There were a number of 5 teams participated under the South Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1978-79 and the teams were representing the Southern region of India, in the tournament. The teams were the regular participants in the tournament and they included the likes of Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra, Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu. All the teams had the same objective of becoming one of the top two teams in the zone and also getting a chance to enter into the knock out level of the tournament. However, only the teams like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu became the toppers in the zone and entered into the knock out level of the tournament from the South Zone.

The first of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1978-79 was played between the teams of Kerala and Karnataka and the match took place at Trichur from 28-30 October, 1978. The match saw the Karnataka team winning by a huge margin of an innings and 129 runs and also earning the entire 9 points from it. The second match of the zone saw a clash between the teams of Karnataka and Andhra and the two teams played the match at Udupi from 18-20 November, 1978. The Karnataka team played very well in the match and clinched a victory of 8 wickets for earning 8 valuable points from it. The teams of Tamil Nadu and Andhra clashed with each other in the third match of the zone that was held at Coimbatore from 25-27 November, 1978. The Tamil Nadu team got a very good start in the tournament, as it won this match with a huge margin of an innings and 95 runs and earned the full 9 points from it, as well.

There was a clash between the teams of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the fourth of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1978-79 and the match was held at Trivandrum from 02-04 December, 1978. The Tamil Nadu team played very well in this match also and clinched a victory of an innings and 71 runs for earning the entire 9 points from the match. The next match saw the teams of Andhra and Kerala playing against each other at Vijayawada from 09-11 December, 1978. Playing well in the match, the Kerala team beat the Andhra team with a margin of 7 wickets and earned 8 valuable points from it, as well. The clash between the teams of Hyderabad and Kerala took place at Hyderabad in the next match of the zone from 15-17 December, 1978. The winner of the match was the Hyderabad team with a margin of an innings and 38 runs and the team earned 8 points from the match, well.

The seventh of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1978-79 saw a battle between the teams of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka at Madras from 23-25 December, 1978. The match remained drawn during the stipulated period of time and the match officials awarded both the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka teams 2 points each for the match. The match between the teams of Andhra and Hyderabad was also held during the same timing from 23-25 December, 1978 at Kakinada. The Hyderabad team showed a wonderful performance in the match and clinched a huge victory of 10 wickets to earn 8 points from the match. The Hyderabad team then played against the Tamil Nadu team in the next match of the zone at Hyderabad from 20-22 January, 1979. The drawn match saw the Tamil Nadu team earning 5 points and Hyderabad earning 3 points from it. The Hyderabad team appeared in the last of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1978-79 also and this time, it played against the Karnataka team at Bangalore from 26-28 January, 1979. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Karnataka and Hyderabad teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match.