The Southern Conference is expanding further into the Volunteer State, FootballScoop has learned.
Tennessee Tech, with proven program-builder Bobby Wilder at the helm and coming off its best football season in a decade, is set to join the Southern Conference beginning in 2026, multiple sources with direct knowledge tell FootballScoop.
The SoCon is expected to formally announce the move today.
In 2024, with Wilder at the helm, the Golden Eagles posted a 7-5 overall record but soared to a share of the Big South-OVC Association conference title on the strength of a 6-2 in those games.
Tech won its final five games of the season, only narrowly missed what would have been the program's first FCS Playoffs berth in more than a decade and then immediately assembled one of the strongest NCAA Transfer Portal classes in the FCS.
As FootballScoop detailed in-depth earlier this summer, Wilder and TTU President Dr. Phil Oldham have aligned forces to enact a strategic vision for both Tech football and athletics, as well as a general campus vision. Wilder also has consistently praised his general manager, Justin McMullen. He previously was general manager and NFL Pro Liaison at New Hampshire.
Tennessee Tech opens its 2025 season at home Aug. 30 against Cumberland, the start of a three-game homestand to initiate the year. The Golden Eagles host rival Chattanooga and Davidson in back-to-back weeks before traveling to Tennessee State.
The SoCon was founded in 1921 and counts 10 current members: Chattanooga, The Citadel, ETSU, Furman, Mercer, Samford, UNC-Greensboro, VMI, Western Carolina and Wofford.
The move is a considerable geographic win for the Golden Eagles, who will have just Citadel (Charleston, S.C.) and VMI (Lexington, Va.) more than 300 miles away.
Additionally, the SoCon is widely viewed as one of the premier FCS conference's anywhere in the sport and especially on the Eastern half of the United States.
The SoCon has both Mercer and Western Carolina ranked in the 2025 Coaches FCS Preseason Top 25. The also well-regarded FCS Nation Top 25 has three SoCon squads in its preseason rankings released earlier this week, with Mercer, ETSU and Chattanooga all landing in the top-22.