Millsaps says Belhaven rivalry will continue after conference move

Millsaps announced earlier this summer that it will leave the Southern Athletic Association and join the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference in fall 2027, but the school’s athletic director said the rivalry with nearby Belhaven will continue.

“The Belhaven rivalry is not going anywhere,” Millsaps athletic director Justin LeBlanc said. The two schools are about half a mile apart in Jackson and have never competed in the same conference, Millsaps said.

LeBlanc said the schools plan to continue meeting in most, if not all, sports they both sponsor. “In the near future, in sports like football, baseball, and basketball, they’re on the schedule,” he said.

For the 2026-27 athletic year, Millsaps and Belhaven are scheduled to meet Sept. 3 in the Riverside Rumble at Harper Davis Field on the Millsaps campus. “That rivalry game will stay in place as long as we have anything to say about it,” LeBlanc said.

Millsaps has been a member of NCAA Division III since 1973, and Belhaven joined Division III in 2015 after competing in the NAIA, Millsaps said. The football teams have met 15 times, with Belhaven holding a 9-6 advantage in the all-time series, Millsaps said.

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