Association | NAIA |
---|---|
Founded | 2000 |
Commissioner | Bill Popp [1] |
Sports fielded |
|
No. of teams | 16 |
Headquarters | Asheville, North Carolina |
Region | Southeastern United States |
Official website | aacsports.com |
Locations | |
The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). [2] Members of the conference are located in the Southeastern United States in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. [2]
The conference is the successor to the Volunteer State Athletic Conference (VSAC), which began in the 1940s; [2] and later the Tennessee-Virginia Athletic Conference (TVAC) that operated during the 1980s and 1990s. [2] The Appalachian Athletic Conference was formed in 2000 with the additions of members from Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina. [2] In 2019 the conference added Kentucky Christian University as a full member and Savannah College of Art and Design as an associate member in men's and women's lacrosse. [3]
Bluefield College was a member of the AAC from 2000 until 2012 when it left to join the Mid-South Conference. On March 3, 2014, Bluefield announced that it would return to the AAC in fall 2014. [4]
The AAC currently has 16 full members, all are private schools. It is the largest conference in the NAIA: [3]
The AAC currently has ten affiliate members, all but one are private schools:
The AAC had eight former full members, all but one were private schools:
The AAC had two former affiliate members, both were private schools:
Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined [lower-alpha 1] | Left [lower-alpha 2] | AAC sport(s) | Primary conference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asbury University | Wilmore, Kentucky | 1890 | Christian | 1,720 | Eagles | 2015m.lax.; 2015w.lax.; 2016m.sw.; 2016w.sw. | 2019m.lax.; 2021w.lax.; 2021m.sw.; 2021w.sw. | men's lacrosse; women's lacrosse; men's swimming; women's swimming | D-III Independent (CCS in 2024) |
University of the Cumberlands [lower-alpha 3] | Williamsburg, Kentucky | 1887 | Nondenominational | 19,272 | Patriots | 2015 | 2018 | women's lacrosse | Mid-South (MSC) |
Georgetown College | Georgetown, Kentucky | 1829 | Baptist | 1,625 | Tigers | 2017 | 2018 | women's lacrosse | Mid-South (MSC) |
Full member (non-football) Associate member (sport)
The Appalachian Athletic Conference currently fields 24 sports (13 men's and 11 women's):
Sport | Men's | Women's |
---|---|---|
Baseball | ||
Basketball | ||
Cross country | ||
Football | ||
Golf | ||
Lacrosse | ||
Soccer | ||
Softball | ||
Swimming | ||
Tennis | ||
Track & field outdoor | ||
Track & field indoor | ||
Volleyball | ||
Wrestling |
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