AFC South

The AFC South, short for the American Football Conference – Southern Division, is one of four divisions within the AFC of the NFL. It was formed in 2002, following the league’s realignment after expanding to 32 teams, and has always consisted of the same four franchises: the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans. Often called the NFL’s “newest” division, at its creation no team had been in its current city for more than eighteen seasons.

Before 2002, the Texans didn’t exist, the Colts were in the AFC East, and both the Titans and Jaguars played in the AFC Central. The Colts moved from Baltimore after the 1983 season, the Jaguars began play in 1995, and the Titans (formerly the Houston Oilers) relocated from Houston in 1996. Despite these moves, Indianapolis, Tennessee, and Jacksonville had all previously won multiple division titles and wild card berths in their old divisions.

The Colts hold a 572–514–8 regular-season record and a 23–25 playoff mark, with two NFL championships, four Super Bowl appearances, and two wins. The Titans are 480–526–6, with a 17–23 playoff record, two AFL titles (as the Houston Oilers), and a loss in Super Bowl XXXIV. The Jaguars are 210–286–0, with an 8–8 playoff record. The Texans, who first reached the playoffs in 2011 (their tenth season), are 169–214–1, with a 6–8 playoff record.

The only Super Bowl win by an AFC South team is the Colts’ victory in Super Bowl XLI (2006), though the Colts also won a Super Bowl while in a different division and city. The division currently has the longest active Super Bowl victory drought; every other division has had at least one team win a Super Bowl since 2009 (seven divisions won seven between 2009 and 2015), though the Colts played in Super Bowl XLIV in 2009. The AFC South is also the only division with more than one team—the Jaguars and Texans—that has never appeared in a Super Bowl. Uniquely, every team in this division has hosted a Super Bowl in its own stadium.

**History**

**2000s** The division’s first season (2002) was won by the Tennessee Titans, who advanced to the AFC Championship. The Indianapolis Colts then claimed the next five division titles, culminating in their Super Bowl XLI victory. In 2007, the AFC South posted the best combined division record in NFL history at 42–22 (.656), surpassing the 1975 AFC Central’s .643.