FOREST, Va. --- For the second time in the last four months, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) will see an adjustment to its membership. Southern Virginia University has accepted an invitation to join the NCAA Division III league as an associate member in football. The Knights will begin ODAC competition on the gridiron in the 2019-20 academic year.
“The Old Dominion Athletic Conference member schools are pleased to welcome Southern Virginia University into our ranks as an associate member for football,” explained Dr. Tracy Fitzsimmons, President for Shenandoah University and chair of the ODAC President’s Council. “We look forward to counting their football players among our ODAC student-athletes.”
Already seen as one of the most competitively balanced conferences in Division III football, the ODAC gains further parity via Southern Virginia’s inclusion with nine well-balanced programs vying for the league’s championship hardware and ultimately its automatic qualifier to the national tournament. All nine members have the added advantage of only needing to schedule two non-conference games to complete a full 10-game slate. SVU also happens to be a geographic fit for both school and conference with its Buena Vista, Va., campus situated along the Interstate-81 corridor that already features four of the ODAC’s football member schools.
“We are pleased to welcome Southern Virginia University’s football program into the ODAC beginning with the 2019 season,” expressed ODAC Commissioner Brad Bankston. “The addition of SVU adds another quality football opponent to the conference membership and further helps solidify our conference football schedules into the future. Southern Virginia’s position as an affiliate in football is a unique opportunity for the two of us to work together and continue the excellent competition we experience each year in the conference. We welcome the Southern Virginia University family to the ODAC and look forward to watching our relationship grow in the future.”
Southern Virginia is currently under a similar affiliate relationship other Division III conferences. SVU is a football associate member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), a partnership that began with the 2014 season. Seventeen of the Knight’s varsity sports compete out of the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), while men’s volleyball participates in the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC). Wrestling is not affiliated with a conference.
“The Old Dominion Athletic Conference is a great fit for our football program,” said Southern Virginia President Reed N. Wilcox. “We have excellent partners in the CAC for 17 of our 20 NCAA sanctioned sports,” continued President Wilcox. “Now our football team has excellent partners in the ODAC.”
Knights’ football spent nine seasons competing as a NAIA independent member before reclassifying to Division III and joining the NJAC. From 2003 – the program’s first season – thru the 2011 campaign, SVU produced three NAIA All-Americans and 20 NAIA All-Independent honorees. In three years playing under the NJAC banner, the Knights have garnered 12 All-NJAC selections with two special awards when quarterback Ty Jones was named Co-Offensive Rookie of the Year and defensive back Neil Davis was named NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2016.
“The opportunity for our football program to compete in the ODAC is a great step forward as we strive to improve the student-athlete experience at Southern Virginia," said Jason Lamb, Southern Virginia Vice President and Director of Athletics. "We look forward to sharing geographic proximity with our opponents and developing close, competitive rivalries in football as we open the fall 2019 season.”
Founded in 1967 and renewed in 1996, Southern Virginia University is one of the fastest-growing private residential universities in the United States, hosting students from 49 states and 6 countries. Southern Virginia embraces the teachings and values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with 92-percent of the University’s student body identifying as Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
Located in the heart of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Southern Virginia is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, sponsors 20 NCAA Division III sports and is a member of the Capital Athletic Conference. Southern Virginia’s education combines tradition and innovation, resulting in one of the highest job-placement rates (93 percent) of any college or university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. For more information on Southern Virginia, visit svu.edu.
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Celebrating its 42nd year of operation in 2017-18, the ODAC is one of the nation’s largest NCAA Division III conferences. The 14 full-time member ODAC, plus two associate members (Ferrum College and Greensboro College in women's swimming), sponsors championships in 24 sports (11 men, 13 women) and houses 11 co-educational schools and three single-gender institutions. Headquartered in Forest, Va., the ODAC has garnered national recognition in hosting or co-hosting 69 NCAA Division III national championships over the past 25 years, most in conjunction with the City of Salem, Va.