The Southwest Wisconsin Conference is a high school athletic conference in Wisconsin's Driftless Area. Comprising the six largest high schools in the southwest corner of the state, the conference was founded in 2005 and is affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. History The Southwest Wisconsin Conference was formed from a membership split in the Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League. Since 1987, the SWAL had consisted of fourteen schools in two divisions subdivided by membership size. Division I consisted of the larger schools, and the smaller schools made up Division II. This divisional alignment remained intact for the next sixteen years until 2003. Cuba City, the smallest school in the SWAL Division I, sought to switch divisions and join with smaller schools in the SWAL Division II. Boscobel, the largest school in Division II, resisted the move and the two factions continued to seek a solution. In 2004, a realignment agreement was reached that would place Boscobel back in an eight-member SWAL Division II, with the remaining six schools comprising Division I. Instead, the six remaining schools (Dodgeville, Lancaster, Platteville, Prairie du Chien, Richland Center and River Valley) left the SWAL to form the Southwest Wisconsin Conference, commencing play in the 2005-06 school year. After two-plus decades at six members, the Southwest Wisconsin Conference will be expanding to seven schools for the 2027-28 school year with Viroqua's shift from the Coulee Conference.
Football For the first fourteen seasons of the Southwest Wisconsin Conference, the six members that comprised its all-sport lineup also made up its football roster. During this period, Lancaster was a dominant force in the sport, winning eleven conference championships and three state titles. To achieve greater parity among conference members, Lancaster was moved to the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League as a football-only member for the 2019 season and were replaced by three schools from the Coulee Conference: Arcadia, Viroqua and Westby. This would only last for one season, as the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association and the WIAA collaborated on a football-only realignment to begin with the 2020 football season and run on a two-year cycle. The three Coulee Conference members returned to that conference, with Brodhead/Juda of the Rock Valley Conference and New Glarus/Monticello of the Capitol Conference entering as their replacements. The SWC also entered into a scheduling alliance with the South Central Conference as part of the realignment. However, the SWC instead joined forces with the SWAL to play their football season in the spring 2021 alternate season due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the new alignment taking effect for the fall 2021 season. In 2022, Lancaster made their return to the SWC, replacing New Glarus/Monticello after their return to the Capitol Conference. For the current 2024-2025 realignment cycle, New Glarus returned to the SWC to bring football membership to eight schools and nullify the South Central Conference scheduling agreement. The Southwest Wisconsin Conference will go back to seven football members in 2026 when New Glarus moves over to the SWAL, and the SWC and will enter into a scheduling alliance with the SWAL for one mandatory crossover conference game per season.
List of member schools
Current full members SchoolLocationAffiliationEnrollmentMascotColorsJoinedDodgevilleDodgeville, WIPublic358Dodgers 2005LancasterLancaster, WIPublic301Flying Arrows 2005PlattevillePlatteville, WIPublic434Hillmen 2005Prairie du ChienPrairie du Chien, WIPublic252Blackhawks 2005Richland CenterRichland Center, WIPublic409Hornets 2005River ValleySpring Green, WIPublic344Blackhawks 2005
Current associate members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsPrimary ConferenceSport(s)BelmontBelmont, WIPublicBraves Six RiversBoys Wrestling, Girls WrestlingBrodhead/JudaBrodhead, WIPublicCardinals Rock Valley/Six RiversFootballDarlingtonDarlington, WIPublicRedbirds SWALGirls GolfSouthwesternHazel Green, WIPublicWildcats SWALGirls Golf, GymnasticsWisconsin DellsWisconsin Dells, WIPublicChiefs South CentralGirls Golf
Notes
Future full members SchoolLocationAffiliationEnrollmentMascotColorsJoiningFormer ConferenceViroquaViroqua, WIPublic346Blackhawks 2027Coulee
Former football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceArcadiaArcadia, WIPublicRaiders 2019CouleeNew GlarusNew Glarus, WIPublicGlarner Knights 2024-2025CapitolNew Glarus/MonticelloNew Glarus, WIPublicGlarner Knights 2020-2021Capitol/Six RiversViroquaViroqua, WIPublicBlackhawks 2019CouleeWestbyWestby, WIPublicNorsemen 2019Coulee
Membership timeline
Full members
Football members
Membership map
Sponsored sports +Dodgeville●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●Lancaster●●●●●●●●●●●●●●Platteville●●●●●●●●●●●●●●Prairie du Chien●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●Richland Center●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●River Valley●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
Notes
List of state champions
Fall sports +Girls Cross CountrySchoolYearDivisionDodgeville/Mineral Point2005Division 2Dodgeville/Mineral Point2006Division 2Dodgeville/Mineral Point2010Division 2Dodgeville/Mineral Point2011Division 2Dodgeville/Mineral Point2012Division 2Lancaster2018Division 3Lancaster2020Division 3Dodgeville/Mineral Point2021Division 2Lancaster2023Division 3 +FootballSchoolYearDivisionLancaster2005Division 5Lancaster2006Division 5Lancaster2014Division 5
Winter sports +GymnasticsSchoolYearDivisionDodgeville2026Division 2
+Boys WrestlingSchoolYearDivisionLancaster2013Division 3
Spring sports +Boys GolfSchoolYearDivisionLancaster2014Division 3 +SoftballSchoolYearDivisionDodgeville2021Division 3 +Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionRichland Center2007Division2 +Girls Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionDodgeville/Mineral Point2015Division 2
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsPrairie du Chien72007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019Platteville62018, 2019, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026River Valley62007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2020Dodgeville52013, 2015, 2022, 2023, 2026Richland Center42006, 2013, 2014, 2021Lancaster12026
Girls Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsPlatteville72013, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2024, 2025, 2026Prairie du Chien62019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025Richland Center62007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012Dodgeville32014, 2015, 2018Lancaster22006, 2026River Valley0
Football SchoolQuantityYearsLancaster112005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017Prairie du Chien52015, 2018, 2022, 2024, 2025River Valley52010, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020Platteville42006, 2016, 2017, 2023Brodhead/Juda12021New Glarus12025Arcadia0Dodgeville0Richland Center0New Glarus/Monticello0Viroqua0Westby0
References
External links Southwest Wisconsin Conference (official website)