The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Kentucky and Tennessee. The league is headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and the interim commissioner is Chris Wells.
The Mid-South Conference has 7 full members: Bethel (TN), Campbellsville, Cumberland (TN), Cumberlands (KY), Freed–Hardeman, Georgetown (KY) and Lindsey Wilson. Six of these members sponsor football; Freed–Hardeman does not.
The Mid-South Conference also has five associate members that compete primarily in other conferences. Kentucky Christian, Union Commonwealth and Reinhardt are associate members for football and men's volleyball. Former full member Bluefield is also an associate member for football and men's volleyball. This gave the conference 13 members for football. In the spring of 2016, the conference expanded to 20 members, adding the six football members of the Sun Conference, as well as Faulkner University for football, On January 4, 2018, the conference added Keiser University for football, and St. Thomas announced in July they were joining the conference for football in 2019. Another Sun Conference member, Florida Memorial in Miami Gardens, Florida, joined the MSC as an affiliate member for football in 2020, after re-adding the sport.
History
In April 2018, Thomas More University (then Thomas More College), which had been an NAIA member before moving to NCAA Division III in 1990, announced that it had been formally invited to rejoin the NAIA in the 2019–20 academic year as a member of the Mid-South Conference. The school, while acknowledging that it was considering this move, denied published reports that it had accepted the invitation. Thomas More eventually confirmed in July that it would join the Mid-South in 2019.
In 2020, Bethel University became a Mid-South full member, brought track and field back to the MSC, and transferred all sports other than football and archery to the conference (prior to that, Bethel was an associate member of the MSC for football and archery only); additionally, Freed–Hardeman and UT Southern, then known as Martin Methodist College, also joined Mid-South.
In December 2020, Life University also announced its departure from the MSC for the Southern States Athletic Conference for the 2022–23 academic year.
Most recently, Thomas More announced in August 2021 that it would return to the NCAA, but this time in Division II as a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). It joined the G-MAC as a provisional member in July 2022, but continued as an NAIA member and in the Mid-South through 2022–23, after which it started G-MAC competition. Later, the Sun Conference announced on December 22, 2021, that it would reinstate football starting with the 2022 season. Then in July 2022, the Appalachian Athletic Conference announced it would add football as a sponsored sport.
On March 26, 2026, Faulkner left the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football to become an NAIA independent for the 2026 fall season.
Chronological timeline 1987 – The Mid-South Conference (MSC) was founded as a football-only conference. Charter members included Campbellsville College (now Campbellsville University), Cumberland College of Kentucky (now the University of the Cumberlands), Georgetown College and Union College (now Union Commonwealth University), beginning the 1987 fall season (1987–88 academic year). 1988 – The University of Evansville joined the conference in the 1988 fall season (1988–89 academic year). 1989 – Kentucky Wesleyan College and Tennessee Wesleyan University joined the conference in the 1989 fall season (1989–90 academic year). 1990 – Kentucky Wesleyan dropped out of the conference after the 1989 fall season (1989–90 academic year). 1990 – Cumberland College of Tennessee (now Cumberland University) and Lambuth University joined the Mid-South in the 1990 fall season (1990–91 academic year). 1991 – Cumberland (Tenn.) and Tennessee Wesleyan departed from the conference after the 1990 fall season (1990–91 academic year). 1991 – Tusculum University joined the Mid-South in the 1991 fall season (1991–92 academic year). 1992 – Evansville left the Mid-South after the 1991 fall season (1991–92 academic year). 1995 – The Mid-South became a multi-sport conference. North Greenville College (now North Greenville University) joined the conference beginning the 1995–96 academic year, while Bethel College of Tennessee joined as an affiliate member for football (with Cumberland [Tenn.] rejoining as well). 1996 – Tusculum departed from the conference as a football affiliate after the 1995 fall season (1995–96 academic year). 1996 – Cumberland (Tenn.) and Lambuth moved their other sports to the Mid-South as full members for the 1996–97 academic year. 1997 – Bethel (Tenn.) left the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football after the 1996 fall season (1996–97 academic year). 2000 – Lindsey Wilson College (now Lindsey Wilson University) and Pikeville College (now the University of Pikeville; a.k.a. UPike) joined the Mid-South in the 2000–01 academic year. 2001 – North Greenville left the Mid-South to join the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as an NCAA D-II Independent after the 2000–01 academic year. 2002 – Two institutions left the Mid-South as full members to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective after the 2001–02 academic year; while they remained in the conference as affiliate members for football: Cumberland (Tenn.) to the TranSouth Athletic Conference (TranSouth or TSAC) and Union (Ky.) to the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) 2002 – The University of Virginia's College at Wise (UVa Wise) joined the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football in the 2002 fall season (2002–03 academic year). 2003 – Bethel (Tenn.) rejoined the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football in the 2003 fall season (2003–04 academic year). 2004 – Kentucky Wesleyan rejoined the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football in the 2004 fall season (2004–05 academic year). 2005 – Shorter College of Georgia (now Shorter University) joined the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football in the 2005 fall season (2005–06 academic year). 2006 – Lambuth left the Mid-South to join the TranSouth Athletic Conference (TSAC or TranSouth) after the 2005–06 academic year; while their football team remained in the Mid-South as an affiliate member. 2006 – Kentucky Wesleyan left the Mid-South again as an affiliate member for football after the 2005 fall season (2005–06 academic year). 2006 – West Virginia University Institute of Technology (West Virginia Tech or WVU Tech) joined the Mid-South in the 2006–07 academic year. 2007 – Bethel (Tenn.) and Shorter added track & field into their Mid-South affiliate memberships in the 2008 spring season (2007–08 academic year). 2008 – St. Catharine College joined the Mid-South in the 2008–09 academic year. 2008 – Faulkner University joined the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football in the 2008 fall season (2008–09 academic year). 2009 – The University of Rio Grande joined the Mid-South in the 2009–10 academic year. 2009 – Two institutions joined the Mid-South as affiliate members (and/or added other single sports into their affiliate memberships), both effective in the 2009–10 academic year: Kentucky Christian University for football and Cumberland (Tenn.) for men's wrestling 2010 – Lambuth left the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football after the 2009 fall season (2009–10 academic year). 2010 – Shawnee State University joined the Mid-South (with UVa Wise joining for all sports) in the 2010–11 academic year. 2010 – Shorter added men's wrestling into their Mid-South affiliate membership in the 2010–11 academic year. 2012 – West Virginia Tech left the Mid-South to become an NAIA Independent (which would later join the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC; now known as the River States Conference), beginning the 2015–16 school year) after the 2011–12 academic year. 2012 – Shorter (Ga.) left the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football, track & field and men's wrestling after the 2011–12 academic year. 2012 – Bluefield College (now Bluefield University) joined the Mid-South (with Cumberland [Tenn.] rejoining for all sports) in the 2012–13 academic year. 2012 – Bethel (Tenn.) and Union (Ky.) added men's and women's bowling into their Mid-South affiliate memberships in the 2013 spring season (2012–13 academic year). 2013 – UVa Wise left the Mid-South and the NAIA entirely to fully align with the NCAA Division II ranks, while joining the Mountain East Conference (MEC) after spending provisionally one season in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) after the 2012–13 academic year. 2013 – Bethel (Tenn.) left the Mid-South as an affiliate member for track & field after the 2013 spring season (2012–13 academic year). 2013 – Reinhardt University joined the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football in the 2013 fall season (2013–14 academic year). 2014 – Two institutions left the Mid-South to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective after the 2013–14 academic year: Rio Grande to join the KIAC Bluefield to rejoin the AAC; while their football team remained in the Mid-South as an affiliate member. 2014 – Life University joined the Mid-South in the 2014–15 academic year. 2015 – Belhaven left the Mid-South as an affiliate member for football to join the NCAA Division III ranks and the American Southwest Conference after the 2014 spring season (2014–15 academic year). 2015 – Eight institutions joined the Mid-South as affiliate members (and/or added other single sports into their affiliate memberships), all effective in the 2015–16 academic year: Brewton–Parker College, St. Andrews University, Southeastern University of Florida and Truett McConnell College (now Truett McConnell University) for men's wrestling Cincinnati Christian University for football Lindenwood University–Belleville for men's & women's bowling and men's & women's swimming and Martin Methodist College (now the University of Tennessee Southern, a.k.a. UT Southern) and Tennessee Wesleyan College (now Tennessee Wesleyan University) for men's and women's bowling 2016 – St. Catherine's left the Mid-South as the school had ceased operations after the 2015–16 academic year. 2016 – Three institutions joined the Mid-South as affiliate members (and/or added other single sports into their affiliate memberships), all effective in the 2015–16 academic year: Loyola University New Orleans for men's and women's swimming Reinhardt for men's wrestling and Warner University for football 2017 – Four institutions left the Mid-South as affiliate members (and/or removed other single sports from their affiliate memberships), all effective after the 2016–17 academic year: Reinhardt, St. Andrews (N.C.) and Truett McConnell for men's wrestling after the 2016–17 academic year: and Lindenwood–Belleville for men's and women's bowling 2017 – Nine institutions joined the Mid-South as affiliate members (and/or added other single sports into their affiliate memberships), all effective in the 2017–18 academic year: Ave Maria University, Edward Waters College (now Edward Waters University), Point University and St. Andrews (N.C.) for football Bethel (Tenn.) for archery Brewton–Parker and Lindenwood–Belleville for women's wrestling Kentucky Christian for archery, baseball and softball and Midland University for men's and women's swimming 2018 – Twelve institutions joined the Mid-South as affiliate members (and/or added other single sports into their affiliate memberships), all effective in the 2018–19 academic year: Ave Maria, Keiser University and Marian University of Indiana for women's lacrosse