Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference
The Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference was a former college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ; which was predominantly for smaller, private colleges in Western and Middle Tennessee.
History
The TCAC was created in 1985 from the western division of the old Volunteer State Athletic Conference. The charter members were Belmont University, Bethel College, Christian Brothers University, Cumberland University, [Lipscomb University|David Lipscomb University|Lipscomb University], Freed–Hardeman University, Lambuth University, Martin Methodist College, Trevecca Nazarene University, and Union University. The TCAC survived in that form until 1995 when both Belmont and Christian Brothers announced their intentions to go to the NCAA. The remaining teams formed a new conference, the TranSouth Athletic Conference which existed until the 2012–13 school year.Chronological timeline
- 1985 – The Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference was founded. Charter members included Belmont University, Bethel College, Christian Brothers University, Cumberland University, David Lipscomb University, Freed–Hardeman University, Lambuth University, Trevecca Nazarene University and Union University, beginning the 1985–86 academic year.
- 1994 – Martin Methodist College joined the TCAC in the 1994–95 academic year.
- 1996 - The TCAC would cease operations as an athletic conference after the 1995–96 academic year; as many schools left to join their respective new home primary conferences, beginning the 1996–97 academic year: Bethel, David Lipscomb, Freed–Hardeman, Martin Methodist, Trevecca Nazarene and Union to form the TranSouth Athletic Conference ; with Cumberland and Lambuth to the Mid-South Conference ; Belmont to the Division I ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as an NCAA D-I Independent ; and Christian Brothers to the NCAA Division II ranks and the Gulf South Conference.
Member schools
Final members
;Notes:Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1985 till:2028
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used
PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1996 text:Belmont
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2001 text:D-I Ind.
bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:2001 till:2012 text:Atlantic Sun
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2022 text:Ohio Valley
bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:2022 till:end text:Missouri Valley
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1996 text:Bethel (Tenn.)
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:1998 text:TranSouth
bar:2 shift: color:OtherC2 from:1998 till:2006 text:River States
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2006 till:2013 text:TranSouth
bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2020 text:Southern States
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:end text:Mid-South
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1996 text:Christian Brothers
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:end text:Gulf South
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1996 text:Cumberland (Tenn.)
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2002 text:Mid-South
bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:2002 till:2012 text:TranSouth
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:end text:Mid-South
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1996 text:Freed–Hardeman
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2013 text:TranSouth
bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2020 text:American Midwest
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:end text:Mid-South
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1996 text:Lambuth
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2006 text:Mid-South
bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:2006 till:2009 text:TranSouth
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2009 till:2011 text:D-II Ind.
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1996 text:Lipscomb
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2001 text:TranSouth
bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:2001 till:2003 text:D-I Ind.
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2003 till:end text:Atlantic Sun
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1996 text:Trevecca Nazarene
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2012 text:TranSouth
bar:8 color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:2024 text:Great Midwest
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text:Gulf South
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1996 text:Union (Tenn.)
bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2012 text:TranSouth
bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:end text:Gulf South
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1994 till:1996 text:Martin Methodist
bar:10 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2013 text:TranSouth
bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2020 text:Southern States
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2023 text:Mid-South
bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text:Southern States
bar:N color:red from:1985 till:1996 text:Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference
bar:N color:blue from:1996 till:end text:Post-TCAC
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1986
TextData =
fontsize:M
textcolor:black
pos: tabs:
text:^"Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference membership history"
- > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space.
Sponsored sports
The TCAC sponsored 9 sports for men and women including baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, softball, and volleyball. Bethel and Cumberland play football in the Mid-South Conference.Defunct Lambuth also played football.