Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), founded in 1962, is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Colorado, Louisiana, and Texas. Difficulties related to travel distances led seven former members to announce the formation of a new Southeastern US-based conference, the Southern Athletic Association, starting with the 2012–13 academic year.

Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
Established	1962
Association	NCAA
Division	Division III
Members	9
Sports fielded	19 men's: 9 women's: 10
Former names	College Athletic Conference
Headquarters	Lawrenceville, Georgia
Commissioner	D. Dwayne Hanberry
Website	www.scacsports.com
Locations

Prior to 1991, the conference was known as the College Athletic Conference (CAC). The commissioner of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference is Dwayne Hanberry. The chair of the Executive Committee of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference is Thomas W. Keefe, University of Dallas president.

Member schools

Current members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	U.S. News Ranking[1]	Endowment[2]	Nickname	Colors	Joined
Austin College	Sherman, Texas	1849	Private/Presbyterian	1,291	82 (National: Lib. Arts)	$134,746,000	Kangaroos		2006
Centenary College of Louisiana	Shreveport, Louisiana	1825	Private/United Methodist	500	167 (National: Lib. Arts)	$122,482,000[3]	Gentlemen (men's) Ladies (women's)		2012
Colorado College	Colorado Springs, Colorado	1874	Private	2,011	31 (National: Lib. Arts)	$720,085,000	Tigers		2006
University of Dallas	Irving, Texas	1956	Private/Roman Catholic	3,255	13 (Regional: West)	$45,630,000	Crusaders		2011
University of St. Thomas	Houston, Texas	1947	Private/Roman Catholic	1,626	26 (Regional University: West)	$78,360,000	Celts		2019 (Provisional)
Schreiner University	Kerrville, Texas	1923	Private/Presbyterian	930	not ranked	$62,946,000	Mountaineers		2013
Southwestern University	Georgetown, Texas	1840	Private/United Methodist	1,536[4]	65 (National: Lib. Arts)	$255,955,000	Pirates		1994
Texas Lutheran University	Seguin, Texas	1891	Private/Lutheran	1,400	3 (Regional College: West)	$89,986,000	Bulldogs		2013
Trinity University	San Antonio, Texas	1869	Private	2,487	1 (Regional University: West)	$1,185,370,000	Tigers		1989

Affiliate members

McMurry University and the University of the Ozarks are affiliate members for men's and women's swimming and diving only. McMurry was accepted in June 2014 as an affiliate member starting in the 2014-15 school year.[5] The University of the Ozarks was approved as an affiliate member in February 2016 to begin competition in the 2016-17 school year.[6]

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary Conference	Joined	Sport
McMurry University	Abilene, Texas	1923	Private	1,430	War Hawks	American Southwest	2016-17	swimming & diving (men's/women's)
University of the Ozarks	Clarksville, Arkansas	1834	Private/Presbyterian	630	Eagles	American Southwest	2016-17	swimming & diving (men's/women's)

Former affiliate members

The University of California, Santa Cruz was an affiliate member in men's swimming and diving only during the 2013-14 school year.[7][8]

Former members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current conference
Birmingham–Southern College	Birmingham, Alabama	1856	Private/United Methodist	1,600	Panthers	2007	2012	SAA
Centre College	Danville, Kentucky	1819	Private	1,215	Colonels	1962	2012	SAA
DePauw University	Greencastle, Indiana	1837	Private	2,400	Tigers	1998	2011	NCAC
Earlham College	Richmond, Indiana	1847	Private	1,181	Quakers	1984	1989	HCAC
Fisk University	Nashville, Tennessee	1866	Private	800	Bulldogs	1983	1994	NAIA Independent
Hendrix College	Conway, Arkansas	1876	Private/United Methodist	1,400	Warriors	1992	2012	SAA
Illinois College	Jacksonville, Illinois	1829	Private	1,000	Blueboys (men's) Lady Blues (women's)	1980	1983	Midwest
Johnson & Wales University	Denver, Colorado	1914	Private	1,291	Wildcats	2018	2020	Programs terminated[9]
Millsaps College	Jackson, Mississippi	1890	Private/United Methodist	1,146	Majors	1989	2012	SAA
Oglethorpe University	Atlanta, Georgia	1835	Private	1,000	Stormy Petrels	1991	2012	SAA
Principia College	Elsah, Illinois	1910	Private	550	Panthers	1974	1984	SLIAC
Rhodes College	Memphis, Tennessee	1848	Private/Presbyterian	1,690	Lynx	1962	2012	SAA
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	Terre Haute, Indiana	1874	Private	1,970	Fightin' Engineers	1974, 1998	1989, 2006	HCAC
Sewanee: The University of the South	Sewanee, Tennessee	1857	Private/Episcopal	1,383	Tigers	1962	2012	SAA
Washington and Lee University	Lexington, Virginia	1749	Private	2,203	Generals	1962	1973	ODAC
Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis, Missouri	1853	Private	14,070	Bears	1962	1972	UAA

Membership timeline

Conference overview

Prior to the 2012 conference split, the SCAC fielded competition in baseball, basketball, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, outdoor track and field and volleyball. With membership greatly reduced and in flux, some of these sports (field hockey, women's lacrosse) no longer have enough participants (zero and two, respectively) to allow the conference to sponsor them. In addition, after struggling with only four football playing schools for several seasons, the conference in November 2015 announced football would be discontinued as a conference sport effective the 2017–18 school year, with football playing institutions affiliating with either the American Southwest Conference[10] or the Southern Athletic Association.[11] On July 21, 2018, the conference announced that men's and women's lacrosse would once again be offered as conference sports, and made a commitment to holding an eSports championship in 2019.[12] With only four schools fielding women's lacrosse teams, and five men's, the conference champions will not qualify for an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.

Unlike many Division III conferences, where geography is the primary determining factor for membership, the SCAC is made up of private institutions where the primary focus is on academics; the New England Small College Athletic Conference and University Athletic Association are other athletic associations with similar academic emphasis. Almost all members sport Phi Beta Kappa chapters. Member schools are prominently featured in annual "Best College" rankings; admissions are highly selective.

In an unusual move for the conference, Colorado College, which offers two Division I (scholarship) sports, was accepted as a member beginning in the 2006–07 season. It is the only SCAC school to offer any sort of scholarship athletics, though the Division I programs—namely men's ice hockey and women's soccer—do not compete in the SCAC. (The conference does not sponsor ice hockey for either men or women.)

The conference had previously announced its desire to expand to a total of twelve members, which would ease scheduling issues and allow the conference to divide into eastern and western divisions spread across the southern US. On May 26, 2006, Birmingham-Southern College, one of the smallest Division I schools in the country, announced its intentions to drop scholarship athletics and join the SCAC. This is a multi-year process subject to final approval by the NCAA. The SCAC approved BSC's application, pending NCAA approval, on June 8, 2006.

Due to the unusual (for Division III) distances between member institutions, travel costs and durations must be factored into any decision to join the conference. Rose–Hulman cited these factors as reasons for leaving the conference when it rejoined the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in 2006–07. Austin College readily took RHIT's place, moving from the American Southwest Conference before the 2006–07 season.

On June 9, 2010, DePauw University announced that it was departing the SCAC for the North Coast Athletic Conference. Like Rose-Hulman, DePauw cited "a less strenuous and more environmentally friendly travel regimen for our teams." DePauw became a member of the NCAC for the 2011–12 season except for football, which will join for the 2012 season.[13]

On September 22, 2010, the University of Dallas announced that it had accepted an invitation to join the SCAC at the beginning of the 2011–12 academic year.[14]

The May 10, 2011 issue of the DePauw college newspaper, The DePauw, reported that four schools (Centre, Sewanee, Hendrix, and Rhodes) were considering leaving the conference at the end of the 2011–2012 school year, ostensibly due to travel issues and issues relating to the conference splitting into two divisions.[15] As the two reasons were somewhat exclusive (e.g. divisions would reduce overall travel), and other regional conferences would offer similar issues, it remained to be seen at that time what the schools planned in a post-SCAC world.

After the conclusion of the June 7, 2011 SCAC Presidents' meeting, the conference announced that seven of the twelve schools would be leaving to form a new, more compact conference based in the Southeastern US. This transition was effective at the conclusion of the 2011–12 academic year. The schools departing include founding SCAC [CAC] members Centre, Sewanee, and Rhodes, in addition to Birmingham-Southern, Hendrix, Millsaps, and Oglethorpe. Berry College will also join the newly formed Southern Athletic Association.

The SCAC intends to remain a viable entity, enlisting other schools which subscribe to the SCAC charter. Commissioner D. Dwayne Hanberry will remain with the conference to oversee that effort, which will be complicated by the paucity of unaffiliated Division III schools in the SCAC's new region of Texas and Colorado.[16] Reflecting that challenge, the conference has sought new members from the American Southwest Conference, whose geographical footprint is similar to that of the "new" SCAC. On September 28, 2011, Centenary College of Louisiana announced it would join the SCAC beginning in the 2012–13 season.[17] Two more ASC schools joined the SCAC for the 2013–14 season: Schreiner University announced their decision on January 23, 2012,[18] and on February 16, 2012, Texas Lutheran University announced it too would join the SCAC.[19]

Football will no longer be sponsored by the SCAC beginning in the 2017–18 school year.[20] The conference had four schools playing in 2015 and 2016: Texas Lutheran University, Austin College, Southwestern University and Trinity University. Texas Lutheran University and Southwestern University will play football as affiliates in the ASC, while Austin College and Trinity University will be affiliates of the Southern Athletic Association.

A much-needed travel partner for isolated Colorado College will join the conference in 2018. On February 21, 2017, the conference announced that the Denver campus of Johnson & Wales University would join the conference as it transitions from the NAIA to NCAA Division III, after the school's "exploratory year" in 2017–18. It is expected that the school will not be eligible for conference championships or NCAA playoff bids until the transition to Division III is complete, per typical NCAA practice. The conference has already announced plans to pursue a tenth institution to better balance travel and scheduling requirements.[21]

On February 14, 2018, the University of St. Thomas - Houston announced it would become the SCAC's 10th member after completing an exploratory year in Division III. SCAC competition would begin in the 2019-2020 season.[22]

The most recent membership change was announced in June 2020. On June 25, Johnson & Wales University announced that it would close its Denver campus at the end of the 2020–21 school year due to concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and would accept no new students at that campus effective immediately. The following day, the Denver athletic program was shut down.[23]

President's Trophy

Each year, the "President's Trophy," a 300-pound railroad bell, is awarded to the school with the best overall sports record. Teams are awarded points for their final position in each sport; the school with the most points is declared the winner. For the 2018-19 school year, the President's Trophy was awarded to Trinity University for the 19th time, and eighth-straight season, both conference records.[24] The 35-point margin of victory (over second-place Southwestern) was the narrowest since DePauw won the title by 10 points in 2008-09.

NCAA national championship teams and individuals

SCAC members have won a total of ten NCAA team championships and 34 individual championships.

Team champions:

• 1999–00: Men's Tennis (Trinity); Women's Tennis (Trinity)
• 2002–03: Women's Basketball (Trinity), Men's Soccer (Trinity)
• 2006–07: Women's Basketball (DePauw)
• 2008–09: Men's Golf (Oglethorpe)
• 2011–12: Men's Golf (Oglethorpe)
• 2013–14: Men's Golf (Schreiner)
• 2015-16: Men's Baseball (Trinity)
• 2018-19: Women's Softball (Texas Lutheran)

Individual champions:

• 1979–80: Men's 400 IM (Chris Fugman, Centre)
• 1979-1980: Men's 400 meter (Chris Bastien, Centre)
• 1983–84: Men's javelin, outdoor (Chris Trapp, Rose-Hulman)
• 1984–85: Men's javelin, outdoor (Chris Trapp, Rose-Hulman)
• 1985–86: Men's javelin, outdoor (Chris Trapp, Rose-Hulman)
• 1995–96: Women's tennis, singles (Nao Kinoshita, Rhodes)
• 1996–97: Women's tennis, singles (Nao Kinoshita, Rhodes); Women's tennis, doubles (Kinoshita, Taylor Tarver, Rhodes)
• 1997–98: Men's pole vault, indoor (Ryan Loftus, Rose-Hulman)
• 1999–00: Women's 1500 meters, indoor (Heather Stone, Sewanee); Women's 1500 meters, outdoor (Stone, Sewanee)
• 2002–03: Men's 100 breaststroke (Matt Smith, Rose-Hulman)
• 2003–04: Women's high jump, outdoor (Christyn Schumann, Trinity)
• 2004–05: Women's high jump, indoor (Christyn Schumann, Trinity); Women's high jump, outdoor (Schumann, Trinity)
• 2005–06: Women's high jump, outdoor (Christyn Schumann, Trinity)
• 2006–07: Women's tennis, singles (Liz Bondi, DePauw)
• 2008–09: Men's pentathlon, indoor (Todd Wildman, Trinity); Men's golf, medalist (Olafur Loftsson, Oglethorpe); Men's triple jump, outdoor (Chrys Jones, Centre)
• 2009–10: Men's pentathlon, indoor (Todd Wildman, Trinity); Men's triple jump, indoor (Chrys Jones, Centre); Men's triple jump, outdoor (Chrys Jones, Centre); Women's 1-meter diving (Lindsay Martin, Trinity); Women's 3-meter diving (Hayley Emerick, Trinity)
• 2010–11: Men's triple jump, indoor (Chrys Jones, Centre); Men's golf, medalist (Chris Morris, Centre)
• 2011–12: Women's 60 meter hurdles, indoor (Tiarra Goode, Birmingham-Southern); Men's 200 freestyle (Jordan DeGayner, Colorado College); Women's 3-meter diving (Ruth Hahn, Trinity); Men's golf, medalist (Anthony Maccaglia, Oglethorpe); Women's 100 meter hurdles, outdoor (Tiarra Goode, Birmingham-Southern)
• 2013–14: Men's 100 freestyle (Stephen Culberson, Trinity)
• 2016-17: Men's 400 meter run, indoor (Marquis Brown, Texas Lutheran)

This list does not include championships won by schools outside of their period of membership in the SCAC.

Overall success on the national level

While championships come infrequently, overall SCAC athletic programs rate favorably when compared against the diverse Division III membership. The Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup provides one representation of any school's athletic success as compared to its peers. Trinity has ranked in the top five nationally twice, most recently in 2004–2005 when it placed fourth. Trinity again led the way in 2018-19 when it placed 36th nationally; Texas Lutheran, at 73rd, was the only other conference member in the top 100 of 323 ranked institutions.[25]

The SCAC and Division I

On several occasions the SCAC has been used as a role model for academically high-achieving Division I programs considering a move to non-scholarship athletics. In 2004, Rice considered a move to Division III with Trinity cited as a possible model by the Houston Chronicle.[26] That program eventually remained in Division I. In 2006, Birmingham-Southern College elected to leave Division I for Division III, and stated that they would seek membership in the SCAC. This represented the first time since 1988 that a Division I school had changed affiliation to Division III.[27] In 2012, Centenary College of Louisiana joined the SCAC, after leaving Division I in 2011; however, its initial partner in the transition from Division I was the American Southwest Conference.

References

1. "College Rankings - Best Colleges - US News". rankingsandreviews.com.
2. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY2014 to FY2015" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 31, 2016.
3. https://www.collegeraptor.com/college-rankings/details/Endowment/State/LA. Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. "Southwestern: About Southwestern". Southwestern.edu. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
5. "McMurry (Tex.) Joins SCAC as Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Affiliate Member". scacsports.com.
6. "University of Ozarks joins SCAC as Men's and Women's Swimming Affiliate Member". scacsports.com.
7. "UC-Santa Cruz Joins SCAC as Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Affiliate Member". scacsports.com.
8. "Swimming and Diving Schedule 2014-15". goslugs.com.
9. "JWU Denver ends all athletic programs". JWU-Denver Athletics. JWU-Denver. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
10. "Southwestern; Texas Lutheran Accept Football Affiliate Membership Offer from ASC". scacsports.com. December 3, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
11. "Austin College; Trinity Accept Football Affiliate Membership Offer from SAA". scacsports.com. November 18, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
12. "xxx". scacsports.com. July 1, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
14. "University of Dallas to join Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference - Dallas". Udallasathletics.com. September 22, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
15. "Four schools consider SCAC departure in 2012". thedepauw. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
16. "Major Changes for the SCAC Following 2011–12 Academic Year - SCAC". Scacsports.com. June 7, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
17. "Centenary College to Join Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference". centenary.edu. Archived from the original on July 6, 2012.
18. "Schreiner University". schreiner.edu. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012.
19. "Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs - Texas Lutheran University to join Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference". Tlubulldogs.com. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
20. "Southwestern; Texas Lutheran Accept Football Affiliate Membership Offer from ASC". Scacsports.com. December 3, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
21. "Johnson & Wales (Denver) Becomes Ninth SCAC Member". Southern Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
22. "UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS ANNOUNCES NCAA DIVISION III EXPLORATORY MEMBERSHIP". Retrieved February 14, 2018.
23. "JWU Denver ends all athletic programs" (Press release). JWU Denver Athletics. June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
24. "TRINITY EARNS RECORD EIGHTH-STRAIGHT SCAC PRESIDENTS' TROPHY". Scacsports.com. May 16, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
26. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 13, 2007. Retrieved May 30, 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
27. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 20, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Official website