The Mid-South Conference also has six associate members that compete primarily in other conferences. Faulkner, Kentucky Christian, Union Commonwealth and recently former member Bluefield are associate members of the MSC for football and men's volleyball, and Reinhardt is an associate member of the MSC for football and men's volleyball. This gave the conference 13 members for football. In the spring of 2016, the conference expanded to 20 members, adding the six football members of the Sun Conference, as well as Faulkner University for football,[1] On January 4, 2018, the conference added Keiser University for football,[2] and St. Thomas announced in July they were joining the conference for football in 2019.[3] Another Sun Conference member, Florida Memorial in Miami Gardens, Florida, joined the MSC as an affiliate member for football in 2020, after re-adding the sport.[4]
History
Mid-South Conference
150km 100miles
Campbellsville
Freed–Hardeman
Bethel
Lindsey Wilson
Cumberland
Georgetown
Cumberlands
Location of Mid-South members: current
In April 2018, Thomas More University (then Thomas More College), which had been an NAIA member before moving to NCAA Division III in 1990, announced that it had been formally invited to re-join the NAIA in the 2019–20 academic year as a member of the Mid-South Conference. The school, while acknowledging that it was considering this move, denied published reports that it had accepted the invitation.[5] Thomas More eventually confirmed in July that it would join the Mid-South in 2019.[6]
In 2020, Bethel University became a Mid-South full member, brought track and field back to the MSC, and transferred all sports other than football and archery to the conference (prior to that, Bethel was an associate member of the MSC for football and archery only); additionally, Freed–Hardeman and UT Southern, then known as Martin Methodist College, also joined Mid-South.[7]
Most recently, Thomas More announced in August 2021 that it would return to the NCAA, but this time in Division II as a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). It joined the G-MAC as a provisional member in July 2022, but continued as an NAIA member and in the Mid-South through 2022–23, after which it started G-MAC competition.[9] Later, the Sun Conference announced on December 22, 2021, that it would reinstate football starting with the 2022 season.[10] Then in July 2022, the Appalachian Athletic Conference announced it would add football as a sponsored sport.[11]
Chronological timeline
1987 – The Mid-South Conference (MSC) was founded as a football-only conference. Charter members included Campbellsville College (now Campbellsville University), Cumberland College of Kentucky (now the University of the Cumberlands), Georgetown College and Union College (now Union Commonwealth University), beginning the 1987 fall season (1987–88 academic year).
1988 – The University of Evansville joined the conference in the 1988 fall season (1988–89 academic year).
1991 – Cumberland College and Tennessee Wesleyan departed from the conference after the 1990 fall season (1990–91 academic year).
1991 – Tusculum University joined the Mid-South in the 1991 fall season (1991–92 academic year).
1992 – Evansville left the Mid-South after the 1991 fall season (1991–92 academic year).
1995 – The Mid-South became a multi-sport conference. North Greenville College (now North Greenville University) joined the conference beginning the 1995–96 academic year, while Bethel College of Tennessee joined as an affiliate member for football (with Cumberland College rejoining as well).
1996 – Tusculum departed from the conference as a football affiliate after the 1995 fall season (1995–96 academic year).
1996 – Cumberland College and Lambuth moved their other sports to the Mid-South as full members for the 1996–97 academic year.
1997 – Bethel (Tenn.) left the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football after the 1996 fall season (1996–97 academic year).
2002 – Two institutions left the Mid-South as full members to join their respective new home primary conferences: Cumberland (Tenn.) to the TranSouth Athletic Conference (TranSouth or TSAC), and Union (Ky.) to the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), while they remained in the conference as affiliate members for football and some Olympic sports after the 2001–02 academic year.
2003 – Kentucky Wesleyan rejoined the MSC as an affiliate member for football in the 2004 fall season (2004–05 academic year).
2004 – The University of Virginia's College at Wise (UVA Wise) joined the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football with Bethel (Tenn.) rejoining for football and some Olympic sports in the 2003 fall season (2003–04 academic year).
2006 – Lambuth left the Mid-South as a full member, while remaining in the conference as an affiliate member for football after the 2005–06 academic year.
2010 – Lambuth left the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football after the 2009 fall season (2009–10 academic year).
2010 – Shawnee State University joined the Mid-South (with UVA Wise joining for all sports) in the 2010–11 academic year.
2012 – West Virginia Tech left the Mid-South to become an NAIA Independent (which would later join the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC; now known as the River States Conference) beginning the 2015–16 academic year) after the 2011–12 academic year.
2012 – Bluefield College (now Bluefield University) joined the Mid-South (with Cumberland (Tenn.) rejoining for all sports) in the 2012–13 academic year.
2013 – UVA Wise left the Mid-South and the NAIA entirely to fully align with the NCAA Division II ranks, while joining the Mountain East Conference after spending provisionally one season in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) after the 2012–13 academic year.
2014 – Bluefield left the Mid-South as a full member to rejoin the AAC, while remaining in the conference as an affiliate member for football and some Olympic sports after the 2013–14 academic year.
2014 – Rio Grande left the Mid-South to join the KIAC after the 2013–14 academic year.
2014 – Life University joined the Mid-South in the 2014–15 academic year.
2016 – St. Catherine's left the Mid-South as the school announced that it would close after the 2015–16 academic year.
2020 – Freed–Hardeman University and Martin Methodist College (now the University of Tennessee Southern) joined the Mid-South (with Bethel (Tenn.) joining for all sports) in the 2020–21 academic year.
2022 – Thomas More returned to the NCAA, but in the NCAA Division II ranks and joined the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) as a provisional member in the 2022–23 academic year. Until then, they would remain committed in the Mid-South and the NAIA, until full membership in the G-MAC and NCAA D-II would begin in the 2023–24 academic year.
2023 – Four institutions left the Mid-South to join their respective new home primary conferences: Shawnee State to the RSC, Pikeville (UPike) to the AAC, UT Southern going back to the SSAC, and Wilberforce as an NAIA Independent, all beginning the 2023–24 academic year.
Member schools
Current members
The Mid-South currently has seven full members, all are private schools:
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^Bethel (TN) left the Mid-South after the 1996 fall season (1996–97 season) for football; later re-joined in the 2003 fall season (2003–04 school year). It also added archery during the 2017–18 school year. In the 2020 fall season (2020–21 school year), Bethel moved track & field back to the Mid-South after initially joining as an affiliate from 2007–08 to 2012–13, and transferred all other sports to the conference as a full member.
^Cumberland (TN) left the Mid-South after the 2001–02 school year to join the TranSouth Athletic Conference (TranSouth); before re-joining the Mid-South, which transferred all other sports to the conference as a full member in the 2012–13 school year
Affiliate members
The Mid-South currently has 23 associate members, all are private schools:
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^Ave Maria competed in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football from the 2017 to 2021 fall seasons (2017–18 to 2021–22 school years).
^Bluefield was a full member of the Mid-South from 2012–13 to 2013–14.
^Bluefield competed in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football from the 2014 to 2021 fall seasons (2014–15 to 2021–22 school years).
^Brewton–Parker competed in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's volleyball during the 2019 spring season (2018–19 school year).
^Kentucky Christian competed in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for baseball and softball from the 2018 to 2019 spring seasons (2017–18 to 2018–19 school years; and for football from the 2009 to 2021 fall seasons (2009–10 to 2021–22 school years).
^Marian (Ind.) competed in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's and women's bowling from 2019–20 to 2020–21.
^Reinhardt competed in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football from the 2013 to 2021 fall seasons (2013–14 to 2021–22 school years).
^Rio Grande was a full member of the Mid-South from 2009–10 to 2013–14.
^Rio Grande competed in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's and women's swimming during the 2020–21 school year.
^St. Andrews competed in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's wrestling from 2015–16 to 2016–17; and for football from the 2017 to 2021 fall seasons (2017–18 to 2021–22 school years).
^Truett McConnell competed in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's wrestling from 2015–16 to 2016–17.
^Formerly known as Union College until 2024; Union (Ky.) was a full member of the Mid-South from 1995–96 to 2001–02.
^Union (Ky.) competed in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football from the 1987 to 1994 and 2002 to 2021 fall seasons (1987–88 to 1994–95 and 2002–03 to 2021–22 school years).
Former members
The Mid-South has fourteen former full members, all but three are private schools:
^Rio Grande still remains in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's volleyball and men's wrestling since the 2020–21 school year.
^Thomas More left the Mid-South after the 2022–23 school year. Initially the school joined the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) as a provisional member for most sports as a transitional NCAA Division II member school during 2022–23; but was fulfilling its commitments to the final year of competition in the Mid-South and in the NAIA.
^Union Commonwealth, Union (Ky.) until 2024, still remains in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football since the 2002–03 school year.
^UVA Wise dropped "Highland" from its athletic nickname in 2017.
^ abUVA Wise left the Mid-South after the 2012–13 school year. Originally it joined the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) as a charter member for most sports as a transitional NCAA Division II member school during the 2012–13 school year, but was fulfilling its commitments to the final year of competition in the Mid-South and in the NAIA. However it has never began competition as a full G-MAC member, as it would later announce that it would join the Mountain East Conference (MEC) beginning the 2013–14 school year.
^Bethel (Tenn.) re-joined the Mid-South during the 2020–21 school year and transferred all other sports to the conference as a full member.
^Bluefield was a full member of the Mid-South from 2012–13 to 2013–14.
^Bluefield remains in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's volleyball.
^Brewton–Parker remains in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's and women's wrestling.
^Cincinnati Christian closed at the end of the 2019 fall semester, without completing the rest of the 2019–20 school year.
^Cumberland (Tenn.) was a full member of the Mid-South in 1990–91 and from 1995–96 to 2001–02, before re-joining the Mid-South in the 2012–13 school year.
^Cumberland (Tenn.) changed its nickname from Bulldogs to Phoenix in 2016.
^Kentucky Christian remains in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for archery.
^Lambuth was a full member of the Mid-South from 1995–96 to 2005–06.
^Marian (Ind.) remains in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's volleyball, men's wrestling, men's and women's bowling, and men's and women's swimming.
^Martin Methodist joined the Mid-South during the 2020–21 school year and transferred all other sports to the conference as a full member. In July 2021, Martin Methodist joined the University of Tennessee system to become the University of Tennessee Southern.
^Martin Methodist (now UT Southern) changed its nickname from RedHawks to FireHawks in 2021.
^Reinhardt remains in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's volleyball.
^Rio Grande was a full member of the Mid-South from 2009–10 to 2013–14; but still remains in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's wrestling and men's volleyball.
^St. Andrews remains in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for men's volleyball and women's wrestling.
^Union Commonwealth, Union (Ky.) until 2024, was a full member of the Mid-South from 1995–96 to 2001–02; but still remains in the Mid-South as an affiliate member for archery and men's & women's bowling
^UVA Wise later became a full member of the Mid-South from 2010–11 to 2012–13
^UVA Wise dropped "Highland" from its athletic nickname in 2017.
Membership timeline
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football only) Associate member (sport)
Sports
Member teams compete in 28 sports: 13 men's, 13 women's and 2 mixed.
In addition, the Mid-South Conference also conducts championships for Esports and competitive dance. The MSC also stages invitational tournaments for junior varsity squads in the sports of men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, and women's volleyball, if enough schools sponsor JV teams in a given year.[13]
Football divisions
Beginning with the 2017 season, The Sun Conference and Mid-South merged their football conferences into the largest football conference in college sports.[14][15] Edward Waters was previously a full member of the Sun Conference from 2006 to 2010 and a football affiliate member from 2014 to 2016 seasons. Edward Waters left after the 2018 football season.
However, the Sun Division folded when its teams left the Mid-South after the Sun Conference reinstated football for 2022, leaving the Mid-South with 15 football members.[10] Later, the Appalachian Division folded when the AAC announced to sponsor the sport for the 2022 fall season, leaving the Mid-South with 9 football members.[11]
Bethel (Tenn.)*
Campbellsville*
Cumberland (Tenn.)*
Cumberlands (Ky.)*
Faulkner**
Georgetown*
Lindsey Wilson*
Pikeville*
Thomas More*
Notes
* - Mid-South full member
** - Mid-South affiliate member
