Since its inception came in the 1990–91 school year, the Peach Belt has, across all sanctioned sports, produced 30 national champions and an additional 27 national finalists. Starting with only two championships in 1991, in men's and women's basketball, the conference has expanded to 18 championship sports with the addition of men's lacrosse in the summer of 2020 and men's and women's indoor track and field in 2023.
History
Peach Belt Conference
60km 37miles
Augusta
Middle Georgia State
USC Beaufort
USC Aiken
North Georgia
Lander
Georgia Southwestern State
Georgia College
Flagler
Columbus State
Clayton State
Location of Peach Belt Conference members: full
The conference traces its roots November 1988 when 11 schools first met in Greenville, S.C. to form a Division II conference. Following a second meeting on Dec. 3, 1989, five of those 11 schools, plus two others, formed the Peach Belt Athletic Conference and began play in the fall of 1990.
The Peach Belt was less than a year old before capturing its first of many national championships. The Columbus State men's golf team took the honor by winning the 1992 national crown, the first of three golf championships the Cougars own. One year later, the Lander men's tennis team began their record-breaking run of eight straight national titles, the first PBC dynasty. Since then, USCA men's golf won three straight national titles from 2004 to 2006 while AASU women's tennis captured four titles overall.
The 2010–11 season was one of the most memorable the league has ever had. Clayton State became the first PBC women's basketball team to capture a national championship. Montevallo watched their men's basketball team reach the Elite Eight, eventually competing in the National Championship Game. Unfortunately, their run came to an end with a loss to Western Washington University. The Columbus State men's tennis team reached the national semifinals while the Clayton State and Armstrong Atlantic State women's tennis teams also played in the national semifinals. The North Georgia softball team made an unprecedented third straight appearance in the NCAA Women's College World Series, while Columbus State's Meshack Koyiaki registered a runner-up finish at the Men's Cross Country National Championships. In all, 46 Peach Belt teams made appearances in the NCAA postseason, including seven men's tennis teams and six each in the sports of men's golf and women's tennis.
David Brunk was named the second PBC commissioner in May 2007, replacing Marvin Vanover, who was the first PBC commissioner from 1991 to 2007.
Dr. Kendall Blanchard, president of Georgia Southwestern State University, began the second of his two-year term as the league president in July 2011.
In April 2020, Francis Marion University and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke announced that they would leave the Peach Belt Conference starting in 2021–22, both joining Conference Carolinas.[3]
On April 14, 2021, the conference invited the NAIA's University of South Carolina Beaufort to join in 2022–23 after applying for membership in Division II and gaining acceptance into the NCAA.[4] By July 14, 2022, USCB was accepted into the NAIA's Continental Athletic Conference for its first year of provisional membership while still playing a Peach Belt schedule as part of the Sand Sharks' dual NAIA-NCAA membership. USCB is ineligible for a Peach Belt or NCAA postseason during the three-year transition.[5]
The conference currently holds championships in 16 sports, eight for men and eight for women. The championship sports are men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, baseball, softball, men's and women's track & field, and men's and women's golf.[6] Men's lacrosse was added on July 10, 2020, with its first season was in spring 2021, and men's and women's indoor track and field was added on August 11, 2023.[7][8]
On December 13, 2023, the Sunshine State Conference, primary home of PBC track affiliate Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University (and former affiliate Nova Southeastern University), announced it would start sponsoring men's and women's outdoor track & field in the 2025 spring season (2024–25 school year), and accordingly, both schools moved their respective programs to the SSC. Embry–Riddle would remain a PBC affiliate in men's and women's indoor track.[9]
On January 10, 2024, Middle Georgia State University announced that it had received an invitation by the PBC and would join the conference, beginning the 2025–26 academic year.[10]
On July 1, 2025, longtime PBC deputy commissioner Diana Kling succeeded David Brunk, becoming the conference's third commissioner.[11] Brunk had served as commissioner from 2007 to 2025.
Chronological timeline
1989 – On December 3, 1989, the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) was founded as the Peach Belt Athletic Conference (PBAC). Charter members included Armstrong State College (later Armstrong Atlantic University before merging with Georgia Southern University), Columbus College (now Columbus State University), Francis Marion College (now Francis Marion University), Georgia College (now Georgia College & State University), Lander College (now Lander University), the University of South Carolina at Aiken (USC Aiken) and the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg (USC Spartanburg, now the University of South Carolina Upstate or USC Upstate), beginning the 1990–91 academic year.
1991 – Augusta College (later Augusta State University, now Augusta University) joined the PBAC in the 1991–92 academic year.
1992 – The Pembroke State University (now the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, or UNC Pembroke) joined the PBAC in the 1992–93 academic year.
1994 – Kennesaw State College (now Kennesaw State University) joined the PBAC in the 1994–95 academic year.
1995 – Clayton State College (later Clayton College and State University, now Clayton State University) joined the PBAC in the 1995–96 academic year.
2014 – The Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech) joined the PBC as an affiliate member for men's & women's outdoor track & field in the 2015 spring season (2014–15 academic year).
2016 – Alabama–Huntsville (UAH) and Shorter left the PBC as affiliate members for men's & women's outdoor track & field after the 2016 spring season (2015–16 academic year).
2017:
Two institutions left the PBC to join their respective new home primary conferences, both after the 2016–17 academic year:
The Daytona Beach campus of Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University joined the PBC as an affiliate member for men's and women's outdoor track & field in the 2018 spring season (2017–18 academic year).
2019 – Two institutions joined the PBC as affiliate members, both effective in the 2019–20 academic year:
Francis Marion and UNC Pembroke left the PBC to join the Conference Carolinas (CC) after the 2020–21 academic year.
Nova Southeastern left the PBC as an affiliate member for men's and women's outdoor track & field after the 2021 spring season (2020–21 academic year).
Alabama–Huntsville (UAH) and Shorter rejoined the PBC as affiliate members for men's lacrosse (with former full member Montevallo also rejoining that sport) in the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year).
Savannah State University joined the PBC as an affiliate member for women's golf in the 2021–22 academic year.
Young Harris left the PBC to join the Conference Carolinas (CC) after the 2022–23 academic year.
Central State University (and Embry–Riddle adding the sport into its PBC affiliate membership) joined the PBC as an affiliate member for men's and women's indoor track & field in the 2024 spring season (2023–24 academic year).
2024:
Embry–Riddle left the PBC as an affiliate member for men's and women's outdoor track & field after the 2024 spring season (2023–24 academic year); although Embry–Riddle would remain in the conference for men's and women's indoor track & field.
Shorter left the PBC to join the Conference Carolinas for all sports after the 2023–24 academic year, including its PBC affiliated sport of men's lacrosse.
Edward Waters University joined the PBC as an affiliate member for women's golf in the 2024–25 academic year.
↑ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
↑ Middle Georgia State's main campus is in Macon, where the women's cross-country and volleyball teams and men's and women's tennis teams are housed; the other intercollegiate athletics teams compete on the Cochran campus.
Affiliate members
The PBC currently has ten affiliate members, four being private schools and six being public.
↑ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
↑ Alabama–Huntsville was an affiliate of the Peach Belt for men's and women's outdoor track & field from the 2013 to 2016 spring seasons (2012–13 to 2015–16 school years).
↑ Montevallo was a full member of the Peach Belt from 2009–10 to 2016–17.
Former members
The PBC has eight former full members, all but one are public schools:
↑ The NCAA holds a single rifle championship event open to schools in all three divisions. Rifle schools in Divisions I and II operate under the same rules, including scholarship limits.
1 2 The NCAA sponsors Division II men's and women's golf championships, but the Augusta men's and women's golf teams compete as Division I members.
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