Southeastern Conference (MHSAA) explained

The Michigan High School Athletic Association Southeastern Conference (MHSAA SEC) is a high school sports conference composed of schools (all public) in three different counties in the state of Michigan. The SEC is split into two divisions, Red and White, based on enrollment. Currently, there are 14 members of the SEC.

Member schools

Current members

School Nickname Location Joined Enrollment Class Colors Previous Conference
Red Division
River Rats 20081,860A Green and Gold Independent
Pioneers19962,185A Purple and White Independent
Eagles 2009 1,588A Columbia Blue and White None (school opened)
DexterDreadnaughtsScio Township19641,188A Maroon and GoldWashtenaw County League
MonroeTrojans Monroe20091,838ARed and WhiteMichigan Mega Conference
SalineHornetsPittsfield Township19641,743ANavy and GoldWashtenaw County League
Kicking Mules 2000 1,371A Scarlet and Gray Great Lakes League
Ypsilanti LincolnRailsplittersAugusta Township19641,247ARoyal Blue and GreyHuron League
White Division
AdrianMaplesAdrian2000759BRoyal Blue and WhiteIndependent
ChelseaBulldogsChelsea1964803BNavy and GoldWashtenaw County League
JacksonVikingsJackson20181,195ABlack and OrangeCapital Area Activities Conference
PinckneyPiratesPutnam Township2017837ARed and BlackKensington Lakes Activities Association
TecumsehIndiansTecumseh1980719BOrange and BlackHuron League
YpsilantiGrizzliesYpsilanti Township2009985ABlack and GoldMichigan Mega Conference

Former members

School Nickname Location Colors Joined Previous Conference Departed Successive Conference
BulldogsOrange and Black1973Independent1979Kensington Valley Conference
DundeeVikingsDundeeBlue and White1965Huron League1972Michigan-Ohio Border Conference
MilanBig RedsMilanRed and Black1967Huron League2000Huron League
WildcatsGreen and White1970Independent1979Kensington Valley Conference
PanthersMaroon, white, and gold1980Independent1983Cascades Conference
LionsBlue and Gold1964Independent1979Kensington Valley Conference

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20

Period = from:1964 till:2023

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#

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id:line value:black

id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:SECRed value:rgb(1,0,0) # Use this color to denote a school in the SEC Red id:SECWhite value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9) # Use this color to denote a school in the SEC White id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two id:Bar1 value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.7) id:Bar2 value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.6)

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bar:1 color:Full from:1964 till:2000 text:Chelsea Bulldogs (1964-Present) bar:1 color:SECWhite from:2000 till:2003 bar:1 color:Full from:2003 till:2009 bar:1 color:SECWhite from:2009 till:end bar:2 color:Full from:1964 till:2000 text:Dexter Dreadnaughts (1964-Present) bar:2 color:SECWhite from:2000 till:2003 bar:2 color:Full from:2003 till:2009 bar:2 color:SECWhite from:2009 till:2021 bar:2 color:SECRed from:2021 till:end bar:3 color:Full from:1964 till:2000 text:Saline Hornets (1964-Present) bar:3 color:SECRed from:2000 till:2003 bar:3 color:Full from:2003 till:2009 bar:3 color:SECRed from:2009 till:end bar:4 color:Full from:1964 till:2000 text:Ypsilanti Lincoln Railsplitters (1964-Present) bar:4 color:SECWhite from:2000 till:2003 bar:4 color:Full from:2003 till:2009 bar:4 color:SECWhite from:2009 till:2021 bar:4 color:SECRed from:2021 till:end bar:5 color:Full from:1964 till:1979 text:South Lyon Lions (1964-1979) bar:6 color:Full from:1965 till:1972 text:Dundee Vikings (1965-1972) bar:7 color:Full from:1967 till:2000 text:Milan Big Reds (1967-2000) bar:8 color:Full from:1970 till:1979 text:Novi Wildcats (1970-1979) bar:9 color:Full from:1973 till:1979 text:Brighton Bulldogs (1973-1979) bar:10 color:Full from:1980 till:1983 text:Parma Western Panthers (1980-1983) bar:11 color:Full from:1980 till:2000 text:Tecumseh Indians (1980-Present) bar:11 color:SECWhite from:2000 till:2003 bar:11 color:Full from:2003 till:2009 bar:11 color:SECWhite from:2009 till:end bar:12 color:Full from:1984 till:2000 text:Pinckney Pirates (1984-2000; 2017-Present) bar:12 color:SECWhite from:2017 till:end text: bar:13 color:SECRed from:2000 till:2003 text:Adrian Maples (2000-Present) bar:13 color:Full from:2003 till:2009 bar:13 color:SECWhite from:2009 till:end bar:14 color:SECRed from:2000 till:2003 text:Temperance Bedford Kicking Mules (2000-Present) bar:14 color:Full from:2003 till:2009 bar:14 color:SECRed from:2009 till:end bar:15 color:SECRed from:2000 till:2003 text:Ann Arbor Pioneer Pioneers (2000-Present) bar:15 color:Full from:2003 till:2009 bar:15 color:SECRed from:2009 till:end bar:16 color:Full from:2008 till:2009 text:Ann Arbor Huron River Rats (2008-Present) bar:16 color:SECRed from:2009 till:end bar:17 color:SECRed from:2009 till:end text:Ann Arbor Skyline Eagles (2009-Present) bar:18 color:SECRed from:2009 till:end text:Monroe Trojans (2009-Present) bar:19 color:SECWhite from:2009 till:2020 text:Ypsilanti Grizzlies (2009-Present) bar:19 color:SECRed from:2020 till: 2021 bar:19 color:SECWhite from:2021 till:end bar:20 color:SECWhite from:2018 till:end text:Jackson Vikings (2018-Present)

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TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"SEC Membership History"

History

The SEC was formed by three schools from the disbanding Washtenaw County League (Chelsea, Dexter, and Saline), two from the Huron League (Dundee and Ypsilanti Lincoln), and independent South Lyon. The league expanded to eight by 1969, with Novi joining from the Lakeland Conference that year, and Milan joining from the Huron in 1967. In 1973 Dundee left for the Michigan-Ohio Border Conference, and was replaced by Brighton, joining from the Wayne-Oakland League. 1979 also brought major change to the conference, as Brighton, Novi, and South Lyon left for the Kensington Valley Conference. Parma Western joined that year, having been independent since leaving the Cascades Conference in 1976. Tecumseh left the Huron League to join the Southeastern in 1980, bringing the conference to seven members. Western returned to the Cascades Conference in 1983, as their replacement, Pinckney, left the Kensington Valley Conference in 1984.

The league was stable until 2000, when Milan and Pinckney left for the Huron League and Kensington Valley Conference, respectively. Bedford joined from the Great Lakes League, and were joined by two schools that had been independent since the South Central Conference folded in 1996 (Adrian and Ann Arbor Pioneer). The conference now split into Red and White divisions: Adrian, Bedford, Pioneer, and Saline made up the Red, and the White consisted of Chelsea, Dexter, Lincoln, and Tecumseh. The Southeastern scrapped the divisional format in 2006 in anticipation of another former South Central school joining that next year, Ann Arbor Huron. The conference reintroduced divisions in 2009, the Red being formed by Bedford, Huron, Pioneer, Saline, and two new members, new school Ann Arbor Skyline and Monroe, who left the Michigan Mega Conference. The White Division consisted of Adrian, Chelsea, Dexter, Lincoln, Tecumseh, and another school leaving the Michigan Mega, Ypsilanti.

Ypsilanti had changed their name from Braves to Phoenix in 2010, after phasing out Native American mascots since the 1990s. The school district consolidated with Ypsilanti Willow Run in 2013, resulting in not only another mascot change (Grizzlies), but a color change from Purple and Gold to Black and Gold. Pinckney rejoined the conference in 2017 after leaving the Kensington Lakes Activities Association, while Jackson joined in 2018 coming from the Capital Area Activities Conference. Both schools were put into the White division; however, this has left an imbalance in the number of schools in each division. In 2020 Ypsi moved to the red division. In 2021 Ypsi moved back to the white, and Dexter and Lincoln moved to the red. This has left another imbalance in the divisions, this time with the red having 2 more members than the white.