South Seven Conference
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| Conference | IHSA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1939 |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Region | Southern Illinois and Metro East |
The South Seven Conference is a high school athletic conference comprising five schools in the southern Illinois.
History
[edit | edit source]The South Seven was formed in 1939 when Centralia and Mt. Vernon departed the North Egyptian Conference and joined Marion, Benton, Harrisburg, Herrin and West Frankfort (hence, the name of the conference since it only had 7 members). Carbondale joined the conference in 1965, but the name of the conference was not changed.[1]
In 1993, the four smallest schools (Benton, Harrisburg, Herrin and West Frankfort) departed for the River-to-River Conference. Edwardsville and O'Fallon were added, with the former being a short-term replacement while a permanent member was sought. In 1995, Edwardsville left for the Southwestern Conference and was replaced by Cahokia. Over the next couple of years, O'Fallon would continue to grow to the point that it was much larger than the rest of the schools, and in 2000 the Panthers also left for the Southwestern Conference, replaced by Belleville Althoff. Throughout the changes, the "South Seven" moniker has remained even though the conference never had exactly 7 member schools in almost 50 years. That was to change for the 2018-19 season, when Granite City was due to leave the Southwestern Conference and join the South Seven, but a vote in March 2018 (a 3-3 tie) denied Granite City's entry into the conference until at least 2020. This vote was based heavily on scheduling issues and the amount of traveling for most of the teams in the conference.[2][3]
In 2023, Althoff Catholic High School left the conference to join the Gateway Metro Conference.
In 2025, it was announced that Highland High School will be joining the South Seven Conference, effective the 2026-27 school year. Highland, which sports an enrollment of 897, is presently a member of the Mississippi Valley Conference,
Member schools
[edit | edit source]
| School | Location (City Population) |
Enrollment | Mascot | Colors | Membership | Former Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cahokia High School | Cahokia, Illinois (13,500) |
950 | Comanches | Blue White |
1995–Present | Bi-County Conference |
| Carbondale Community High School | Carbondale, Illinois (25,000) |
1,000 | Terriers | Black White |
1963–Present | South Egypt Conference |
| Centralia High School | Centralia, Illinois (12,500) |
1,050 | Orphans/Annies | Red White |
1939–Present | North Egypt Conference |
| Highland High School | Highland, Illinois (9,800) |
890 | Bulldogs | Red Black |
2026–Present | Mississippi Valley Conference |
| Marion High School | Marion, Illinois (17,000) |
1,100 | Wildcats | Blue Gold |
1939–Present | South Egypt Conference |
| Mount Vernon Township High School | Mount Vernon, Illinois (15,277) |
1,190 | Rams/Lady Rams | Orange Black |
1939–Present | North Egypt Conference |
Former members of the South Seven Conference
[edit | edit source]| School | Nickname | Colors | Location | Years Member | Current Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benton Consolidated High School | Rangers | Benton, IL | 1939–1993 | Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference | |
| Edwardsville High School | Tigers | Edwardsville, IL | 1993–1995 | Southwestern Conference | |
| Frankfort Community High School | Redbirds | West Frankfort, IL | 1939–1993 | Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference | |
| Harrisburg High School | Bulldogs | Harrisburg, IL | 1939–1993 | Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference | |
| Herrin High School | Tigers | Herrin, IL | 1939–1993 | Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference | |
| O'Fallon High School | Panthers | O'Fallon, IL | 1993–2000 | Southwestern Conference | |
| Althoff Catholic High School | Crusaders | Belleville, Illinois | 2000–2023 | Gateway Metro Conference |
Membership timeline
[edit | edit source]<timeline> DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1150 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1935 till:2028 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors =
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PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1939 till:1993 text:Benton (1939–1993) bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1993 till:end text:Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference
bar:2 color:Full from:1939 till:end text:Centralia (1939–Present)
bar:3 color:Full from:1939 till:1993 text:Harrisburg (1939–1993) bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1993 till:end text:Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference
bar:4 color:Full from:1939 till:1993 text:Herrin (1939–1993) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1993 till:end text:Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference
bar:5 color:Full from:1939 till:end text:Marion (1939–Present)
bar:6 color:Full from:1939 till:end text:Mount Vernon (1939–Present)
bar:7 color:Full from:1939 till:1993 text:West Frankfort (1939–1993) bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:1993 till:end text:Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference
bar:8 color:Full from:1963 till:end text:Carbondale (1963–Present)
bar:9 color:Full from:1993 till:1995 text:Edwardsville (1993–1995) bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:end text: bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:2002 till:end text:Southwestern Conference
bar:10 color:Full from:1993 till:2000 text:O'Fallon (1993–1995) bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2000 till:end text: bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2002 till:end text:Southwestern Conference
bar:11 color:Full from:1995 till:end text:Cahokia (1995–Present)
bar:12 color:Full from:2000 till:2023 text:Belleville Althoff (2000–2023)
bar:13 color:Full from:2026 till:end text:Highland (2026–Present)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1935 TextData =
fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"South Seven History"
</timeline>
Full members Southwestern Conference Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ^ The Great Conferences/Illinois High School Glory Days
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Belleville News-Democrat