Southern Athletic Association

The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) is a college athletic conference in 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]

Southern Athletic Association
SAA
EstablishedChartered: 2011
Began play: 2012
AssociationNCAA
DivisionDivision III
Members8 (+2 football-only affiliates)
Sports fielded
  • 21
    • men's: 10
    • women's: 11
HeadquartersAtlanta, Georgia
CommissionerJay Gardiner
Websitewww.saa-sports.com
Locations

History

Chronological timeline
  • 2017 - Chicago and Washington (Mo.) left the SAA as affiliate members for football, effectively the 2016 fall season (2016-17 school year).
  • 2021 - Austin College left the SAA as an associate member for football, effectively the 2020 fall season (2020-21 school year).

Member schools

Full members

The SAA currently has eight full members, all of which are private schools:

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Colors Football?
Berry College Mount Berry, Georgia 1902 Non-denominational 1,937 Vikings     Yes
Birmingham–Southern College Birmingham, Alabama 1856 United Methodist 1,600 Panthers     Yes
Centre College Danville, Kentucky 1819 Presbyterian 1,415 Colonels     Yes
Hendrix College Conway, Arkansas 1876 United Methodist 1,400 Warriors     Yes
Millsaps College Jackson, Mississippi 1890 United Methodist 1,146 Majors     Yes
Oglethorpe University Atlanta, Georgia 1835 Non-denominational 1,000 Stormy Petrels     No
Rhodes College Memphis, Tennessee 1848 Presbyterian 2,000 Lynx       Yes
Sewanee: The University of the South Sewanee, Tennessee 1857 Episcopal 1,384 Tigers     Yes

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.[2] 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.[3]

On November 18, 2015, Trinity University (Texas) and Austin College announced [4] they would affiliate with the SAA for football, renewing a relationship that was lost when the SAA split from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. 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. [5]

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.[6]

Current

The SAA current has one affiliate member, which is also a private school:

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Joined Colors SAA
sport		 Primary
conference
Trinity University San Antonio, Texas 1869 Presbyterian (covenant) 2,353 Tigers 2017–18     football SCAC

Future
Institution Location Founded Type Enrollment Nickname Joined Colors SAA
sport		 Primary
conference
Southwestern University Georgetown, Texas 1840 Private 1,507 Pirates 2023–24     football SCAC

Former affiliate members

The SAA had three former affiliate members, which all are them were private schools:

Institution Location Founded Type Enrollment Nickname Joined Left Colors SAA
sport		 Primary
conference
Austin College Sherman, Texas 1849 Presbyterian 1,278 'Roos 2017–18 2020–21     football SCAC
University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois 1890 Non-denominational 5,134 Maroons 2015–16 2016–17     football UAA
Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri 1853 – 5,997 Bears 2015–16 2016–17     football UAA

Membership timeline
Southwestern UniversityTrinity University (Texas)Austin CollegeWashington University in St. LouisUniversity of ChicagoSewanee: The University of the SouthRhodes CollegeOglethorpe UniversityMillsaps CollegeHendrix CollegeCentre CollegeBirmingham–Southern CollegeBerry College

Blue = Full member, Green = Full member except football, Red = Associate member for football

References
  1. "Eight Division III Southeastern Colleges Form Southern Athletic Association". Rhodes College. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
  2. "Wash U, Chicago already leaving SAA". [d3football.com]. June 12, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  3. "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.
  4. "Austin College; Trinity Accept Football Affiliate Membership Offer from SAA". Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  5. "'Roo Football to Join ASC as Affiliate Member". Austin College Athletics. August 13, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  6. "SAA announces that Southwestern University will join the league as an affiliate member in football". August 19, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
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