Collegiate Conference of the South

Collegiate Conference of the South

Association	NCAA
Founded	2022;3 years ago (2022)
Commissioner	Beth Vansant
Sports fielded	14 men's: 7 women's: 7
Division	Division III
No. of teams	9 (8 in 2026)
Region	South
Official website	collegiateconfsouth.com
Locations

Collegiate Conference of the South

120km
75miles

Agnes Scott

Wesleyan

Piedmont

Maryville

LaGrange

Huntingdon

Covenant

Belhaven

Asbury

   

Location of CCS members:
Current Members
Departing Members

The Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the Division III ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Member schools are located in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky. ^[1]

While competitive CCS play began immediately during the 2022–23 school year, the CCS will not be eligible for automatic NCAA Division III tournament bids until 2024. ^[2] The conference sponsors 14 championship sports. Football, women's golf, and men's and women's lacrosse teams sponsored by CCS members continue to compete in the USA South as associate members. ^[3]

History

First changes

On June 1, 2023, Berea announced that it accepted an invitation to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) as a full member, thus leaving the CCS, and join there, beginning the 2024–25 school year. ^[4]

On October 6, 2023, Asbury University was accepted as a full member of the CCS, thus replacing Berea's spot, to join there beginning during the 2024–25 school year. ^[5]

On July 17, 2024, Maryville announced that it will leave the CCS to accept an invitation to the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) as a full member, and will join there, beginning the 2026–27 school year. ^[6]

Chronological timeline

• 2022 – The College Conference of the South was founded and established after a decision to split the 19-member USA South Athletic Conference (USA South) into two smaller, geographically oriented leagues. Charter members included Agnes Scott College, Belhaven University, Berea College, Covenant College, Huntingdon College, LaGrange College, Maryville College, Piedmont University and Wesleyan College, beginning the 2022–23 academic year.
• 2024:
  • Berea left the CCS to join the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) after the 2023–24 academic year.
  • Asbury University joined the CCS in the 2024–25 academic year.
• 2026 – Maryville (Tenn.) will leave the CCS to join the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) after the 2025–26 academic year.

Member schools

Founding members

The CCS began with nine full members, all private and faith-based schools. The only members not tied to one or more specific Christian denominations are current member Asbury and former member Berea, although Asbury is historically associated with the Methodist movement.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined [a]	Football?
Agnes Scott College [b]	Decatur, Georgia	1889	Presbyterian (PCUSA)	914	Scotties	2022	No
Asbury University	Wilmore, Kentucky	1890	Christian (unaffiliated)	1,054	Eagles	2024 [7]	No
Belhaven University	Jackson, Mississippi	1883	Presbyterian (PCUSA)	3,245	Blazers	2022	Yes
Covenant College	Lookout Mountain, Georgia	1955	Presbyterian (PCA)	1,282	Scots & Lady Scots	2022	No
Huntingdon College	Montgomery, Alabama	1854	United Methodist	900	Hawks	2022	Yes
LaGrange College	LaGrange, Georgia	1831	United Methodist	1,137	Panthers	2022	Yes
Maryville College	Maryville, Tennessee	1819	Presbyterian (PCUSA)	1,103	Scots	2022	Yes
Piedmont University	Demorest, Georgia	1897	United Church of Christ & Congregationalist	2,640	Lions	2022	No
Wesleyan College [b]	Macon, Georgia	1836	United Methodist	550	Wolves	2022	No

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. This institution is a women's college, therefore it does not compete in men's sports.

Former members

The CCS has one former full member, which was also a private school:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined [a]	Left [b]	Current conference
Berea College	Berea, Kentucky	1855	Christian (unaffiliated)	1,613	Mountaineers	2022	2024	Heartland (HCAC)

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.

Membership timeline

 Full member (all sports)  Full member (non-football)  Associate member (football)  Associate member (sport) 

Sports

The CCS sponsors championships in the following sports:

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Golf	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track and field (outdoor)	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Tennis	Track & field (outdoor)	Total CCS sports
Asbury	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Belhaven	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Covenant	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Huntingdon	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
LaGrange	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Maryville	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Piedmont	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Totals	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	49

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the CCS that are played by CCS schools

School	Cycling	Equestrian	Football	Lacrosse	Swimming	Wrestling
Asbury					SCAC
Belhaven			USA South
Huntingdon			USA South	USA South		IND
LaGrange			USA South	USA South
Maryville		YCoed	SAA
Piedmont	Y			USA South	IND

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & field (outdoor)	Volleyball	Total CCS sports
Agnes Scott	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Asbury	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Belhaven	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Covenant	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Huntingdon	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
LaGrange	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Maryville	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Piedmont	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Wesleyan	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	4
Totals	9	8	9	9	8	8	9	60

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the CCS that are played by CCS schools

School	Beach Volleyball	Cycling	Equestrian	Flag Football	Golf	Lacrosse	Swimming	Wrestling
Asbury							SCAC
Huntingdon	IND			IND	USA South	USA South		IND
LaGrange	IND			IND	USA South
Maryville			YCoed		USA South
Piedmont		Y			USA South	USA South	IND
Wesleyan	IND		Y

Conference facilities

All CCS members with football teams play that sport in the USA South.

School	Football		Basketball
	Stadium	Capacity	Arena	Capacity
Agnes Scott	Non-football school	—	Woodruff Athletic Complex	—
Asbury	Non-football school	—	Luce Center Gym	1,500
Belhaven	Belhaven Bowl	1,200	Charles R. Rugg Arena	500
Covenant	Non-football school	—	Barnes Physical Education Center	650
Huntingdon	Charles Lee Field at Samford Stadium	2,500	Catherine Dixon Roland Arena	976
LaGrange	Callaway Stadium	5,000	Mariotti Gymnasium	500
Maryville	Lloyd L. Thornton Stadium	3,000	Boydson-Baird Gymnasium	2,000
Piedmont	Non-football school	—	Johnny Mize Athletic Center and Cave Arena [8]	1,500
Wesleyan	Non-football school	—	Porter Gymnasium	586

See also

• USA South Athletic Conference
• Great South Athletic Conference – former Division III conference with similar membership and geographic footprint

References

1. "USA South Announces Conference Restructuring". USA South Athletic Conference. February 18, 2022. Archived from the original on February 21, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
2. Coleman, Pat; McHugh, Dave (February 16, 2022). "USA South Athletic Conference to split in two". D3Sports. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
3. "Collegiate Conference of the South approved by the NCAA, following USA South separation". Agnes Scott Scotties. February 18, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
4. "HCAC Welcomes Berea College as its Newest Member". heartlandconf.org. HCAC. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
5. "Asbury Joins Division III Collegiate Conference of the South". asburyeagles.com. Asbury University athletics. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
6. "Maryville College Approved for Full SAA Membership". saa-sports.com. SAA. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
7. TeamAU (October 6, 2023). "Asbury Joins Division III Collegiate Conference of the South". Asbury Eagles. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
8. "Johnny Mize Athletic Center with Video". Piedmont Lions. Piedmont College. Retrieved April 9, 2022.

External links

• Official website