A HISTORIC SEASON

Celebrating a year of incredible success for Samford Athletics and its 17 Division I Teams

by Sarah Waller and Joey Mullins

Samford Athletics’ 2022-23 season was one for the history books. With nine of its teams winning 11 Southern Conference championships, this achievement sets the record for most conference championships in a single season in Samford history.

“Winning 11 championships in one year is a remarkable achievement by our student-athletes, coaches and support staff,” said Martin Newton, Samford’s director of athletics. “It is truly a team effort, but it does not define us or mean we are unsuccessful when we come just short of our goals. How they represent our university in the classroom and in the community gives me a great sense of pride and comfort in knowing they will graduate from Samford equipped to make a positive impact in this world.”

In the fall, with football, soccer and volleyball claiming SoCon championships, Samford became the only NCAA Division I school in the country to win conference championships in all three sports.

The football team earned its first outright SoCon championship after winning all eight of its conference games. The only losses were to the University of Georgia in September and to North Dakota State in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Additionally, the soccer team won its ninth-straight SoCon regular season title with a record of 11-3-7, and the volleyball team had its most successful season since 2019 with a record of 19-13. Both teams won the SoCon Tournament and progressed to their respective NCAA tournaments but lost in the first round.

With track and field, Samford’s teams continued to dominate, sweeping both the SoCon Indoor Championships (for a fourth-straight year) and the SoCon Outdoor Championships (for a third-straight season).

In February, the men’s basketball team was named SoCon regular season champions, which marked the team’s first conference championship since Samford joined the SoCon in 2008. Coach Bucky McMillan led the Bulldogs to a second-straight 20-win regular season, marking the first time in program history that the feat has been accomplished.

The baseball team claimed the regular season SoCon championship and the SoCon Tournament title to bring the total number of the championships to 11. And while the softball team didn’t claim the trophy, the team finished second in the SoCon Softball Championship.

Off the field, Samford’s studentathletes posted an impressive 3.25 grade point average. Additionally, Samford continued its stellar performance in the NCAA’s annual Graduation Success Rate (GSR) report, scoring a 98%, the highest score in both the SoCon and the state of Alabama.

Finally, at the conclusion of the season, when the all-sports awards were released by the league, Samford was announced as the winner of both the Commissioner's Cup, which goes to the top all-around men's athletics program in the SoCon, and the Germann Cup, for the SoCon's top overall women's athletics program. ◗