| Southern Virginia won four
football games in 2011, but two were against club teams. The
Knights also beat Guilford 55-24. Southern Virginia athletics photo |
The Presidents Council of the Capital Athletic Conference announced the addition of Southern Virginia University as a full member of the conference, beginning July 1, 2013.
Southern Virginia, which received notification last week of its approved regional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), will join the CAC as a full member at the same time as Christopher Newport, which announced its membership intentions in April.
Southern Virginia also anticipates being promoted by the NCAA Division III Membership Committee from its current exploratory year to Division III provisional membership status later this summer.
The school reported a full-time undergraduate enrollment of 746 in its last filing with the U.S. Department of Education. The Knights field teams in baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis and women's volleyball. They also have club wrestling and club men's and women's lacrosse.
“The Capital (Athletic) Conference has demonstrated its competitiveness and high academic standards for student athletes over many years. We are pleased to welcome two new members, who increase our geographic scope, diversity, and stature in NCAA Division III,” said George Waldner, president of York (Pa.) and chair of the CAC Presidents Council.
The CAC will have seven full member institutions in the 2012-13 academic year. The additions of CNU and Southern Virginia will increase membership to nine for the 2013-14 academic year, joining Frostburg State, Marymount, Mary Washington, Salisbury, St. Mary’s (Md.), Wesley and York (Pa.). Although CNU will continue to play football in the USA South for the next two seasons, the addition of the two schools will give the CAC five schools which play football. Seven are needed for an automatic bid.
The conference release did not mention football possibilities.
If two schools within the conference do not add football, the CAC
could seek a partnership with another conference for football to
give the league's five programs access to an automatic bid. The CAC
would not comment on specific actions it might take, however. "The
CAC Presidents continue to review and consider options regarding
membership and sport sponsorship," CAC commissioner Tom Byrnes told
D3sports.com "The focus many times is on football, but CAC
institutions also sponsor women's rowing, men's and women's golf,
swimming, track & field, men's volleyball, wrestling, etc.,
that are of similar importance to those student-athletes.
"The Presidents are committed to working together to try to best
serve the interests of the entire membership. To that goal, all
options are considered."
CNU will be immediately eligible for conference championships
and NCAA Division III Tournament opportunities. Southern Virginia
will become eligible to compete in CAC playoffs during its third
year of NCAA Division III provisional membership in 2014-15 - one
year after joining the conference - but cannot get an automatic bid
to the NCAA Tournament.
“The Capital Athletic Conference continues to get stronger
and stronger with the addition of Southern Virginia and the recent
addition of Christopher Newport,” said Byrnes. “The
best of the CAC successfully competes on the national level,
demonstrated by three CAC schools recently ranking in the Top 100
in the 2011-12 Learfield Directors Cup standings. These two new
members will strengthen an already formidable athletic
conference.”
Southern Virginia does not have a conference affiliation, but
competes in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and
U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) events for national
recognition. The Capital Athletic Conference recently completed its
22nd championship season as an all-sports conference.