| South Central Conference | |
| Color: | black |
| Font Color: | white |
| Founded: | 1926 |
| Conference: | IHSA |
| Teams: | 10 |
| Region: | South Central Illinois |
The South Central Conference (SCC) is a conference in South Central Illinois made up of ten schools. The SCC was established in 1926 with ten charter schools. The current schools are all full members of the Illinois High School Association.
Named for its location in the state of Illinois, the South Central Conference was formed in 1926 with 10 schools. The charter schools included; Carlinville, Gillespie, Hillsboro, Litchfield, Mt. Olive, Nokomis, Pana, Shelbyville, Staunton and Taylorville. Only six years into the league, however, Shelbyville would drop out in 1932 and Litchfield would follow in 1934. Benld High School would join in 1935 and the conference would stay status quo for 10 years.[1]
A wave of change occurred in 1944 as Hillsboro, Nokomis, Pana and Taylorville would all leave the South Central for the newly formed Mid State Conference. This exodus resulted in a 5 team football conference that would not change until 1955. Prior to the 1955 school year, Nokomis would rejoin the league as well as Piasa South Western. South Western would only remain in the conference for 6 years, leaving in 1961. That same year, Benld High School was consolidated into Gillespie High School, reducing the number of schools back down to only 5 schools playing football. In 1963, Springfield Feitshans entered the conference and Virden High School joined in 1966. In 1967, Feitshans would close and all of attending students would go to the newly constructed Springfield Southeast High School and leave the South Central, moving to the Capitol Conference. As the 1960s came to a close, the total number of schools remained at six.[2]
In 1970, Piasa South Western came back to the league and the South Central would hold at seven teams throughout the entirety of the decade. Litchfield would make its return in 1980 as well as a new entry White Hall North Greene. In that same year, Mt. Olive would leave the conference and the total number of schools would increase to eight. Another mass exodus would occur in 1985 as Nokomis, Virden and North Greene High Schools would leave the conference for the newly created Prairie State Conference. However, in that same year, St. Jacob Triad High School would join the league from the Midwestern Conference.As the 1980s came to a close, the total number of schools was down to six.
Triad would leave the league in 1993, entering the Mississippi Valley Conference, however, Alton Marquette would take their place that same year. The South Central would reach its largest number of schools in 1997 when Hillsboro and Pana would rejoin the league and new schools; Greenville, Roxana, Vandalia, and East Alton-Wood River came aboard. With 12 teams, the conference would split into two divisions West, which included; Carlinville, Wood River, Gillespie, Marquette, Roxana and Southwestern and the East, which included; Greenville, Hillsboro, Litchfield, Pana, Staunton and Vandalia. The league would remain at 12 teams for a dozen years, only changing in 2009 when Gillespie and Staunton would leave for the Prairie State Conference. The conference made another push for realignment in 2010 and "kicked out" Marquette, Wood River and Roxana, giving them a two year window for locating a new conference. Marquette and Wood River would move to the Prairie State, however, when Nokomis backed out of their membership agreement, Roxana was invited to stay in the South Central.[3]
When the 2012 school year began, not only did Gillespie and Staunton return, the South Central removed the divisions and consisted of one division with 10 schools. Those schools included; Carlinville, Gillespie, Greenville, Hillsboro, Litchfield, Pana, Roxana, Southwestern, Staunton and Vandalia. Coops have emerged in the league during the 2010s with Litchfield cooping with Lincolnwood from 2014 through 2016 as well as cooping with Mt. Olive High School from 2022. Additionally, Staunton developed two different coops during the decade. First with Mt. Olive in 2019 and 2020, and with Bunker Hill starting in 2021.
In 2020, Roxana received an invitation to the Cahokia Conference to begin in the 2021 school year. To keep the conference at 10 schools, the South Central reached out to Virden North Mac and they entered the league in 2022.[4]
| School | Location | Mascot | Colors | County | Enrollment | Class | Year Joined | Previous Conference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlinville High SchoolHS | Carlinville, Illinois (5,917) | Cavaliers | Macoupin | 434 | 2A | 1926 | Independents | ||
| Gillespie High SchoolHS | Gillespie, Illinois (3,319) | Miners | Macoupin | 364 | 2A | 19261 2012 | Independents Prairie State | ||
| Greenville High School | Greenville, Illinois (7,000) | Comets | Bond | 537 | 2A | 1997 | Mid-State | ||
| Hillsboro High School | Hillsboro, Illinois (6,207) | Hiltoppers | Montgomery | 499 | 2A | 19262 1997 | Independents Mid-State | ||
| Litchfield High School | Litchfield, Illinois (6,939) | Purple Panthers | Montgomery | 420 | 2A | 19263 1980 | Independents Mid-State | ||
| North Mac High School | Virden, Illinois (3,000) | Panthers | Macoupin | 420 | 2A | 2022 | Sangamo | ||
| Pana High SchoolHS | Pana, Illinois (5,847) | Panthers | Christian | 407 | 2A | 19262 1997 | Independents Mid-State | ||
| Southwestern High SchoolHS | Piasa, Illinois | Piasa Birds | Macoupin | 488 | 2A | 19555 1970 | none (new school) Illinois Valley | ||
| Staunton High SchoolHS | Staunton, Illinois (5,139) | Bulldogs | Macoupin | 375 | 2A | 19261 2012 | Independents Prairie State | ||
| Vandalia Community High SchoolHS | Vandalia, Illinois (7,042) | Vandals | Fayette | 423 | 2A | 1997 | Mid-State |
This is a partial list, more schools may have been members.
| School | Location | Mascot | Colors | County | Year Joined | Previous Conference | Year Left | Conference Joined | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Olive High School | Mount Olive, Illinois | Wildcats | Macoupin | 1926 | Independents | 1980 | Egyptian Illini | ||
| Nokomis High School | Nokomis, Illinois | Redskins | Montgomery | 1926 1955 | Independents MSM | 1944 1985 | Mid-State Prairie State | ||
| Shelbyville High School | Shelbyville, Illinois | Rams | Shelby | 1926 | Independents | 1934 | Independents | ||
| Taylorville High School | Taylorville, Illinois | Tornadoes | Christian | 1926 | Independents | 1944 | Mid-State | ||
| Benld | Benld, Illinois | Indians | Macoupin | 1935 | Independents | 1961 | none (consolidated into Gillespie) | ||
| Feitshans | Springfield, Illinois | Flyers | Sangamon | 1963 | Independents | 1967 | Capitol | ||
| Virden | Virden, Illinois | Bulldogs | Macoupin | 1966 | MSM | 1985 | Prairie State | ||
| North Greene | White Hall, Illinois | Huskies | Greene | 1980 | Independents (IVC 1974) | 1985 | Western Illinois Valley | ||
| Triad High School | Troy, Illinois | Knights | Madison | 1985 | Independents (MVC 1978) | 1993 | Mississippi Valley | ||
| Marquette Catholic High School | Alton, Illinois | Explorers | Madison | 1993 | Independents | 2012 | Prairie State | ||
| East Alton-Wood River High School | Wood River, Illinois | Oilers | Madison | 1997 | Mississippi Valley | 2012 | Prairie State | ||
| Roxana High School | Roxana, Illinois (1,542) | Shells | Madison | 1997 | Mississippi Valley | 20204 | Cahokia Conference |
bar:1 color:Full from:1926 till:end text:Carlinville (1926-Present)
bar:2 color:Full from:1926 till:2009 text:Gillespie (1926-2009) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2009 till:2012 text: bar:2 color:Full from:2012 till:end text:(2012-Present)
bar:3 color:Full from:1926 till:1944 text:Hillsboro (1926-1944) bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:1944 till:1997 text:Mid State bar:3 color:Full from:1977 till:end text:(1997-Present)
bar:4 color:Full from:1926 till:1934 text:Litchfield (1926-1934) bar:4 color:white from:1935 till:1944 text:Independent bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1944 till:1980 text:Mid State bar:4 color:Full from:1980 till:2014 text:(1980-Present) bar:4 color:AssocOS from:2014 till:2016 text:(Lincolnwood) bar:4 color:Full from:2016 till:2022 text: bar:4 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text:(Mt. Olive)
bar:5 color:Full from:1926 till:1980 text:Mt. Olive (1926-1980)
bar:6 color:Full from:1926 till:1944 text:Nokomis (1926-1944) bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:1944 till:1948 text:Mid State bar:6 color:AssocF from:1948 till:1955 text:MSM bar:6 color:Full from:1955 till:1985 text:(1955-1985) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1985 till:2020 text:Prairie State bar:6 color:AssocF from:2020 till:end text:MSM
bar:7 color:Full from:1926 till:1944 text:Pana (1926-1944) bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:1944 till:1997 text:Mid State bar:7 color:Full from:1977 till:end text:(1997-Present)
bar:8 color:Full from:1926 till:1932 text:Shelbyville (1926-1932)
bar:9 color:Full from:1926 till:2009 text:Staunton (1926-2009) bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:2009 till:2012 text: bar:9 color:Full from:2012 till:2019 text: bar:9 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2021 text:(Mt. Olive) bar:9 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:(Bunker Hill)
bar:10 color:Full from:1926 till:1944 text:Taylorville (1926-1944)
bar:11 color:Full from:1935 till:1961 text:Benld (1935–1961) bar:11 color:white from:1961 till:end text:Consolidated into Gillespie
bar:12 color:Full from:1955 till:1961 text:Piasa South Western (1955-1961) bar:12 color:OtherC4 from:1961 till:1970 text: bar:12 color:Full from:1970 till:end text:(1970-Present)
bar:13 color:Full from:1963 till:1967 text:Feitshans (1963-1967 bar:13 color:white from:1972 till:end text:Consolidated into Springfield Southeast
bar:14 color:Full from:1966 till:1985 text:Virden (1966–1985)
bar:15 color:Full from:1980 till:1985 text:North Greene (1980-1985)
bar:16 color:Full from:1985 till:end text:Triad (1985-1993)
bar:17 color:Full from:1993 till:2012 text:Alton Marquette (1993-2012)
bar:18 color:Full from:1997 till:end text:Greenville (1997-Present)
bar:19 color:Full from:1997 till:2021 text:Roxana (1997-2021)
bar:20 color:Full from:1997 till:end text:Vandalia (1997-Present)
bar:21 color:Full from:1997 till:2012 text:Wood River (1997-2012)
bar:22 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:North Mac (2022-Present)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1925TextData =
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text:^"South Central History"