On July 1, 2008, a little over 10 years ago, Samford officially joined the Southern Conference.
 
In Samford's 10 years in the league, the school has won 33 SoCon regular-season, tournament or divisional titles. Since joining the conference, the programs have steadily improved, with 29 of the 33 championships coming in the last seven years.
 
"Being in a league that is as competitive and deep as the Southern Conference has helped elevate our teams throughout the years," Samford Athletics Director Martin Newton said. "The programs in this league push each other to be better and that helps make the entire conference stronger. This is absolutely the best league for Samford, and I believe, we bring a lot of value to the league as well."
 
While the move was officially made in 2008, it was years in the making and would take several steps to become a reality.
 
Bob Roller, who served as the school's athletics director from 1999 to 2010, said it was made clear to him early on that the University's administration wanted Samford in a league similar to the SoCon.
 
"Soon after I was named as athletics director in 1999, I had a meeting with (former Samford President) Dr. (Thomas) Corts and John Pittman, a lifetime Trustee and a tremendous influence on my early years as an AD," Roller said. "It was clear to me that both of those men aspired for Samford to join a league with peer institutions like the Southern Conference.
 
"The problem we faced at that time was we were not ready yet in terms of facilities and budgets," Roller said. "We had to quickly upgrade and improve in those areas to get Samford on the radar.  We were way behind a school like Furman at that time, and also many of the larger state institutions in the SoCon."
 
At the time, Samford was a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The A-Sun, however, does not sponsor football as a conference sport, so the Bulldogs' football team had to play as an NCAA Division I-FCS (then I-AA) independent. In 2003, Samford moved to the Ohio Valley Conference, placing all 17 of the school's teams in the same league.
 
"Ironically, it required us to make an initial conference move to the Ohio Valley Conference first to allow our entire athletics department to get to the point where we were a viable candidate for the SoCon," Roller said. "By that time, Dr. (Andrew) Westmoreland had become our president and was extremely supportive and an active part of our process with the SoCon CEOs and Commissioner (John) Iamarino."
 
Samford spent five years in the OVC, experiencing a lot of success in the league. Samford won 15 OVC regular-season and tournament titles in the school's five-season stay in the conference. Roller said he believes Samford's time in the OVC was a tremendous help in making Samford ready for the Southern Conference.
 
"I would never minimize the Ohio Valley Conference portion of it all," Roller said. "That got us to where every sport was in the same league and the best analogy I can give is, being in the OVC made Samford tougher."
 
Once Samford was an established program in the OVC, the SoCon did show interest. Dr. Leo Lambert, president of former SoCon member Elon, and SoCon Commissioner John Iamarino traveled to Birmingham and met with Samford President Dr. Andrew Westmoreland and Roller to talk about the possibility of joining the league. After a larger contingent of SoCon officials visited campus, an offer to join the league was extended.
 
Moving to the Southern Conference was a big move up for Samford. At the time of the announcement, then-SoCon member Appalachian State was about to win its third-straight NCAA Division I-FCS national title, and then-member Davidson was about to make its historic run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament with future NBA MVP Stephen Curry.
 
The move was officially announced on March 15, 2007. Iamarino said there were several reasons the SoCon pursued Samford as a new member.
 
"Expansion was one of the first priorities we identified when I became Commissioner," Iamarino said. "It became increasingly apparent to me that Samford would be an excellent fit. They had strong academics, an improving athletic program, some new facilities, and an institutional profile that looked a lot like several of our members at the time. I also thought a presence in the Birmingham market would be beneficial to us."
 
Westmoreland credits Iamarino, the other SoCon schools and Samford's coaches with making the transition easier on everyone involved.
 
"Moving from one athletic conference to another is a complex, emotional process, but in retrospect, Samford's transition to the SoCon was probably far more tranquil than is often the case in such matters," Westmoreland said. "Our Commissioner, John Iamarino, played a significant role in easing the transition.  Also, there appeared to be no disruption within the existing SoCon membership regarding Samford's entrance, so we were welcomed from the very beginning. " 
 
Roller said in both conference moves, from the A-Sun to the OVC, and then from the OVC to the SoCon, Samford's head coaches were in favor of the move.
 
"They were all team players, because both of those conference moves, in one way or another, were not easy on head coaches and staffs," Roller said. "In the Ohio Valley Conference, we were the only private school, and that conference move, I think really toughened us up. Then the SoCon was thought of as even stronger, obviously. So, both of those moves were ambitious, and now it is really satisfying to see, 10 years later, that Samford is near the top."
 
"Finally, while our coaches recognized at the time that our travel schedules would be more challenging, we had a widely-shared understanding that the SoCon was likely the best 'fit' for Samford, alongside institutions with a shared commitment to student success," Westmoreland said.
 
Samford head soccer coach Todd Yelton, whose program was one of the top teams in the OVC, said he was in favor of the move when it was first presented.
 
"We had had such great success in the OVC, and we wound up getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament out of that, but I really wanted to move into the Southern Conference," Yelton said. "I think it fits us naturally from a recruiting standpoint, and I think we've seen the growth of the program in our time in the league. I knew coming in that it was going to be very challenging for us. I had great respect for the coaches in the league. From our standpoint, it has been a fantastic experience, and when we finally decided to do it, I was excited for our program."
 
In 10 years in the league, Yelton's program has won five SoCon regular-season titles, including the last four in a row. The first overall SoCon championship in any sport for Samford came in its second season in the league, when the women's cross-country team earned the 2009 title.
 
Entering its first year in the new league, expectations were not high for most of Samford's teams. The football team was picked dead last in the league's preseason polls, receiving every last-place vote in the poll.
 
The football team surprised everyone, going 6-5 overall and 4-4 in league play. The soccer team went 8-1-2 in SoCon play, while the volleyball team won the SoCon's North Division title, posting records of 28-5 overall and 16-2 in league play.
 
Men's basketball finished third in the North Division that season, and reached the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament, falling to eventual champion Chattanooga on its home floor. The women's basketball team finished second in the SoCon standings with a 16-4 league record, and reached the tournament semifinals, being eliminated by eventual champion, Western Carolina.
 
 
"Perhaps the greatest surprise has been the extent to which Samford moved quickly after joining the SoCon to a position of strength within the league," Westmoreland said. "The credit for that success lies with a great athletics and coaching staff, the work ethic of our student athletes, and the loyalty of our fans.  The move was right for Samford and, coincidentally, in the best interest of the SoCon.  Ten years later, I have no regrets about the decision."
 
"Looking back 10 years later, Samford has more than justified our confidence in them," Iamarino said. "Their student-athletes compete hard, but have the right priorities. Their coaches and administration have been staunch supporters of the Southern Conference. From our perspective, it's been a rewarding partnership."
 
Samford's conference titles in the last 10 years have come in baseball (2012 and 2018 tournaments), women's basketball (2011 and 2012 tournaments), women's cross country (2009 and 2010), football (2013), women's soccer (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 regular-season, 2011 and 2016 tournament), softball (2016 regular-season, 2016 tournament), men's tennis (2011 and 2013 tournament, 2012 regular-season), women's tennis (2015 regular-season, 2015 tournament), women's indoor track and field (2016, 2017 and 2018), men's outdoor track and field (2014 and 2015), women's outdoor track and field (2014 and 2017) and volleyball (2011, 2014 and 2016 tournament, 2009, 2011 and 2012 North Division).
 
In addition to the team titles, Samford has won the SoCon's Germann Cup, which goes to the top overall women's program in the league, in both 2009-10 and 2014-15. Samford has finished in the top three in the standings in nine of the school's 10 years in the league.
 
In the Commissioner's Cup standings, given to the top overall men's program in the league, Samford has finished in the top three in three of the last four years. In the 2017-18 season, Samford finished second in both the Germann Cup and Commissioner's Cup standings.
 
"The success our athletics department has experienced during our time in the SoCon has been made possible by the tremendous student-athletes and coaches we have at Samford, as well as the University administration that has provided us with the necessary support to be successful," Newton said. "At Samford we make sure our student-athletes are students first and receive a well-rounded college experience. As a Samford graduate, former student-athlete, and now as the school's athletics director, I am extremely proud of our accomplishments, and look forward to our future success."
 
The last 10 years have seen many highlights for Samford's athletic teams. Below are a few of those highlights that helped Samford's teams win SoCon titles.
 

• Oct. 31, 2009: Samford women's cross-country wins Samford's first overall Southern Conference championship in any sport.
• March 7, 2011: Paige Anderson hits a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left to put the women's basketball team up for good on its way to a 57-54 win over Appalachian State for the program's first SoCon Tournament title.
• April 23, 2011: The men's tennis team earns a 4-0 sweep of College of Charleston for the team's first SoCon Tournament championship.
• Nov. 6, 2011: Adrianne Mancino scores a goal in the 88^th minute to lift the soccer team to a 1-0 win over College of Charleston for the first SoCon Tournament championship in program history.
• Nov. 21, 2011: The volleyball team takes a 3-0 win over College of Charleston for the volleyball program's first SoCon Tournament championship.
• May 27, 2012: Zeth Stone rips a three-run double down the right-field line in the top of the 10^th inning to lift the baseball team to a 9-6 win over Georgia Southern, giving the team its first SoCon Tournament title.
• Nov. 23, 2013: Andy Summerlin hits Chris Cephus for a 12-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone with seven seconds to go, lifting the football team to a 33-32 win over Elon, giving the team a share of its first league championship.
• April 27, 2014: The men's and women's outdoor track and field teams sweep the Southern Conference championships, the first for both programs.
• April 26, 2015: The Samford women's tennis team defeats ETSU, 4-1, to win the program's first SoCon Tournament title.
• May 14, 2016: Abbie Miranda drives in the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the softball team a 4-3 win over Furman for its first SoCon Tournament championship.
• May 27, 2018: The Samford baseball team earned its second SoCon Tournament title, and the most recent for any Samford team, by defeating Mercer, 14-4. The team went on to upset seventh-ranked Florida State on its home field in the first game of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional.

 
Entering the 2018-19 school year, Samford has been picked to win this year's league football title. The program has come a long way from receiving every last-place vote in the 2008 preseason poll. The future of Samford athletics is bright and everyone involved looks forward to its next 10 years associated with the prestigious Southern Conference.