Mid-South Conference

Mid-South Conferencee (MSC)
Established	1995
Association	NAIA
Members	16 (9 full, 7 associate)
Sports fielded	22 (men's: 11; women's: 10)
Region	Southern United States, Midwestern United States Region XI of the NAIA
Headquarters	Louisville, Kentucky
Commissioner	Eric Ward (since Nov. 15, 2013)
Website	mid-southconference.org
Locations

The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is an athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA. Member institutions are located in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia.

The Mid-South Conference has 9 full members: Campbellsville, Cumberland (TN), Cumberlands (KY), Georgetown College (KY), Lindsey Wilson, Life, Pikeville, Shawnee State and St. Catharine. Six of these members sponsor football; Life, Shawnee State, and St. Catharine do not.

The Mid-South Conference also has six associate members that compete primarily in other conferences. Faulkner, Kentucky Christian, Union and recently former member Bluefield are associate members of the MSC for football, Bethel is an associate member of the MSC for football and track and field, and Reinhardt is an associate member of the MSC for football. 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]

The league is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, and the commissioner is Eric Ward.

Member schools

Full members

Institution	Location	Founded	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined
Campbellsville University	Campbellsville, Kentucky	1906	3,318	Tigers	1995
Cumberland University	Lebanon, Tennessee	1842	1,345	Bulldogs	1995, 2012
University of the Cumberlands	Williamsburg, Kentucky	1887	1,743	Patriots	1995
Georgetown College	Georgetown, Kentucky	1829	1,400	Tigers	1995
Life University	Marietta, Georgia	1974	2,800	Running Eagles	2014
Lindsey Wilson College	Columbia, Kentucky	1903	2,677	Blue Raiders	2000
University of Pikeville	Pikeville, Kentucky	1889	1,156	Bears	2000
St. Catharine College	St. Catharine, Kentucky	1873	700	Patriots	2008
Shawnee State University	Portsmouth, Ohio	1986	4,300	Bears	2010

• Cumberland (TN), Georgetown College — will possibly join the NCAA D-II Great Midwest Athletic Conference in unknown year, pending acceptance into NCAA Division II..
• Cumberland (TN) — left the Mid-South in 2002, and re-joined in 2012.

Affiliate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Mid-South Sport	Primary Conference
Bethel University	McKenzie, Tennessee	1842	1,300	Wildcats	1995-96, 2003-04	football	Southern States
Bluefield College	Bluefield, Virginia	1922	793	Rams	2014-15	football	Appalachian
Cincinnati Christian University	Cincinnati, Ohio	1924	800	Eagles	2015-16	football	Kentucky Intercollegiate
Faulkner University	Montgomery, Alabama	1942	2,212	Eagles	2008-09	football	Southern States
Kentucky Christian University	Grayson, Kentucky	1919	550	Knights	2009	football	Independent
Reinhardt University	Waleska, Georgia	1883	1,057	Eagles	2013-14	football	Appalachian
Union College	Barbourville, Kentucky	1879	1,350	Union College Bulldogs	2002-03	football	Appalachian

• Bethel (TN) — left the Mid-South after the 1996 fall season (1996-97 season); later re-joined in the 2003 fall season (2003-04 season).
• Cincinnati Christian University (OH) - will begin conference play in fall of 2016 (2016-17 season), signed to conference August 2015^[2]

Future affiliate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Enrollment	Nickname	Joining	Mid-South Sport	Primary Conference
Ave Maria University	Ave Maria, Florida	2003	1,080	Gyrenes	2017	Football	The Sun
Edward Waters College	Jacksonville, Florida	1866	800	Tigers	2017	Football	Gulf Coast
Point University	West Point, Georgia	1937	1450	Skyhawks	2017	Football	Appalachian
Warner University	Lake Wales, Florida	1968	1,037	Royals	2017	Football	The Sun
Webber International University	Babson Park, Florida	1927	616	Warriors	2017	Football	The Sun
St. Andrews University (N.C.)	Laurinburg, North Carolina	1896	600	Knights	2017	Football	Appalachian

Beginning with the 2017 season, The Sun Conference and Mid-South will merge its football into the largest NAIA football conference in college sports.^[3][4] Edward Waters was previously a full member of the Sun Conference from 2006–2010 and a football affiliate member from 2014–2016 seasons. The divisions are divided below.

Former members

Institution	Location	Founded	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current Conference
Bluefield College	Bluefield, Virginia	1922	Rams	2012	2014	Appalachian
Lambuth University	Jackson, Tennessee	1843	Eagles	1995	2006	Closed in 2011
North Greenville University	Tigerville, South Carolina	1891	Crusaders	1995	2001	Carolinas (NCAA Division II)
University of Rio Grande	Rio Grande, Ohio	1876	RedStorm	2009	2014	Kentucky
Union College	Barbourville, Kentucky	1879	Union College Bulldogs	1995	2002	Appalachian
University of Virginia's College at Wise	Wise, Virginia	1954	Highland Cavaliers	2010	2013	Mountain East (NCAA Division II)
West Virginia University Institute of Technology	Montgomery, West Virginia	1895	Golden Bears	2006	2012	Independent

Former affiliate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Nickname	Joined	Left	Mid-South Sport	Primary Conference
Belhaven University	Jackson, Mississippi	1894	Blazers	1998-99	2014-15	football	American Southwest (NCAA Division III)
Cumberland University	Lebanon, Tennessee	1842	Bulldogs	2002-03	2011-12	football	Mid-South
Bethel University	McKenzie, Tennessee	1842	Wildcats	2007-08	2012-13	track & field	SSAC
Kentucky Wesleyan College	Owensboro, Kentucky	1858	Panthers	2004-05	2005-06	football	G-MAC (NCAA Division II)
Lambuth University	Jackson, Tennessee	1843	Eagles	2006-07	2009-10	football	Closed in 2011
Shorter University	Rome, Georgia	1873	Hawks	2005-06^fb. 2007-08^t.f.	2011-12^fb. 2011-12^t.f.	football track & field	Gulf South (NCAA Division II)
University of Virginia's College at Wise	Wise, Virginia	1954	Highland Cavaliers	2002-03	2009-10	football	Mountain East (NCAA Division II)

Sports

Member teams compete in 22 sports: 11 men's, 10 women's and 1 mixed.

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's	Mixed
Baseball
Basketball
Bowling
Cheerleading
Cross Country
Football
Golf
Soccer
Softball
Swimming
Tennis
Track & Field Outdoor
Volleyball
Wrestling

Football divisions

Bluegrass Division Bethel Campbellsville Cincinnati Christian Cumberland (TN) Georgetown Kentucky Christian Lindsey Wilson

Appalachian Division Bluefield Cumberlands (KY) Pikeville Point Reinhardt St Andrews Union

Sun Division Ave Maria Edward Waters Faulkner Southeastern Warner Webber International

References

1. Wilson, Michael (25 February 2016). "Local teams officially join Mid-South football conference". The Lakeland Ledger. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
2. "Mid-South Conference Athletics - Members". Mid-southconference.org. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
3. "Mid-South Conference Creates Largest College Football Conference". The Sun Conference. 2016-02-25. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
4. 4:40 p.m. CST February 25, 2016 (2016-02-25). "Mid-South, Sun conferences unite for 20-team football league". Tennessean.com. Retrieved 2016-03-15.

External links

• Official website