COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The 2025-2026 season will mark Tennessee Tech's last in the Ohio Valley Conference after 76 years. University officials announced Wednesday that the Golden Eagles will soon compete in the Southern Conference.

Tennessee Tech's arrival on July 1, 2026, will grow the SoCon to an 11-team conference that includes in-state foes East Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Dating back over a century, the SoCon is the fifth-oldest NCAA Division I Collegiate athletic conference in the nation. A university announcement said that the majority of Tech students come from states that have a SoCon member school like Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The switch will also see Tennessee Tech renew its lon

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