Gulf South Conference


The Gulf South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II level which operates in the Southeastern United States.

History

Originally known as the Mid-South Conference, the Gulf South Conference was formed by six universities in the summer of 1970: Delta State, Florence State, Jacksonville State, Livingston, Tennessee–Martin, and Troy State. Scheduling problems for the 1970–71 academic year limited the league to football, won by Jacksonville State.
In 1971, the league changed its name to the Gulf South Conference; added Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls State ; opened an office in Hammond, Louisiana; and began championships in all men's sports. The following year, Mississippi College and Northwestern Louisiana were admitted. NWLA withdrew to go Division I two years later, followed by SLU and Nicholls State in 1979.
The conference continued with seven teams until 1981, when the presidents admitted Valdosta State. West Georgia joined in 1983. Eight years of stability ended in 1991 when Tennessee–Martin and Troy State went Division I, briefly dropping the GSC back to seven members, before the beginning of an expansion resulting in ten new members: Lincoln Memorial ; Alabama–Huntsville, Henderson State, Central Arkansas, and Mississippi University for Women ; West Florida ; and Arkansas-Monticello, Arkansas Tech, Montevallo, and Southern Arkansas. Jacksonville State went Division I at the end of 1992–93. Mississippi College dropped to Division III at the end of 1995–96 and was replaced by Christian Brothers to keep the Conference at 16 schools. In July 2000, the GSC welcomed Harding University and Ouachita Baptist University, making it the largest NCAA conference at any level with 18 schools. The Conference membership decreased to 17 when MUW dropped its athletics program at the end of the 2002–03 season.
2006–07 was another season of change for the GSC. Central Arkansas moved to Division I, leaving the West Division with eight schools while Lincoln Memorial left for the South Atlantic Conference due to travel and location issues, leaving the East Division with seven schools.
Montevallo announced on June 27, 2008 that they would be leaving for the Peach Belt Conference following the 2008–09 season due to issues between the University's President and the Commissioner.
The GSC moved away from divisional play after the 2010-11 season after its six Arkansas members broke away, dropping the membership to eight. Thanks to an aggressive expansion plan, the GSC sponsored the Division II applications of Union University and Shorter University, which became official members in 2014-15. The next step in bolstering its membership came in 2012, backing the Division II application of Lee University which was on track to join the league officially in 2015-16. The league added its first-ever associate member, Florida Tech, in football only in 2013. The Conference planned to add an old friend back into the fold when Mississippi College submitted its application to rejoin Division II and was on track for 2016-17 membership.
Former Commissioner Jim McCullough brought the GSC office to Birmingham when he was hired in 1979. The Conference welcomed its seventh Commissioner in May 2014 when Matt Wilson was selected to follow Nate Salant who retired after a 22-year stint.

2010s realignment

Beginning with the 2011–12 academic year; Arkansas Tech University, University of Arkansas at Monticello, Harding University, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, and Southern Arkansas University left the GSC to form the Great American Conference.
The University of New Orleans, which was transitioning from Division I to Division II, was accepted into the conference in June 2011, but the school announced intentions to stay at Division I in March 2012. In July 2011, Shorter University and Union University were accepted into the NCAA and began the multi-year transition process from the NAIA to NCAA. Both universities began GSC competition in the 2012–13 academic year but will not be eligible for NCAA national tournaments until the 2014–15 academic year. In August 2011, the GSC added the Florida Institute of Technology as an associate member for football beginning in the 2013 season.
On October 11, 2012, Mississippi College announced that it would petition the NCAA to leave Division III and return to the conference. The transition was a lengthy process; Mississippi College officially became a Division II candidate starting with the 2013–14 academic year, with the school becoming a full Division II member for 2016–17.
In 2013, Lee University joined the GSC, bringing the membership to 11. Lee University moved to Division II provisional membership for the 2014-15 season. They will complete transition to Division II in the 2015-16 season. Mississippi College entered its second candidacy year with the 2014-15 season in its path to full Division II membership in 2016-17 and added Gulf South Conference teams to its schedule.
The next change to the conference's membership was officially announced on December 6, 2016 when North Alabama was accepted to the Atlantic Sun Conference and would begin a transition to Division I sports in 2018. In May 2020, affiliate member Florida Tech announced the discontinuation of their football program due to the financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Member schools

Current members

Former members

Membership timeline


DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1970 till:2022
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:20 top:5
Colors =
id:line value:black
id:Full value:rgb # all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # non-football
id:AssocF value:rgb # football-only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # associate
PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:darkblue shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:AssocF from:1970 till:1971 text:Tennessee–Martin
bar:1 color:Full from:1971 till:1991
bar:2 color:AssocF from:1970 till:1971 text:Troy State
bar:2 color:Full from:1971 till:1991
bar:3 color:AssocF from:1970 till:1971 text:Jacksonville State
bar:3 color:Full from:1971 till:1993
bar:4 color:AssocF from:1970 till:1971 text:Delta State
bar:4 color:Full from:1971 till:end
bar:5 color:AssocF from:1970 till:1971 text:North Alabama
bar:5 color:Full from:1971 till:2018
bar:6 color:AssocF from:1970 till:1971 text:West Alabama
bar:6 color:Full from:1971 till:end
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1971 till:1972 text:Northwestern State
bar:7 color:Full from:1972 till:1973
bar:7 color:AssocF from:1973 till:1975
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1971 till:1972 text:Nicholls State
bar:8 color:Full from:1972 till:1979
bar:9 color:Full from:1971 till:1979 text:Southeastern Louisiana
bar:10 color:Full from:1972 till:1996 text:Mississippi College
bar:10 color:Full from:2014 till:end text:
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1981 till:1982 text:Valdosta State
bar:11 color:Full from:1982 till:end
bar:12 color:Full from:1983 till:end text:West Georgia
bar:13 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2006 text:Lincoln Memorial
bar:14 color:FullxF from:1993 till:end text:Alabama–Huntsville
bar:15 color:Full from:1993 till:2006 text:Central Arkansas
bar:16 color:Full from:1993 till:2011 text:Henderson State
bar:17 color:FullxF from:1993 till:2003 text:Mississippi University for Women
bar:18 color:FullxF from:1994 till:2016 text:West Florida
bar:18 color:Full from:2016 till:end
bar:19 color:Full from:1995 till:2011 text:Arkansas Tech
bar:20 color:Full from:1995 till:2011 text:Arkansas–Monticello
bar:21 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2009 text:Montevallo
bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2017 text:
bar:21 color:FullxF from:2017 till:end
bar:22 color:Full from:1995 till:2011 text:Southern Arkansas
bar:23 color:FullxF from:1996 till:end text:Christian Brothers
bar:24 color:Full from:2000 till:2011 text:Harding
bar:24 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:2012 text:
bar:25 color:Full from:2000 till:2011 text:Ouachita Baptist
bar:25 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:2012 text:
bar:26 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:2012 text:New Orleans
bar:27 color:Full from:2012 till:end text:Shorter
bar:28 color:FullxF from:2012 till:end text:Union
bar:29 color:FullxF from:2013 till:end text:Lee
bar:30 color:AssocF from:2013 till:2019 text:Florida Tech
bar:31 shift: color:AssocOS from:2014 till:end text:Spring Hill
bar:33 shift: color:AssocOS from:2015 till:end text:Young Harris
bar:34 shift: color:FullxF from:2017 till:end text:Auburn–Montgomery
bar:35 shift: color:AssocF from:2018 till:end text:North Greenville
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1971

Conference venues

Sponsored sports

The GSC sponsors competition in 8 men's sports and 9 women's sports. The conference begins sponsoring women's lacrosse and men's / women's track & field in the 2015–16 school year.
SportMen'sWomen's
Baseball
Basketball
Cross Country
Football
Golf
Lacrosse
Soccer
Softball
Tennis
Track & Field Outdoor
Volleyball

Men's sponsored sports by school

Women's sponsored sports by school

Other sponsored sports by school

SportSchoolYear
BaseballValdosta State1979
BaseballTroy State1986 • 1987
BaseballJacksonville State1990 • 1991
BaseballDelta State2004
BaseballWest Florida2011
Men's BasketballNorth Alabama1979 • 1991
Men's BasketballJacksonville State1985
Women's BasketballDelta State1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1989 • 1990 • 1992
Women's BasketballSoutheastern Louisiana1977
FootballWest Alabama1971
FootballTroy State1984 • 1987
FootballMississippi College1989
FootballJacksonville State1992
FootballNorth Alabama1993 • 1994 • 1995
FootballDelta State2000
FootballValdosta State2004 • 2007 • 2012 • 2018
FootballWest Florida2019
Men's GolfTroy1976 • 1977 • 1984
Men's GolfWest Florida2001 • 2008
Women's GolfTroy State1984 • 1986 • 1989
Women's GymnasticsJacksonville State1984 • 1985
Men's Ice HockeyAlabama–Huntsville1996 • 1998
Women's SoccerChristian Brothers2002
Women's SoccerWest Florida2012
SoftballValdosta State2012
SoftballNorth Alabama2016
Men's TennisWest Florida2004 • 2005 • 2014 • 2017
Men's TennisValdosta State2006 • 2011
Men's Track & Field OutdoorSoutheastern Louisiana1975
Women's VolleyballNorth Alabama2003