The Dixie Conference was the name of three collegiate athletic leagues in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The first operated from 1930 until the United States' entry into World War II in 1942. The second conference to use the name existed from 1948 to 1954. The third was the original name of the current USA South Athletic Conference

USA South Athletic Conference

The USA South Athletic Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III...

.

Formation and relationship with the SIAA

At the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association

The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS football programs were members of this conference at some point, as were at least 19 other schools...

 (SIAA) annual convention in 1930, nine of the association's members announced the formation of the Dixie Conference to facilitate scheduling of games among the group. The charter members were Birmingham-Southern College

Birmingham-Southern College

Birmingham–Southern College is a 4-year, private liberal arts college located three miles northwest of downtown Birmingham. Founded in 1856, it is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Approximately 1400 students from 30 states and 23 foreign countries attend the college...

, Howard College

Samford University

Samford University, founded as Howard College is a private, coeducational, Alabama Baptist Convention-affiliated university located in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It includes the , Cumberland School of Law, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Brock School of Business, Ida V....

 (now Samford University), Southwestern of Memphis

Rhodes College

Rhodes College is a private, predominantly undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Originally founded by freemasons in 1848, Rhodes became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in 1855. Rhodes enrolls approximately 1,700 students pursuing bachelor's and master's...

 (now Rhodes College), Centre College

Centre College

Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, USA, a community of approximately 16,000 in Boyle County south of Lexington, KY. Centre is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution. Centre was founded by Presbyterian leaders, with whom it maintains a loose...

, University of Chattanooga

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a public university located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The University, often referred to as UTC or simply "Chattanooga" , is one of three universities and two other affiliated institutions in the University of Tennessee System; the others being in...

, Spring Hill College

Spring Hill College

Spring Hill College is a private, Roman Catholic Jesuit liberal arts college in the United States. It was founded in 1830 on the Gulf Coast in Mobile, Alabama, by Most Rev. Michael Portier, Bishop of Mobile, Alabama...

 and Mercer University

Mercer University

Mercer University is an independent, private, coeducational university with a Baptist heritage located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Mercer is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in eleven diversified fields of study: liberal arts, business, education, music,...

; Loyola University New Orleans

Loyola University New Orleans

Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...

 joined the Dixie two years later.

At the time of formation, conference president Dean G. W. Meade of Birmingham-Southern stated, "We are still members of the S. I. A. A. and will continue to be so." However, at the SIAA convention the following year, Birmingham-Southern, Howard and Spring Hill resigned from the association. University officials at Chattanooga announced their resignation from the SIAA in 1932, explaining that they "saw no purpose in remaining in the unwieldy association after successful launching of the Dixie Conference two years ago".

Two years prior to the SIAA, the Dixie Conference approved the use of scholarships in 1936.

Football champions

List of conference football champions by year:

Year	Champion
1931	Chattanooga
1932	Mercer
1933	Howard
1934	Birmingham-Southern
1935	Howard
1936	Howard
1937	Birmingham-Southern
1938	Southwestern
1939	Southwestern
1940	Mississippi College, Howard, Chattanooga
1941	Chattanooga

Reduction then dissolution

After a university planning committee recommendation to either drop competitive football or to compete at the "big time" level, on June 3, 1939, Birmingham-Southern announced that it was ending its football program in favor of an enlarged intramural athletic program. Loyola followed suit the following December and also dropped football from the University's athletic program. The remaining slate of Dixie Conference membership lasted until the American entry into World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, when several league schools suspended athletics.

Formation of purely amateur conference

In 1948, the administration of the newly formed Florida State University

Florida State University

The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...

 wrote leaders at other southern institutions seeking to create a "purely amateur" athletic conference. The NCAA had recently tightened its rules on the amount of money that could be paid to collegiate athletes, which caused difficulty for many established athletic programs. Florida State hoped to create a new conference based on the principle of complete amateurism, including no athletic scholarships.

The original Dixie Conference lineup included, in addition to Florida State, Howard College

Samford University

Samford University, founded as Howard College is a private, coeducational, Alabama Baptist Convention-affiliated university located in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It includes the , Cumberland School of Law, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Brock School of Business, Ida V....

 (now Samford University) from Alabama, Stetson University

Stetson University

Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I-4 corridor in Central Florida. The primary undergraduate campus is located in DeLand, Florida, USA. In the 2012 U.S...

 and the University of Tampa

University of Tampa

The University of Tampa , is a private, co-educational university in Downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 2006, the University celebrated its 75th anniversary...

 from Florida, Lambuth College from Tennessee, Mercer University

Mercer University

Mercer University is an independent, private, coeducational university with a Baptist heritage located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Mercer is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in eleven diversified fields of study: liberal arts, business, education, music,...

 and Oglethorpe University

Oglethorpe University

Oglethorpe University is a private liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, an inner suburb of Atlanta. It was chartered in 1835 and named after James Edward Oglethorpe, the state's founder.-History:...

 from Georgia, and Millsaps College

Millsaps College

Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college located in Jackson, Mississippi. Founded in 1890, the college is recognized as one of the country's best private colleges dedicated to undergraduate teaching and educating the whole individual. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Millsaps...

 and Mississippi College

Mississippi College

Mississippi College, also known as MC, is a private, Christian university located in Clinton, Mississippi. Mississippi College comprises the main campus in Clinton, as well as satellite campuses in Brandon and Madison, Mississippi, and the Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson...

 from Mississippi. Of the nine charter members, six (FSU, Howard, Millsaps, Mississippi, Stetson, and Tampa) played football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

.

Membership transitions

In 1949, Lambuth, Stetson and Tampa left the conference, while Florida Southern College

Florida Southern College

Florida Southern College is a private college located in Lakeland, Florida, United States. It was selected by U.S...

 joined. In December 1950, after winning the first three Dixie football titles without losing a single conference game, founding member Florida State withdrew to become an independent and began offering scholarships.

1951 – 1954

In the four years following the departure of Florida State, Millsaps won three conference football titles and Mississippi College won one. Citing "operation difficulties and limited competition between members", the league disbanded in December 1954 following the resignation of Howard, Millsaps and Mississippi College.

Football champions

List of conference football champions by year:

Year	Champion
1948	Florida State
1949	Florida State
1950	Florida State
1951	Millsaps
1952	Millsaps
1953	Mississippi College
1954	Millsaps

Dixie Conference (1963)

The Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was founded in 1963 as a member of the NAIA

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...

 with the philosophy that participation would be strictly amateur, so no athletic financial aid or scholarships would be awarded by its affiliate institutions. The six charter members were Charlotte College

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte , also known as UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte, is a public research university located in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States...

, College of Charleston

College of Charleston

The College of Charleston is a public, sea-grant and space-grant university located in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina, United States...

, Methodist College, North Carolina Wesleyan College

North Carolina Wesleyan College

North Carolina Wesleyan College is a private four-year coeducational, liberal arts college, located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Founded in 1956, the school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and offers a number of preprofessional programs...

, St. Andrews Presbyterian College

St. Andrews Presbyterian College

St. Andrews University, formerly St. Andrews Presbyterian College, is a private, Presbyterian, four-year liberal arts college in Laurinburg, North Carolina....

, and Lynchburg College

Lynchburg College

Lynchburg College is a private college in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA, related by covenant to the Christian Church with approximately 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students. The Princeton Review lists it as one of the 368 best colleges in the nation...

.

In 1973, when the NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 divided into a three division format, the Dixie Conference left the NAIA and moved into the non-scholarship NCAA Division III.

On June 30, 2003, the conference changed to its name to the USA South Athletic Conference

USA South Athletic Conference

The USA South Athletic Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III...

.

Conference membership under Dixie Conference moniker

List of conference members prior to name change:

Institution	Joined	Departed
College of Charleston College of Charleston The College of Charleston is a public, sea-grant and space-grant university located in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina, United States...	1963	1970
Lynchburg Lynchburg College Lynchburg College is a private college in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA, related by covenant to the Christian Church with approximately 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students. The Princeton Review lists it as one of the 368 best colleges in the nation...	1963	1976
Methodist	1963	Member through name change
NC Wesleyan North Carolina Wesleyan College North Carolina Wesleyan College is a private four-year coeducational, liberal arts college, located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Founded in 1956, the school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and offers a number of preprofessional programs...	1963	Member through name change
St. Andrew's St. Andrews Presbyterian College St. Andrews University, formerly St. Andrews Presbyterian College, is a private, Presbyterian, four-year liberal arts college in Laurinburg, North Carolina....	1963	1988
UNC Charlotte University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte , also known as UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte, is a public research university located in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States...	1963	1970
Greensboro College Greensboro College Greensboro College is a four-year, independent, coeducational liberal-arts college, also offering four master's degrees, located in Greensboro, North Carolina, and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1838...	1966	Member through name change
UNC Greensboro University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro , also known as UNC Greensboro, is a public university in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States and is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system. The university offers more than 100 undergraduate, 61 master's and 26...	1968	1988
Virginia Wesleyan Virginia Wesleyan College Virginia Wesleyan College is a small Methodist liberal arts college on the border of Virginia Beach and Norfolk, Virginia offering a Bachelor of Arts in many disciplines and has added Bachelor of Science programs as well...	1970	1989
Christopher Newport Christopher Newport University Christopher Newport University, or CNU, is a public liberal arts university located in Newport News, Virginia, United States. CNU is the youngest comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia...	1972	Member through name change
Averett Averett University Averett University is a private college in Danville, Virginia, USA, in south-central Virginia near the North Carolina border. It was established as a Baptist college but is in formal talks with the Baptist General Association of Virginia to renew ties that were cut in 2005.- History :The school was...	1978	Member through name change
Ferrum College Ferrum College Ferrum College is a private college in Ferrum, Virginia, USA, in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia. Ferrum College has the second-oldest environmental science program in the nation and was ranked 41st by US News and World Report in Comprehensive Colleges–Bachelor's for 2006....	1988	Member through name change
Shenandoah Shenandoah University Shenandoah University is a comprehensive private university located in Winchester, Virginia in the United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 3,800 students across more than ninety programs in six schools: College of Arts & Sciences, Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business, Shenandoah...	1992	Member through name change
Chowan Chowan University - Other Notable Former Students :* Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, confessed architect of the September 11 attacks.- External links :* *...	2000	Member through name change

Football champions

List of conference football champions by from beginning of football sponsorship until name change:

Year	Champion
2000	First year of conference sponsorship. No championship awarded.
2001	Ferrum, Christopher Newport
2002	Ferrum, Christopher Newport