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Southern Intercollegiate
Conference
By Roger Saylor
1921-1932
By 1915 the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association members were
embroiled in a serious controversy regarding the eligivility of first year
students, mostly freshmen. The larger schools, in general, were against
having first-year students eligible, and the smaller ones took the reverse
position. The feelings were so strong that by the December meeing of the
SIAA eight of the larger schools decided to form a sub-group which would
adhere to the so-called one-year rule.
The Southern Intercollegiate Conference was thereby
founded with Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech,
Kentucky, Mississippi State, south Carolina and
Tennessee participating. The conference served only to
set its own eligibility standards, all of which were
within those of the SIAA.
By 1920 the SIAA had made on significant progress
in solving the one-year eligibility problem, so the
Southern Conference became functional for the 1921-1922
school year. It then had 14 members. Eight, Alabama,
Auburn, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Tennessee were SIAA members. The
other six, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina
State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Washington & Lee
were not. The principal objectives of the conference were to set its own
eligibility rules and conduct a basketball tournament and a track meet.
There was no plan to sponsor a football championship.
Prior to their December 1921 meeting, the Southern Conference announced it
would expand to no more than 16 members. The process of selecting the two
new members was so sticky that it was decided to add six. All were SIAA members, Florida, Louisiana State, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane and
Vanderbilt. For the 1922 football season, 14 of the 20 schools had dual
SIAA and Southern Conference memberships. Thirteen of the 14 with dual memberships resigned from the SIAA the following year, but Vanderbilt retained
its SIAA membership for 1923 and 1924, only.
Virginia Military Institute had applied for membership when the Southern
Conference was formed, but acceptance did not take place until after the
1922 season. The University of the South, generally known as Sewanee, was
added for the 1924 season, although it retained its SIAA membership that
year before resigning. The Southern Conference membership was raised to 23
in 1929 with the addition of Duke.
In this era, five Southern Conference teams were selected to play in the
Rose Bowl. The 1925 Alabama team defeated Washington 20-19 and that of 1926
tied Stanford 7-7. The 1928 Georgia Tech team edged California 8-7, and the
1930 Alabama team routed Washington State 24-0. The Southern Conference Rose
Bowl record became 3-1-1 when the 1931 Tulane team lost to southern California 21-12. (All these games were played January 1 or 2 of the following
year.) The only championship of which a continuing Southern Conference
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member had a part was that of 1937, which was shared by North Carolina
State and Georgia Tech.
1933-1952
Twenty-three members spread over 11 states made an unwieldy conference, so
a not surprising split occurred in 1933. The 13 schools located in Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee resigned
and formed the Southeastern Conference. This left a Southern Conference
comprised of 10 members in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Virginia. The football records for 1921-1932 suggest the Southern Conference's general strength was somewhat weakened by the split. Its members had
a total record of 228-299-49 while those of the new Southeastern Conference
compiled a 417-345-65 count, leaving a net minus of 71 wins for the remaining Southern Conference members.
In 1936 the Southern Conference set the stage for a second split by adding
six generally smaller schools. The Citadel, Davidson, Furman, Richmond, Wake
Forest, and William & Mary. Concurrently, Virginia resigned, so the membership became 15, all still in the four-state area. Later additions were
George Washington in 1941 and West Virginia in 1950.
With 17 members, the conference had again become unwieldy, so another split
occurred, this time based on school site rather than geography. In 1953
seven of the larger schools began operation as the Atlantic Coast Conference.
They were Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State,
South Carolina, and Wake Forest. These seven generally dominated the football
picture, winning 15 of the 20 championships 1933-1952 and Maryland sharing
that of 1951 with Virginia Military. The four outright titles won by the
remaining Southern Conference members were by Washington and Lee in 1934 and
1950, and William & Mary in 1942 and 1947.
The Southern Conference had two more Rose Bowl teams, the Duke teams of 1938
and 1941 losing to Southern California 7-3 and Oregon State 20-16. The January 1, 1942 game, for 1941 teams, was moved from Pasadena, CA, to Durham,
NC, because of the possibility of a Japanese attack on the west coast.
During World War II, the Duke team of 1944 defeated Alabama 29-26 in the
sugar Bowl. At least one southern Conference team of the years 1945-1951
played in a bowl game. In an intra-Southern Conference contest, the 1945
team of Wake Forest beat south Carolina 26-14 in the Gator Bowl. The Southern Conference was also represented in the next six Gator Bowls. Its postworld War II teams also played in the sugar Bowl three times, plus the Sun,
Cotton and Orange Bowls once each.
1953-1992
The Southern Conference began its third era in 1953 with
10 holdover members in North Carolina, South Carolina,
Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
The level of football play was well below that of the
previous eras. It was no longer a really major conference,
although it was not dropped to NCAA Division I-AA until
1982.
Over the years 1953-1976 the conference lost six of the 10
original members of the era. Davidson retained membership but dropped out
of football competition after the 1976 season. That left the Citadel, Furman
and Virginia Military of the 1953 members. East Carolina competed 1965-1976
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and then resigned. Appalachian state entered in 1972.
The conference took on a new look with the admissions of Marshall, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and Western Carolina in 1977 and East
Tennessee State in 1979. This marked the conference's first return to
Tennessee since 1932. Davidson was listed as competing in football 19831986, but this had no effect on the title races. All 22 games were with designated opponents and lost. Even the few versus conference members were
counted for Davidson only. The schedules of 1977 to date have been short
of round robins by a game or two some years, not counting Davidson.
The Southern Conference has had at least one team in the playoffs each year
since becoming part of NCAA Division 1-AA in 1982. The only championship
was won by Furman in 1988. Those losing in the finals were Western Carolina
in 1983, Furman in 1985, and Marshall in 1987.
SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE CONFERENCE, 1921-1932
Years Teams Games W
Alabama
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Tulane
Georgia Tech
Duke
Georgia
Florida
North Carolina
Virginia Tech
Kentucky
Louisiana State
Washington & Lee
South Carolina
Maryland
Virginia
Virginia Military
Auburn
Clemson
Mississippi State
North Carolina State
Mississippi
South (Sewanee)
1921-1932
1921-1932
1922-1932
1922-1932
1921-1932
1929-1932
1921-1932
1922-1932
1921-1932
1921-1932
1921-1932
1922-1932
1921-1932
1922-1932
1921-1932
1921-1932
1923-1932
1921-1932
1921-1932
1921-1932
1921-1932
1922-1932
1924-1932
12
12
11
11
12
4
12
11
12
12
12
11
12
11
12
12
10
12
12
12
12
11
9
79
71
64
68
76
24
71
62
74
66
65
49
60
59
59
67
58
70
49
55
60
51
47
60
51
42
43
43
14
41
33
37
33
26
21
25
24
22
22
21
21
16
15
14
12
9
645
L
T
Pct.
16
3
13 7
17
5
21
4
23 10
8
2
26
4
22
7
27 10
26 7
31
8
25 3
30
5
31
4
31
6
38
7
35 2
42
7
32
1
36
4
41
5
37
2
37
1
645 114
0.778
0.768
0.695
0.662
0.632
0.625
0.606
0.589
0.568
0.553
0.462
0.459
0.458
0.441
0.424
0.381
0.379
0.350
0.337
0.309
0.275
0.255
0.202
Titles
WT
3 1
0 2
1 0
2 1
2 2
0 0
0 1
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 1
0 0
0 0
0 1
0 0
0 0
8 9
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE, 1953-1991
Years
SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE CONFERENCE, 1933-1952
Years
Teams Games W
Duke
North Carolina
Clemson
William & Mary
Wake Forest
Maryland
Virginia Military
West Virginia
Washington & Lee
South Carolina
North Carolina State
George Washington
Furman
Virginia Tech
Richmond
Davidson
Citadel, The
Virginia
1933-1952
1933-1952
1933-1952
1936-1942, 1944-1952
1936-1952
1933-1952
1933-1952
1950-1952
1933-1942, 1946-1952
1933-1952
1933-1952
1941-1942, 1946-1952
1936-1942, 1946-1952
1933-1942, 1945-1952
1936-1952
1936-1943, 1946-1952
1936-1942, 1946-1952
1933-1935
20
20
20
16
17
20
20
3
17
20
20
9
14
18
17
15
14
3
102
94
80
84
109
76
114
15
78
101
129
48
80
123
98
99
63
15
84
61
51
54
64
43
57
8
38
43
50
18
29
41
26
22
14
2
705
L
15
26
24
26
40
29
45
7
34
52
69
27
44
70
67
73
47
10
705
T Pct. T i t l e s
W T
3 0.838 10 0
7 0.686 2 1
5 0.669 2 0
4 0.667 2 0
5 0.610 0 0
4 0.592 0 2
12 0.553 0 1
0 0.533 0 0
6 0.526 2 0
6 0.455 0 0
10 0.426 0 0
3 0.406 0 0
7 0.406 0 0
12 0.382 0 0
5 0.291 0 0
4 0.242 0 0
2 0.238 0 0
3 0.233 0 0
98
18 4
West Virginia
East Carolina
Tenn. Chattanooga
Virginia Tech
Appalachian State
Furman
Richmond
William & Mary
Citadel, The
Western Carolina
George Washington
Virginia Military
Marshall
East Tennessee
Washington & Lee
Davidson
Designated Opponents
1953-1967
1965-1976
19771953-1964
197219531933-1975
1953-1976
195319771953-1966
1953197719791953-1957
1953-1976, 1983-1986
Teams Games W
15
12
15
12
20
39
23
24
39
15
14
39
15
13
5
28
58
62
94
54
125
206
144
135
237
97
82
217
95
85
8
135
32
933
50
43
60
34
72
118
78
60
109
42
36
88
36
24
2
29
26
907
L
6
18
32
18
48
84
61
68
125
50
45
120
57
61
6
102
6
907
T P c t . Titles
WT
2 0.879 9 0
1 0.702 3 0
2 0.649 2 2
2 0.648 1 0
5 0.596 3 0
4 0.583 7 2
5 0.559 3 1
7 0.470 1 0
3 0.466 1 0
5 0.459 0 0
1 0.445 0 0
9 0.426 5 1
2 0.389 0 1
0 0.282 0 0
0 0.250 0 0
4 0.230 0 1
0
52
35 8