teams would join the conference—The Citadel, Furman, George Washington, and Richmond in 1936, and West Virginia in 1950—while one additional team, UVA, would depart. It wouldn’t be until 1953 that the second major shift in the SoCon would occur, with seven more schools (Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Wake Forest) withdrawing to form the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
From 1954 through the split of Division I into I-A and I-AA in 1978, the conference would see the addition of East Carolina, Appalachian State, Chattanooga, Marshall, Western Carolina, and East Tennessee State. In that same time period, it would also see the departure of Virginia Tech, West Virginia, George Washington, East Carolina, Richmond, and William & Mary.
The conference during this time would always compete in the highest division of college football at the time, being a member of the University Division upon the initial split into two division in 1956, and then a Division I member when the NCAA further divided into three divisions in 1973. It wouldn’t be until the forced relegations that came in 1982 that the SoCon (which had initially remained I-A after the subdivision split) would finally drop down to I-AA.
After the shift down to I-AA, it would be 6 years before the SoCon won the first of its eight I-AA/FCS national championships, when Furman beat I-AA independent Georgia Southern in Pocatello, Idaho to win the 1988 I-AA championship. Georgia Southern would subsequently go on to join the SoCon in 1991.
After winning a pair of national championships in 1991 and 1996, Marshall would depart the conference for I-A in 1997, which left an opening that Wofford took that same year. The departure of Marshall would also open up an opportunity for Georgia Southern, who would go on to win a pair of national championships in 1999 and 2000.
2003 would see the addition of Elon and the departure of VMI, as well as ETSU deciding to stop playing football altogether. The conference would also see the addition of Samford in 2008. It was during this time period that Appalachian State would go on their own national championship run, winning three in a row from 2005-2007. This would be the last time, to-date, that the SoCon would win a national championship or make it to the Championship game.
The last major shift in the conference occurred between 2013 and 2015. 2013 would bring with it the departure of three football members: Appalachian State and Georgia Southern to the FBS, and Elon to the CAA. To backfill, the SoCon would invite in Mercer, and VMI and ETSU would rejoin, with ETSU announcing the restart of their football program in 2015. The conference has been stable in its current incarnation since that point.
Membership
Current Members
The SoCon currently consists of 9 teams sponsoring FCS football. The tenth member of the conference, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, offers football only at the club level.
Former Members
The SoCon has had 33 former football members, including 11 current members of the SEC, and half of the ACC, and even a member of the Big Ten (Maryland).
Conference Success and Strength
Conference Championships
FCS National Championships
The SoCon as a conference holds claim to 8 national championships at the FCS level. Of these, Furman’s win in 1988 is the only one by a team still playing in the conference.
Posted Aug 7, 2023, 8:24 PM UTC