Trinity athletics file photo

Southwestern and Trinity (Texas) will follow the path of their football programs and join the Southern Athletic Association in all sports starting in the fall of 2025.

Both schools are currently members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference with the exception of football, and they have been SCAC members for three decades.

The move reunites the schools with former members of the SCAC. Centre, Hendrix, Millsaps, Rhodes and Sewanee competed with Trinity and Southwestern in the SCAC before the SAA split away from the SCAC in 2011.

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The separation also casts a shadow on the SCAC's announcement in November that it would sponsor football starting in 2024. Six football teams will remain in the SCAC, if the announced startups of football programs at Centenary (La.) and Schreiner progress as planned. At the moment, that is still enough for a football automatic bid for the SCAC, which could come by 2026.

“The decision to join the SAA comes on the heels of the University’s recent Carnegie reclassification as a National Liberal Arts Institution,” says Vanessa B. Beasley, Trinity University president. “I view college athletics as one of the significant hallmarks of a residential liberal arts education, as student-athletes and their classmates alike gather inside and outside of the classroom to take on new challenges and support each other. Trinity University is grateful to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and its members for our shared history of decades of thrilling competition.”

“We are grateful for the invitation to join the SAA. With a well-earned reputation for athletic and academic excellence, the member schools of the SAA represent the best of Division III sports,” said Southwestern athletic director Ken Ralph. “This move also allows us to have all 20 sports under the same conference umbrella, providing a level of consistency and equity we have not enjoyed in some time. We are excited about this new opportunity.”

“We are excited about the opportunities this move to the SAA will create for our athletes and the City of San Antonio as we become part of a conference with a more diverse footprint,” says Bob King, Trinity’s director of athletics. “Yet we cannot adequately express our appreciation for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, which we have been a part of for more than 30 years. We have tremendous respect for the conference as great competitors and have learned a lot from them.”

Southwestern's football team has competed in the American Southwest Conference since 2017. Southwestern was already slated to join the SAA in football this fall.

In addition to Centre, Hendrix, Millsaps, Rhodes and Sewanee, Berry, Birmingham-Southern and Oglethorpe also are currently SAA members. If no further alignment changes are made, the conference would have nine members in 2025 for football.

“The addition of both Southwestern and Trinity to the Southern Athletic Association is exciting for all of us,” said SAA commissioner Jay Gardiner. “These great institutions will add to the conference’s already strong athletic reputation while emphasizing the integrity of our academic missions. We welcome them both to our family.”