The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA). Member institutions are located in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

. The league is headquartered in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, and the commissioner is Eric Ward. The Mid-South Conference has 11 full members: Bethel (TN), Campbellsville, Cumberland (TN), Cumberlands (KY), Freed–Hardeman, Georgetown College (KY), Lindsey Wilson, Pikeville, Shawnee State, Thomas More, and UT Southern. Eight of these members sponsor football; Freed–Hardeman, Shawnee State, and UT Southern do not. The Mid-South Conference also has six associate members that compete primarily in other conferences.

Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...

, Kentucky Christian, Union 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 The Sun Conference (TSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Seven of the ten full member institutions are located in Florida, with three in Georgia. The Sun Conference ...

, as well as

Faulkner University Faulkner University is a private Christian university in Montgomery, Alabama. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. History The university was founded in 1942 by Dr. Rex Turner, Dr. Leonard Johnson and Joe Greer as Montgomery Bible S ...

for football, On January 4, 2018, the conference added Keiser University for football, and St. Thomas announced in July they were joining the conference for football in 2019. 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.

History

In April 2018, Thomas More University (then Thomas More College), which had been an NAIA member before moving to

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their ...

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. Thomas More eventually confirmed in July that it would join the Mid-South in 2019. 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. In December 2020, Life University also announced its departure from the MSC for the Southern States Athletic Conference in 2022–23. 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 will join the G-MAC as a provisional member in July 2022, but will continue as an NAIA member and in the Mid-South through 2022–23, after which it will start G-MAC competition. Later, the Sun Conference published on December 22 its reinstatement of football for the 2022 season. Recently, in July 2022, the Appalachian Athletic Conference announced of adding football as a sponsored sport.

Chronlogical timeline

* 1995 - The Mid-South Conference (MSC) was founded. Charter members included Campbellsville College (now Campbellsville University), Cumberland College of Kentucky (now the University of the Cumberlands), Georgetown College,

North Greenville College North Greenville University is a private Baptist university in Tigerville, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention ( Southern Baptist Convention). It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges a ...

(now North Greenville University), and

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

beginning the 1995–96 academic year. * 1996 - Cumberland College of Tennessee (now Cumberland University) and

Lambuth University Lambuth University was a private Methodist university in Jackson, Tennessee. It was active from 1843 to 2011 and was supported by the Memphis Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The university began as the Memphis Conference Femal ...

joined the Mid-South in the 1996–97 academic year. * 1996 - Bethel College of Tennessee joined the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football in the 1996 fall season (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). * 2000 - Lindsey Wilson College and

Pikeville College The University of Pikeville (UPIKE) is a private university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Pikeville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1889 by the Presbyterian Church and is located on a campus on a hillside overlooking ...

(now the University of Pikeville; a.k.a. UPike) joined the Mid-South in the 2000–01 academic year. * 2001 - North Greenville left the Mid-South to join the Division II ranks of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) as an NCAA D-II Independent after the 2000–01 academic year. * 2002 - Cumberland (Tenn.) and Union (Ky.) left the Mid-South as full members, while remaining in the conference as associate members for football and some Olympic sports after the 2001–02 academic year. * 2003 - The

University of Virginia's College at Wise The University of Virginia's College at Wise (UVA Wise) is a public liberal arts college in Wise, Virginia. It is part of the University of Virginia and was established in 1954 as Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia. The Unit ...

(UVA Wise) joined the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football (with Bethel (Tenn.) re-joining 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 associate member for football after the 2005–06 academic year. * 2006 - West Virginia University Institute of Technology (West Virginia Tech or WVU Tech) joined the Mid-South in the 2006–07 academic year. * 2008 - St. Catharine College joined the Mid-South in the 2008–09 academic year. * 2009 - The

University of Rio Grande The University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College (originally Rio Grande College) is a private university and public community college merged into one institution in Rio Grande, Ohio. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commissio ...

joined the Mid-South in the 2009–10 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 Bluefield University is a private Baptist university in Bluefield, Virginia. It offers 22 majors and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The campus is about from the state line between Virginia and West Virg ...

(now Bluefield University) joined the Mid-South (with Cumberland (Tenn.) re-joining 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 The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 12 schools, m ...

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 re-join the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), while remaining in the conference as an associate 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. * 2019 - Thomas More University joined the Mid-South in the 2019–20 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 - Life would leave the Mid-South to join the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) beginning the 2022–23 academic year. * 2022 - Thomas More would return the NCAA, but in the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

ranks and is to join 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. * 2022 -

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates i ...

joined the Mid-South in the 2022–23 academic year. * 2022 - Two institutions will leave the Mid-South to join their respective new home primary conferences: Shawnee State to the RSC, and Pikeville (UPike) to the AAC, both beginning the 2023–24 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The Mid-South currently has 12 full members, all but two are

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

schools: ;Notes:

Affiliate members

The Mid-South currently has 23 associate members, all are

schools: ;Notes:

Former members

The Mid-South had eight former full members, all but two were

schools: ;Notes:

Former affiliate members

The Mid-South had 25 associate members, all but two were

schools: ;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1995 till:2030 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5 Colors = id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:FullxF from:1995 till:1996 text: Campbellsville (1995–present) bar:1 color:Full from:1996 till:end text: bar:2 color:FullxF from:1995 till:1996 text: Cumberland (Tenn.) (1995–2002) bar:2 color:Full from:1996 till:2002 text: bar:2 color:AssocF from:2002 till:2012 text: TranSouth (2002–2012; MSC football) bar:2 color:Full from:2012 till:end text:(2012–present) bar:3 color:FullxF from:1995 till:1996 text: Cumberlands (Ky.) (1995–present) bar:3 color:Full from:1996 till:end text: bar:4 color:FullxF from:1995 till:1996 text: Georgetown (Ky.) (1995–present) bar:4 color:Full from:1996 till:end text: bar:5 color:FullxF from:1995 till:1996 text: Lambuth (1995–2006) bar:5 color:Full from:1996 till:2006 text: bar:5 color:AssocF from:2006 till:2010 text: TranSouth (2006–2010; MSC football) bar:6 color:FullxF from:1995 till:1996 text: North Greenville (1995–2001) bar:6 color:Full from:1996 till:2001 text: bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:2011 text: D-II Ind. bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:2011 till:end text:

Carolinas The Carolinas are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east. Combining Nor ...

bar:7 color:FullxF from:1995 till:1996 text: Union (Ky.) (1995–2002) bar:7 color:Full from:1996 till:2002 text: bar:7 color:AssocF from:2002 till:2022 text: Appalachian (2002–present) bar:7 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text: bar:8 color:AssocF from:1996 till:1997 text: Bethel (Tenn.) (1996–1997) bar:8 color:AssocF from:2003 till:2020 text:(2003–2020) bar:8 color:Full from:2020 till:end text:(2020–present) bar:9 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2015 text: Belhaven (1997–2015) bar:10 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2010 text: Lindsey Wilson (2000–present) bar:10 color:Full from:2010 till:end text: bar:11 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2001 text: Pikeville (2000–2023) bar:11 color:Full from:2001 till:2023 text: bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: Appalachian bar:12 color:AssocF from:2003 till:2010 text: UVa Wise (2003–2010) bar:12 color:Full from:2010 till:2013 text:(2010–2013) bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2019 text: Mountain East bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:2019 till:end text:

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe a ...

bar:13 color:AssocF from:2004 till:2006 text: Kentucky Wesleyan (2004–2006) bar:14 color:AssocF from:2005 till:2012 text: Shorter (2005–2012) bar:15 color:Full from:2006 till:2012 text:

West Virginia Tech West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU Tech, WVIT, WVU Beckley, or West Virginia Tech) is a public college in Beckley, West Virginia. It is a divisional campus of West Virginia University. History The college was founded in 1895 ...

(2006–2012) bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2016 text: NAIA Ind. bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:2016 till:end text: River States bar:16 color:FullxF from:2008 till:2016 text: St. Catherine (Ky.) (2008–2016) bar:17 color:AssocF from:2008 till:end text:

(2008–present) bar:18 color:FullxF from:2009 till:2014 text:

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

(2009–2014) bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:2020 text: River States bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text: (2020–present; MSC assoc. sports) bar:19 color:AssocF from:2009 till:2022 text: Kentucky Christian (2009–present) bar:19 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text: bar:20 color:FullxF from:2010 till:2023 text: Shawnee State (2010–2023) bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: River States bar:21 color:Full from:2012 till:2014 text: Bluefield (2012–2014) bar:21 shift:(60) color:AssocF from:2014 till:2022 text: Appalachian (2014–present) bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text: bar:22 color:AssocF from:2013 till:2022 text: Reinhardt (2013–present) bar:22 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text: bar:23 color:FullxF from:2014 till:2022 text:

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

(2014–2022) bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text: SSAC bar:24 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:end text: Brewton–Parker (2015–present) bar:25 color:AssocF from:2015 till:2020 text: Cincinnati Christian (2015–2020) bar:26 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2019 text: Lindenwood–Belleville (2015–2019) bar:27 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2017 text:

St. Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's four ...

(2015–2017) bar:27 color:AssocF from:2017 till:2022 text: bar:27 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text: bar:28 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:end text: Tennesse Wesleyan (2015–present) bar:29 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2020 text: UT Southern (2015–2020) bar:29 color:FullxF from:2020 till:2023 text:(2020–2023; full) bar:29 shift:(20) color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: SSAC bar:30 color:AssocOS from:2016 till:end text: Loyola (La.) (2016–present) bar:31 color:AssocF from:2017 till:2019 text: Edward Waters (2017–2019) bar:32 color:AssocOS from:2017 till:2019 text: Midland (2017–2019) bar:33 color:AssocF from:2017 till:2022 text: Point (2017–2022) bar:34 color:AssocF from:2018 till:2022 text:

Ave Maria The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's ...

(2018–present) bar:34 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text: bar:35 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:end text: Indiana Wesleyan (2018–present) bar:36 color:AssocF from:2018 till:2022 text: Keiser (2018–present) bar:36 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text: bar:37 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:end text: Marian (Ind.) (2018–present) bar:38 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:end text: Midway (2018–present) bar:39 color:AssocF from:2018 till:2022 text: Warner (2018–present) bar:38 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text: bar:40 color:AssocF from:2018 till:2022 text: Webber International (2018–present) bar:40 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text: bar:41 color:Full from:2019 till:2022 text: Thomas More (2019–2022) bar:41 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:2023 text: bar:41 shift:(40) color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: G-MAC bar:42 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text: Blue Mountain (2019–present) bar:43 color:AssocF from:2020 till:2022 text: Florida Memorial (2020–2022) bar:44 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text: Indiana Tech (2020–present) bar:45 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text: Lourdes (2020–present) bar:46 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text: St. Thomas (Fla.) (2020–present) bar:47 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text: Truett McConnell (2020–present) bar:48 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text: Freed–Hardeman (2020–present) bar:49 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:2022 text: Lincoln (Ill.) (2021–2022) bar:50 color:FullxF from:2022 till:end text: Wilberforce (2022–present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1996 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,25) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Mid-South Conference membership history" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

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 Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional sports, professional players, individually or as ...

and competitive dance. The MSC also stages invitational tournaments for

junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level ...

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.

Football divisions

Beginning with the 2017 season,

The Sun Conference The Sun Conference (TSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Seven of the ten full member institutions are located in Florida, with three in Georgia. The Sun Conference ...

and Mid-South merged their football conferences into the largest football conference in college sports. 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. 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. * Bethel (Tenn.) * Campbellsville * Cumberland (Tenn.) * Cumberlands (Ky.) * Faulkner * Georgetown * Lindsey Wilson * Pikeville * Thomas More ;Notes: - Mid-South full member - Mid-South affiliate member

References

External links

* {{National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics 1995 establishments in the United States Organizations based in Louisville, Kentucky Sports leagues established in 1995