Editing Southeastern Conference (section)

===Former members===
Three schools have left the SEC, all charter members:

*[[Sewanee: The University of the South|The University of the South]] ("Sewanee") developed an elite college football program around the turn of the 20th century, with some observers{{Who|date=March 2025}} opining that the [[1899 Sewanee Tigers football team|1899 "Iron Tigers"]] were the most dominant squad in history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899 |url= https://sewanee1899.org}}</ref> However, after helping to establish the SEC in the early 1930s, it became clear that the small private institution's athletic teams could no longer compete with those from large state universities. [[Sewanee Tigers football]] squads never won a conference game, going 0–36 in league play over eight seasons while enjoying much more success against non-conference foes from comparably-sized institutions.<ref name="charter"/> As such, Sewanee opted to leave the SEC after the 1940 season and transitioned its athletic programs to the lower divisions of intercollegiate play.<ref name="Sewanee1">{{cite news |title=Sewanee quits Southeastern |first=Romney |last=Wheeler |agency=Associated Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VuU-AAAAIBAJ&pg=4638%2C4829781 |via=Google News Archives |newspaper=The Tuscaloosa News |date=December 13, 1940 |page=1 |access-date=April 14, 2012}}</ref> The school is currently a member of the [[Southern Athletic Association]].{{efn|group=former|name=D3|Currently an [[NCAA Division III]] athletic conference.}}
*[[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets|Georgia Tech]] left the SEC in 1964 due to controversy over the conference's regulation of [[college recruiting|recruiting]] and [[athletic scholarship|scholarships]]. Georgia Tech athletic director and head football coach [[Bobby Dodd]] had lobbied the league to establish rules prohibiting several practices, particularly the oversigning of players by Alabama coach [[Bear Bryant]] and others.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oversigning: An in-depth look into one of college football's biggest controversies |url=https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/sports/national-sports/staff-sports-picks/oversigning-an-in-depth-look-into-1-of-college-footballs-biggest-controversies/ |work=www.gainesvilletimes.com |publisher=The Gainesville Times |date=July 16, 2011}}</ref> When league members voted against tightening the rules, Dodd withdrew the Yellow Jackets from the SEC. The school played as an [[NCAA Division I FBS independent schools|independent]] for several years, and in 1978, Georgia Tech joined another Southern Conference offshoot, the [[Atlantic Coast Conference]].<ref name="charter">{{cite news |last1=Sims |first1=Bob |title=Southeastern Conference charter schools move on in different directions |url=https://www.al.com/bn/2008/02/southeastern_conference_charte.html |access-date=December 4, 2022 |work=Alabama.com |date=February 24, 2008}}</ref>
*[[Tulane Green Wave|Tulane]] left the SEC in 1966. The school's athletic squads were competitive in the early days of the conference, but much like Sewanee, the private institution's programs found it difficult to compete against large state universities. This was particularly true in football; the [[Tulane Green Wave football|Green Wave]] were SEC champs in [[1949 Tulane Green Wave football team|1949]] but never again posted a winning record in conference play. Tulane left the SEC in 1966 and subsequently considered dropping to lower levels of NCAA competition or even ending its football program altogether to focus on academics.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Dellenger |first1=Ross |title=Inside Tulane's Rapid Turnaround From Two Wins to Group of Five Dominance |url=https://www.si.com/college/2022/11/10/tulane-football-turnaround-academic-school |access-date=January 2, 2023 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=November 10, 2022}}</ref> However, the school has remained in Division I and joined the [[American Athletic Conference]] in 2014.<ref name="charter"/>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Institution
!Location
!Establishment
!Joined SEC
!Left SEC
!Type
!Nickname
!class="unsortable"|Colors
!Current<br>conference
|-
| '''[[Sewanee: The University of the South]]'''
| [[Sewanee, Tennessee]]
| 1857
| 1932
| 1940
| Private<br>{{small|([[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]])}}
| [[Sewanee Tigers|Tigers]]
| {{college color boxes|Sewanee Tigers}}
| [[Southern Athletic Association|SAA]]{{efn|group=former|name=D3}}
|-
| '''[[Georgia Tech|Georgia Institute of Technology]]'''
| [[Atlanta|Atlanta, Georgia]]
| 1885
| 1932
| 1964
| Public
| [[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets|Yellow Jackets]]
| {{college color boxes|Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets}}
| [[Atlantic Coast Conference|ACC]]
|-
| '''[[Tulane University]]'''
| [[New Orleans|New Orleans, Louisiana]]
| 1834
| 1932
| 1966
| Private
| [[Tulane Green Wave|Green Wave]]
| {{college color boxes|Tulane Green Wave}}
| [[American Athletic Conference|The American]]
|}

;Notes:
{{notelist|group=former}}