The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs claimed membership in this conference at some point, as can at least nineteen other schools. Every member of the current Southeastern Conference except for Arkansas and six of the twelve current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference formerly held membership in the SIAA.
History
The SIAA was founded on December 21, 1894 by Dr. William Dudley, a chemistry professor at Vanderbilt.[1] The original members were Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, the University of the South (Sewanee), and Vanderbilt. Clemson, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Tulane joined the following year. The conference was originally formed to standardize player eligibility rules and host an annual track meet and basketball tournament.[2]
In 1915, a disagreement arose within the conference regarding the eligibility of freshman athletes, the so-called "one-year rule". Generally speaking, the larger universities opposed the allowance of freshman players, while the smaller schools were in favor of it. As a result, some of the large universities formed the Southern Intercollegiate Conference, which abided by the one-year rule, while still maintaining membership within the SIAA.[2]
At the conference's annual meeting on December 10, 1920, the SIAA rejected proposals that would have banned freshman athletes and abolished paid summer baseball.[3] In protest, some teams voting in favor of the proposed rules immediately announced they would seek to form a new conference.[3] On February 25, 1921, Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Tennessee left the SIAA to form the Southern Conference, along with non-SIAA members Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Washington & Lee.[4] In 1922, the Southern Conference underwent an expansion and added six more members, all of which were from the SIAA: Florida, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt.[2]
With the departure of most of the major colleges, the SIAA became a de facto small college conference starting in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s, the SIAA increased its membership with the addition of many additional small universities. The conference eventually disbanded in 1942 with the onset of American involvement in World War II.[2]
Membership
Charter members are denoted by boldface.
- Alabama 1895–1917, 1919–1922
- Auburn 1895–1914, 1916–1922
- Birmingham Southern 1921–1931
- Centenary 1925–1941
- Centre 1911–1941
- Chattanooga 1914–1916, 1919–1932
- The Citadel 1909–1935
- Clemson 1899–1922
- Cumberland 1899–1903
- Dahlonega (North Georgia) 1905–1908
- Delta State 1936–1941
- Eastern Kentucky 1930–1942
- Emory & Henry 1936–1941
- Erskine 1923–1941
- Florida 1910–1917, 1919–1922
- Furman 1901–1902, 1916–1929, 1932–1935
- Georgetown (Kentucky) 1915–1941
- Georgia 1895–1914, 1916, 1919–1922
- Georgia Tech 1896–1913, 1916–1922
- Gordon Military College 1906–1910
- Howard College (Samford) 1906–1912, 1914–1917, 1919–1931, 1933–1938
- Jacksonville State 1939–1940
- Kentucky 1906–1907, 1909–1922
- Kentucky Wesleyan 1925–1930
- Louisiana College 1924–1941
- Louisiana State 1896–1917, 1919–1922
- Louisiana Tech 1925–1942
- Louisville 1916, 1923–1941
- Loyola (New Orleans) 1925, 1930–1937
- Memphis State (Memphis) 1935–1942
- Memphis University School 1908–1910
- Mercer 1906–1911, 1919–1937
- Miami 1929–1942
- Middle Tennessee 1931–1942
- Millsaps 1920–1938
- Mississippi 1896–1912, 1914–1922
- Mississippi College 1911–1917, 1919–1941
- Mississippi A&M (Mississippi State) 1896–1922
- Morehead State 1934–1942
- Murray State 1931–1942
- Nashville 1899–1904
- Newberry 1923–1942
- North Carolina 1895–1901
- North Carolina A&M (NC State) 1898–1906
- Northeast Louisiana 1928–1942
- Oglethorpe 1920–1922
- Presbyterian 1923–1942
- Rollins 1925–1942
- University of the South (Sewanee) 1895–1924
- South Carolina 1900–1901, 1911–1922
- Southern (Florida) 1925–1930
- Southern Mississippi 1928–1941
- Southwestern Presbyterian (Rhodes) 1907–1909, 1911, 1928–1937
- Southwestern Louisiana 1925–1942
- Spring Hill 1927–1931
- Stetson 1925–1931, 1933–1940
- Tampa 1936–1942
- Tennessee 1897–1916, 1919–1922
- Tennessee Tech 1933–1942
- Texas 1896–1904
- Texas A&M 1904–1914
- Transylvania 1915–1924, 1926–1941
- Troy State 1936–1942
- Tulane 1896–1906, 1911–1917, 1919–1922
- Union (Kentucky) 1933–1941
- Union (Tennessee) 1925–1942
- Vanderbilt 1895–1924
- Virginia Tech 1898
- Virginia 1907-1921
- Western Kentucky 1921–1942
- Wofford 1916–1942
References
- ^ Greg Roza, Football in the SEC (Southeastern Conference), p. 1, 2007, ISBN 1404219196.
- ^ a b c d Roger Saylor, Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (PDF), College Football Historical Society, The LA84 Foundation, retrieved March 1, 2009.
- ^ a b http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D00E7D9103FE432A25751C1A9649D946195D6CF
- ^ http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=4000&ATCLID=177772&SPID=3001&SPSID=69769
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