Location of AAC members: current, future, departing
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]
Recent changes
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.[3]
King (Tenn.) to become an NAIA Independent (to later join the NCAA Division II ranks as an NCAA D-II Independent during the 2010–11 school year; and then subsequently join the Conference Carolinas (CC), beginning the 2011–12 school year)
2009 – Reinhardt College (now Reinhardt University) joined the AAC in the 2009–10 academic year.
2010 – UVa Wise left the AAC to join the Mid-South Conference (MSC) after the 2009–10 academic year.
Two institutions joined the AAC as affiliate members (and/or added other single sports into their affiliate memberships), both effective in the 2017–18 academic year:
Cumberlands (Ky.) and Georgetown (Ky.) left the AAC as affiliate members for women's lacrosse to compete in their primary home conference in the Mid-South (where they began sponsoring that sport) after the 2018 spring season (2017–18 academic year).
Asbury left the AAC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse as the school announced to discontinue the sport during mid-season within the 2019 spring season (2018–19 academic year).
Webber International University joined the AAC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse in the 2021 spring season (2020–21 academic year).
2021
Asbury left the AAC as an affiliate member for women's lacrosse, men's and women's swimming after the 2020–21 academic year.
The Tennessee campus of Johnson University joined the AAC in the 2021–22 academic year.
Keiser University joined the AAC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse in the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year).
2022
Eight institutions joined the AAC as affiliate members (and/or added other single sports into their affiliate memberships), all effective in the 2022–23 academic year:
The AAC began to sponsor football, with core members Bluefield, Kentucky Christian, Point, Reinhardt, St. Andrews (N.C.), and Union (Ky.) in the 2022 fall season (2022–23 academic year).
2023
Point left the AAC to join the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) after the 2023–24 academic year; while their football team still remains in the AAC as an affiliate member.
↑ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
↑ Bluefield left the AAC after the 2011–12 school year to join the Mid-South Conference; before rejoining the AAC in the 2014–15 school year.
↑ This institution is a women's college, therefore it does not compete in men's sports.
↑ This institution was a women's college, but has since then been a co-educational institution, therefore it does compete in some men's sports (Columbia (S.C.) since 2020–21).
↑ The Columbia (S.C.)'s men's basketball teams joined the AAC 13 years after becoming a full member for other sports (2024–25).
↑ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
↑ Georgetown (Ky.) competed in the AAC as an affiliate member for women's lacrosse during the 2018 spring season (2017–18), then rejoined since the 2023 spring season (2022–23 academic year).
↑ Point was a full member of the AAC from 2011–12 to 2022–23.
↑ Cumberlands (Ky.) competed in the AAC as an affiliate member for women's lacrosse from 2015–16 to 2017–18.
Future affiliate members
The AAC has one future affiliate member, which operates public and private institutions within a single entity.
↑ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
↑ Rio Grande consists of a public community college and a private, nonsectarian four-year university. The community college component is part of the University System of Ohio.
Former members
The AAC had eight former full members, all but one were private schools:
↑ Point remains in the AAC as an affiliate member for football.
↑ UVA Wise dropped "Highland" from its athletic nickname in 2017.
1 2 UVA Wise left the Mid-South after the 2012–13 school year. Originally it joined the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) as a charter member for most sports as a transitional NCAA Division II member school during the 2012–13 school year, but was fulfilling its commitments to the final year of competition in the Mid-South and in the NAIA. However it never began competition as a full G-MAC member, as it would later announce that it would join the Mountain East Conference (MEC), beginning the 2013–14 school year.
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