Peach Belt Conference

Peach Belt Conference (PBC)
Established	1990
Association	NCAA
Division	Division II
Members	14 (13 in 2017)
Sports fielded	15 (men's: 7; women's: 8)
Region	Southeastern United States
Headquarters	Augusta, Georgia
Commissioner	David Brunk (since 2007)
Website	peachbeltconference.org
Locations

The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division II level. Since its inception in 1990-91, the Peach Belt has developed a consistent history of excellence which continues to this day with 30 national championships and 27 national finalists. Starting with only two championships in 1991, in men's and women's basketball, the conference has expanded to 13 championship sports with the addition of women's golf in the fall of 2009.

History

The conference traces its roots back to November 1988 when 11 schools first met in Greenville, S.C. to form a Division II conference. Following a second meeting on Dec. 3, 1989, five of those 11 schools, plus two others, formed the Peach Belt Athletic Conference and began play in the fall of 1990.

The seven charter members of the conference were Armstrong Atlantic State University (now Armstrong State University), Columbus State University, Francis Marion University, Georgia College (now Georgia College & State University), Lander University, USC Aiken, and USC Upstate. The name Peach Belt Athletic Conference was adopted in January 1990 and modified to Peach Belt Conference in May 2000.

Augusta State University joined the conference in 1991 and UNC Pembroke became the ninth member on July 1, 1992. They were followed by Kennesaw State University on July 1, 1994, Clayton State University on July 1, 1995 and the University of North Florida on July 1, 1997. Kennesaw State and North Florida departed for the Division I ranks in 2005, USC Upstate did the same in 2007, and the conference welcomed in North Georgia College & State University in 2005 and Georgia Southwestern State University in 2006. In 2009-10, the University of Montevallo and Flagler College were added, returning a league presence to Florida and broke new ground in Alabama. In 2012-13, the Peach Belt expanded to 14 members, the most the league has ever had, with the addition of Young Harris College. On January 8, 2013, the University System of Georgia finalized the mergers of two conference members into new institutions. Augusta State was merged into Georgia Regents University, which was renamed in 2015 as Augusta University, and NGCSU was merged into the University of North Georgia.^[1][2] In both cases, the new institutions inherited the Peach Belt memberships of the older schools.

Map of Southeastern United States with member institutions in the Division II Peach Belt conference

The Peach Belt was less than a year old before capturing its first of many national championships. The Columbus State golf team took the honor by winning the 1992 national crown, the first of three golf championships the Cougars own. One year later, the Lander men's tennis team began their record-breaking run of eight straight national titles, the first PBC dynasty. Since then, USCA men's golf has won three straight national titles from 2004-06 while AASU women's tennis has captured four titles overall.

The 2010-11 season was one of the most memorable the league has ever had. Clayton State became the first PBC women's basketball team to capture a national championship. Montevallo watched their men's basketball team reach the Elite Eight, eventually competing in the National Championship Game. Unfortunately, their run came to an end with a loss to Western Washington University. The Columbus State men's tennis team reached the national semifinals while the Clayton State and Armstrong Atlantic State women's tennis teams also played in the national semifinals. The North Georgia softball team made an unprecedented third straight appearance in the NCAA Women's College World Series, while Columbus State's Meshack Koyiaki registered a runner-up finish at the Men's Cross Country National Championships. In all, 46 Peach Belt teams made appearances in the NCAA postseason, including seven men's tennis teams and six each in the sports of men's golf and women's tennis.

David Brunk was named the second PBC commissioner in May 2007. Brunk replaced Marvin Vanover, who was the first PBC commissioner from 1991 to 2007. Brunk is charged with continuing the strong growth of the conference as its second era begins.

Dr. Kendall Blanchard, president of Georgia Southwestern State University, began the second of his two-year term as the league president in July 2011.

The conference currently holds championships in 13 sports, six for men and seven for women. They are men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, baseball, softball and men's and women's golf.^[3]

Member schools

Current members

• Montevallo — will join the Gulf South Conference in 2017.^[4]

Affiliate members

• Florida Tech, Nova Southeastern — track & field outdoor (M), track & field outdoor (W) will join the Sunshine State Conference in 2017.

Former members

Former affiliate members

Membership timeline

 Full member (all sports)   Full member (non-football)   Associate member (football-only)   Associate member (sport) 

Sports

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track & Field Outdoor	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Tennis	Track & Field Outdoor	Total PBC Sports
Armstrong State	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y		5
Augusta	Y	Y	Y			Y	Y	5
Clayton State		Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	5
Columbus State	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	6
Flagler	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		6
Francis Marion	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	6
Georgia College	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y		5
Georgia Southwestern State	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		5
Lander	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		5
Montevallo	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	6
UNC Pembroke	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	5
North Georgia	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		5
USC Aiken	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		5
Young Harris	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		6
Totals	13	14	10	11	10	11	6	75
Affiliate Members
Florida Tech							Y	1
Nova Southeastern							Y	1

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & Field Outdoor	Volleyball	Total PBC Sports
Armstrong State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	7
Augusta	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	6
Clayton State	Y	Y		Y		Y	Y		5
Columbus State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Flagler	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	7
Francis Marion	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Georgia College	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		Y	6
Georgia Southwestern State	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y			5
Lander	Y			Y	Y	Y		Y	5
Montevallo	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
UNC Pembroke	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	7
North Georgia	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		7
USC Aiken	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		Y	6
Young Harris	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y			6
Totals	14	13	7	13	13	13	7	10	90
Affiliate Members
Florida Tech							Y		1
Nova Southeastern							Y		1

Other sponsored sports by school

• ^‡ — D-I sport

References

External links

• Official website

NCAA Division II
Atlantic	Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Mountain East Conference Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Independent — Bluefield State College
Central	Great American Conference Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
East	Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference East Coast Conference Northeast-10 Conference
Midwest	Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Great Lakes Valley Conference Great Midwest Athletic Conference Independent — Oakland City University Salem International University
South	Gulf South Conference Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Sunshine State Conference Independent — Auburn University at Montgomery
South Central	Heartland Conference Lone Star Conference Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Southeast	Conference Carolinas Peach Belt Conference South Atlantic Conference
West	California Collegiate Athletic Association Great Northwest Athletic Conference Pacific West Conference
Division II	Independents ECAC Division II Lacrosse League
NCAA	Conferences Institutions Baseball (Championship) Basketball (Men, Women) Cross Country (Men, Women) Field Hockey (Championship) Football (Championship) Golf (Men, Women) Lacrosse (Men, Women) Rowing (Championship) Soccer (Men, Women) Softball (Championship) Swimming & Diving (Men, Women) Tennis (Men, Women) Track & Field (Men's indoor and outdoor, Women's indoor and outdoor) Volleyball (Championship) Wrestling (Championship) Discontinued — Ice Hockey (Championship)