The Southern Conference announced a series of cost-containment measures it will put in place for the 2009-10 academic year, including reducing conference baseball series to two days from three, reducing the number of qualifying teams for select conference tournaments and other cuts.

The conference will re-evaluate the strategies in January 2010.

The top four teams in men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, softball, and men’s and women’s tennis will participate in conference tournaments, down from nine in softball, 11 in women’s tennis and eight in the remaining sports. The conference also eliminated media days for football and basketball and will not print media guides. Staff travel to regular-season events, including conventions and professional development seminars, will be reduced. In-person meetings will also be replaced with teleconferences.

“It’s important to know that all these measures are being undertaken for one year, with the understanding that we will review the economic climate early in 2010 before proceeding,” said Southern Conference Commissioner John Iamarino. “These steps are not pleasant ones. Our presidents and athletics administrators approved them reluctantly, but these actions became necessary as they considered the heavy financial challenges we’re all facing.”

Iamarino estimated the conference would realize about $120,000 in savings, which will be distributed back to athletics departments.