TranSouth Athletic Conference

The TranSouth Athletic Conference (TSAC) was founded in 1996 and was composed of many schools from the Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference (TCAC). The conference changed its name to TranSouth Athletic Conference prior to the 1996-97 school year.

TheTranSouth is a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and is a perennial power with several national championships. Conference members have fielded NAIA national champions in women's basketball, men's basketball, baseball, cyling, women's soccer, and wrestling.

The TranSouth has nine member schools for the 2008-09 athletic year. Those members span the States of Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky and Arkansas. The members schools are Bethel University (McKenzie, Tenn.), Blue Mountain College (Blue Mountain, Miss.), Cumberland University (Lebanon, Tenn), Freed-Hardeman University (Henderson, Tenn.), Lyon College (Batesville, Ark.), Martin Methodist College (Pulaski, Tenn.), Mid-Continent University (Mayfield, Ky.), Trevecca Nazarene University (Nashville, Tenn.), and Union University (Jackson, Tenn.).

HISTORY

The league was formed in 1996-97, and has included at one time or another 16 different institutions in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Arkansas. The conference offers regular season and/or tournament championships in the following sports: men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's golf, men's baseball, and women's fast-pitch softball.

Other schools that have been members at one time or another include Berry College (Rome, Ga.), Birmingham-Southern College (Birmingham, Ala.), Lee University (Cleveland, Tenn.), Lipscomb University (Nashville, Tenn.), and Williams Baptist College (Walnut Ridge, Ark.).

The TranSouth Athletic Conference is continuing a long and outstanding history dating back to the Volunteer State Athletic Conference (VSAC). After the VSAC, Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference (TCAC) was formed. Some teams changed but the quality of the universities and the caliber of athletic competition remained as high as ever.

In 2003, Cumberland University rejoined their old conference peers from the TCAC days as they moved from the MidSouth Conference to the TranSouth Conference.

The TranSouth continues to be one of the most recognized leagues in the NAIA when it comes to national postseason events. In the first fourteen years of the league's history, the TranSouth Conference has boasted eleven NAIA National Champions:  Bethel University - Men's Soccer (2008), Birmingham-Southern - Baseball (2000), Cumberland - Baseball (2004, 2010). Lambuth - Women's Basketball (2007), Martin Methodist - Women's Soccer (2005, 2007), Union University - Women's Basketball (1998, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010). In individual sport championships have been won by Cumberland University's Cycling and Wrestling teams.

In the 2006-07 school year Bethel University in McKenzie, Tenn. rejoined the conference. Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn., a former VSAC and TCAC member, and newcomer Mid-Continent University in Mayfield, Ky. joined the conference during the 2006-2007.

Prior to the 2008-2009 season, Crichton College and Lambuth University departed the conference and reduced the member schools to nine. The departures were lessened with Blue Mountain College adding men's basketball to their program during the 2007-2008 season. Blue Mountain adding baseball, men's and women's golf, and softball in the 2010-2011 school y ear. Trevecca Nazarene University is adding men's and women's cross country in the Fall of 2010.

CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF TRANSOUTH