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The SoCon: Granddaddy Conference of Them All
The Southern Conference is a pioneer in college athletics with a long and rich history. In 1921, the SoCon became the first college athletics conference to hold a post-season basketball tournament to determine a conference champion. This was then made official in 1922. The SoCon was also the first conference in college basketball to use the three-point shot in an official game. On November 29th, 1980, Western Carolina beat Middle Tennessee State 77-70 in a game that saw Catamount legend Ronnie Carr shot the first ever collegiate three-point shot from 22 feet out.
On February 25th, 1921, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Virginia, Clemson, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Maryland, Washington and Lee, and Virginia Tech came together to announce the formation of the Southern Conference. These fourteen southern universities created a conference that would shape the very future of college athletics. In 1922, after just one year,the young conference would expand from fourteen members to twenty, and again in 1923 and 1924. Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, Tulane, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina would join in 1922, powerhouse Sewanee in 1923, and VMI in 1924. Duke would also join the conference in 1928.
In 1932, thirteen schools would depart the conference, dropping membership down to ten. At the Farragut hotel on December 9th, 1932, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Sewanee, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Tulane Announced the formation of the Southeastern Conference. The SEC would go on to be the most financially succesful college athletics conference of the 2000s and 2010s, wining multiple FBS national championships.
On June 14th, 1953, seven members of the SoCon left to form the Atlantic Coast Conference due to a dispute over a conference-wide postseason football ban enacted by the SoCon in 1951. Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, rival South Carolina, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest made the agreement at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Greensboro would serve as the conference’s home until they abandoned the city for Charlotte in August of 2023. The ACC would go on to produce countless national championships across several sports. The ACC is also home to one of the most decorated programs in college sports history in North Carolina’s women’s socer team, which won 21 of the first 31 national championships in the sport.
The modern iteration of the SoCon looks very different. The SoCon currently consists of 10 members with FCS football power Tennessee Tech becoming the 11th on July 1st of 2026. The Conference now plays football in the FCS, typically being one of the stronger conferences in the country. The SoCon basketball tournament is considered one of the best mid-major basketball conferences in the country every season. The tournament was held in Asheville, North Carolina from 198-1995 and has been held there every year since 2012.
The Harrah’s Cherokee center is a historic venue that holds up to 7500 fans and had yet another sellout Monday night. In fact, Asheville has done so well as the host of the tournament that on December 19th, 2025, the Southern Conference announced a 10 year extension of its deal to host the annual basketball tournament in the city. Asheville remains arguably the most centralized large venue for the footprint of the conference, even with the addition of Tennessee Tech.
The SoCon just capped off yet another successful edition of the oldest conference tournament in college basketball. The 6 seed Furman Paladins knocked off the top seeded ETSU Bucs by a score of 76-61. But that was not the only news out of Asheville on Monday. The Southern Conference announced an extension and expansion of its’ current media rights deal with ESPN. Per the new agreement, a minimum of 750 live SoCon events will be broadcast on ESPN channels.
Men’s basketball coverage will see notable expansion under the agreement. The SoCon men’s tournament championship is guaranteed to be broadcast on ESPN for multiple years of the deal. The semifinals will be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. For the first time, the league is also guaranteed regular-season men’s basketball games on ESPN or ESPN2. The SoCon women’s tournament championship is guaranteed to be broadcast on ESPNU every year. The new deal begins in 2026-27 and will run for six years.
The Southern Conference continues to rise in popularity, notoriety, and prestige. Every year, more and more fans take the annual pilgrimage to Asheville for the conference tournament from every corner of the conference. The city of Asheville has truly become the de facto home for the oldest conference in the south. This new deal with ESPN strengthens the foundation of the conference and the value of its members with increased coverage across both linear networks and digital platforms. ESPN has been a strong partner for the SoCon and likely will be for some time.
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