SSAC to Sponsor Women's Flag Football
The Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) will begin sponsoring women's flag football as a championship sport in the 2026-27 academic year. The SSAC is the fourth conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to sponsor flag football.
The 2026-27 academic year will see a total of 9 teams compete, with 7 full members of the SSAC and two affiliate members. Andrew College (GA), Brewton-Parker Christian University (GA), Life University (GA), Point University (GA), Thomas University (GA), the University of Tennessee Southern, and Wesleyan College (GA) will be joined by affiliate members Milligan University (TN) and Reinhardt University (GA) from the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC). The AAC doesn't sponsor flag football.
The SSAC's first season will feature 10 to 16 conference games taking place between February and April. The season will culminate with a championship tournament to be held in spring 2027 from Thursday, April 22, through Saturday, April 24, in Montgomery, Alabama.
The SSAC's decision to add flag football will see the Sun Conference membership fall to six as Brewton-Parker, Life, Point, Reinhardt, and Thomas depart for the SSAC. UT Southern and Wesleyan will both have their first season in the 2026-2027 academic year, while Andrew will leave the NJCAA and join the SSAC in 2026-27. Milligan did not previously have a conference affiliation for flag football.
The six remaining Sun flag football teams will be Florida Memorial University, Keiser University (FL), SCAD Savannah (GA), St. Thomas University (FL), Warner University (FL), and Webber International University (FL) in 2026-27. SCAD Savannah will play its first season in spring 2027, while the other five have been established programs.
The SSAC becomes the fourth NAIA conference to add flag football as a championship sport. The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) and the Sun Conference played their first seasons in spring 2021. The Great Southwest Athletic Conference (GSAC) will begin playing in spring 2026.
At the same time, the NAIA is moving to an invitational sport starting with the 2026 season. The NAIA's 2026 postseason tournament will be qualification-based. The next step for flag football at the NAIA level is to reach championship status, which requires at least 30 varsity teams, completion of two invitational tournaments, and approval by the National Administrative Council (NAC). It's increasingly likely that flag football will be an NAIA Championship Sport by the spring 2028 season.