This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/J5kB84Fd on 2024-06-14 16:45:02+00:00.

Currently consisting of 10 members including:

  • Chattanooga
  • Citadel
  • ETSU
  • Furman
  • Mercer
  • Samford
  • UNC-G
  • VMI
  • Western Carolina
  • Wofford

The conference was originally founded in 1921 with the following 13 members.

  • Georgia
  • Tennessee
  • Alabama
  • Auburn
  • Kentucky
  • Miss St
  • UNC
  • UVA
  • VT
  • GT
  • NCSt
  • Clemson
  • Washington & Lee

In the next 3 years 9 more schools would join bring the total to 22 schools:

  • VMI
  • Tulane
  • South Carolina
  • Ole Miss
  • Florida
  • LSU
  • Vanderbilt
  • Sewanee
  • Maryland

Finally in another 4 years 1 more school would be added bringing the total to 23:

  • Duke

The conference would stay with this makeup for just 4 more years until the SEC was founded seeing the following 13 members depart:

  • Georgia
  • Tennessee
  • Alabama
  • Auburn
  • Kentucky
  • Miss St
  • Ole Miss
  • Florida
  • LSU
  • Vanderbilt
  • Tulane
  • Sewanee
  • GT

The SoCon would respond by adding the following members in 1936 to replace them:

  • Davidson
  • Citadel
  • Furman
  • University of Richmond
  • Wake
  • William & Mary

The following year 1 school would decide to leave and become independent:

  • UVA

In 1941 and 1950 two more schools would be added:

  • George Washington
  • WVU

Finally in 1953, another large blow with the founding of the ACC would see the following schools depart. Former member UVA would also join them.

  • Clemson
  • UNC
  • NCSt
  • South Carolina
  • Maryland
  • Duke
  • Wake

The conference would slowly lose a few more schools in 58, 65, and 68 including it’s last 2 founding members.

  • Washington & Lee
  • VT
  • WVU

Later members would include:

  • ECU
  • App St
  • Marshall
  • Georgia Southern

VMI while not a founding member joined 3 years after it’s founding and stayed until 2003 before leaving then rejoining in 2014, spending 90 years in the conference. Only Furman and the Citadel can compare, current members who joined in 1936 spending 88 years in the conference.

At one point the entire 12 team SEC of 1991-2012 was in the same conference as the entire 12 team ACC of 2005-2014 with the exceptions of Arkansas, Wake, Miami, FSU and BC (and Wake just missed it by a couple of years).

After departing the SoCon GT, Tulane, South Carolina, and VT would all be independents, eventually spending time again together in the Metro conference (although GT and SoCar’s time did not overlap). GT was a founding member of the SoCon, SEC, and the Metro.

Former members GT and South Carolina would later find themselves ultimately swapping the conferences they left the SoCon for between the ACC and SEC in 79 and 91, with former member VT eventually joining the ACC in 2004.

Every current P4 conference had a school that was a member of the SoCon at some point. At it’s peak it’s membership included the following schools:

  • Georgia
  • Tennessee
  • Alabama
  • Auburn
  • Kentucky
  • Miss St
  • UNC
  • UVA
  • VT
  • GT
  • NCSt
  • Clemson
  • Washington & Lee
  • VMI
  • Tulane
  • South Carolina
  • Ole Miss
  • Florida
  • LSU
  • Vanderbilt
  • Sewanee
  • Maryland
  • Duke