Meredith College is in their first season of the USA South athletic conference. This will increase the opportunities for the sports team in recognition and post season play. Previously, Meredith College was a part of the Association of Division III Independents.

USA South Conference Information
Membership
The Conference is now home to eleven institutions, five in Virginia, five in North Carolina and one in Tennessee. The Tennessee institution, Maryville College, entered the conference in 2005 as a football only member. Mary Baldwin College (Staunton, Va.) and Meredith College (Raleigh, N.C.) are the newest members of the Conference and join Averett University, Christopher Newport University, Ferrum College, Greensboro College, Peace College, Shenandoah University, Methodist University and N.C. Wesleyan College to make up today’s Conference.

Athletic Excellence
The Conference was a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) until 1973 when the NCAA divided into three legislative and competitive divisions. Division III allowed membership only to non-athletic scholarship institutions. The Dixie was one of the first conferences accepted into Division III. Since the start of Division III, the USA South has gained an exceptional regional and national reputation in several sports.

Until 1981, the Conference only sponsored men’s athletic programs. In the same year, the NCAA expanded its sponsorship to include women’s sports. The Dixie followed the NCAA’s lead and began to include women’s sports. Now, the Conference sponsors championships in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, golf and women’s lacrosse.

The President’s Cup is awarded each year to the school that accumulates the most points throughout the year in sports sponsored by the USA South. For the upcoming athletic season, a new point distribution system will take place. Instead of a 1-8 scale, schools will receive points based on a 1-10 scale with each regular season conference champion receiving one point for every school sponsoring that sport.

Academic Distinction
In maintaining the Conference’s academic excellence, student athletes who maintain grade point averages of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale in both academic semesters are named to the Academic All-Conference team. This group averages over 400 students annually.

History
In 1963, six institutions with similar philosophies on academics and athletics joined as founding members of the, then known, Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Those colleges were Charlotte College (now UNC-Charlotte), College of Charleston (S.C.), Methodist College (now Methodist University), North Carolina Wesleyan College, St. Andrews Presbyterian College, and Lynchburg College. The basis for the conference was strictly amateur, and thus no athletically awarded financial aid or athletic scholarships would be awarded. That basis is still intact today.

In February 2003, it was announced that the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference would change its name to the USA South Athletic Conference. The name change was made official on July 1, 2003 and the first USA South Athletic Conference championships were awarded in the fall of 2003.