This is a list of college athletics programs in the U.S. state of South Carolina.
Team | School | City | Conference | Sport sponsorship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Base- ball | Basketball | Beach Volleyball | Cross Country | Foot- ball | Golf | Lacrosse | Soccer | Soft- ball | Swimming | Tennis | Track & Field | Volleyball | Wrestling | |||||||||||||||
M | W | M | W | M | W | M | W | M | W | M | W | M | W | M | W | M | W | |||||||||||
CIU Rams | Columbia International University | Columbia | Appalachian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Columbia College Koalas | Columbia College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Morris Hornets | Morris College | Sumter | Independent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spartanburg Methodist Pioneers | Spartanburg Methodist College | Spartanburg | Appalachian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Voorhees Tigers | Voorhees University | Denmark | HBCUAC |
Team | School | City | Conference |
---|---|---|---|
Denmark Tech Panthers | Denmark Technical College | Denmark | Carolinas JC |
Florence-Darlington Tech Stingers | Florence-Darlington Technical College | Florence | Carolinas JC |
USC-Lancaster Lancers | University of South Carolina Lancaster | Lancaster | Carolinas JC |
USC-Salkehatchie Indians | University of South Carolina Salkehatchie | Allendale | Carolinas JC |
USC-Sumter Fire Ants | University of South Carolina Sumter | Sumter | Carolinas JC |
Team | School | City | Conference |
---|---|---|---|
CIU Rams [lower-alpha 1] | Columbia International University | Columbia | Division I-South |
Bob Jones Bruins | Bob Jones University | Greenville | Division II-South |
Team | School | City | Conference |
---|---|---|---|
Clinton Golden Bears | Clinton College | Rock Hill | Eastern Metro |
The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States.
The University of South Carolina Beaufort is a public college with three campuses in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. It is part of the University of South Carolina System, enrolls about 2,000 students, and offers over 50 areas of study. The main campus is in Bluffton. The institution's campus in Beaufort houses the school's honor programs and the Department of Visual Arts & Design. The campus location on Hilton Head Island is home to the institution's program for hospitality management.
NAIA independent schools are four-year institutional members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) that do not have formal conference affiliations. NAIA schools that are not members of any other athletic conference are members of the Continental Athletic Conference (CAC), formerly the Association of Independent Institutions (AII), which provides member services to the institution and allows members to compete in postseason competition. The CAC has one member institution in Canada's British Columbia. It provides services to the member institutions that are not fitting in any other NAIA conference and allows members to compete in postseason competition. The AII renamed itself the Continental Athletic Conference at the end of June 2021, citing the need to identify as a proper conference.
The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The 10 member institutions are located in the South Atlantic states of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. In addition, seven affiliate members participate in one sport each; namely sports not sponsored by their home conferences.
The Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The 13 member universities that compete in 19 sports are located in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Basketball teams compete as a single division in the NAIA.
The Sun Conference (TSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Eight of the ten full member institutions are located in Florida, with two in Georgia. The Sun Conference competes in the NAIA in all sponsored sports.
Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Division II level. It is also considered as one of the seven Division I conferences for men's volleyball. Originally formed in 1930, the league reached its modern incarnation in 1994. Member institutions are located in the southeastern United States in the states of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The Conference Carolinas membership currently consists of 15 small colleges or universities, 13 private and two public.
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are the athletic teams that represent Coastal Carolina University. They participate in Division I of the NCAA as a member of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) in most sports, having joined that conference as a full but non-football member on July 1, 2016. At that time, the football team began a transition from the second-level Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the top-level Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The team played the 2016 season as an FCS independent, joined SBC football for the 2017 season, and became full FBS members for 2018 and beyond. A Chanticleer is a proud and fierce rooster. Before joining the SBC, the Chanticleers had been members of the Big South Conference since that league's formation in 1983. Coastal fields varsity teams in 19 sports, 8 for men and 11 for women. The university regularly competed for the Sasser Cup, the Big South's trophy for the university with the best sports program among the member institutions, winning the trophy nine times, tied with rival Liberty University.
A variety of sports are popular in the US state of South Carolina.
The South Carolina Little Three was an intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1946 to 1964. The conference's three main members, Newberry College, Presbyterian College, and Wofford College, were located in the state of South Carolina. All three teams now play in different leagues: Newberry in the South Atlantic, Presbyterian in the Big South (FCS), and Wofford in the SoCon (FCS). Erskine College was also a member from 1946 to 1951 when it dropped its football program. Erskine has announced that their football program is returning for the 2020 season. The College of Charleston was also a member of the South Carolina Little Five in basketball, now playing in the Colonial Athletic Association, but the post-season basketball tournament was always for the South Carolina Little Four and the College of Charleston was not invited.
The USC Beaufort Sand Sharks are the athletic teams that represent the University of South Carolina Beaufort, located in Beaufort, South Carolina, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) since the 2022–23 academic year. The Sand Sharks previously competed in the Continental Athletic Conference, formerly known as the Association of Independent Institutions (AII), for the 2022–23 school year only, while they were continuing their transition as members of the Peach Belt and of NCAA Division II; and in the Sun Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), formerly known as the Florida Sun Conference (FSC), from 2008–09 to 2021–22.