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43-510: A member of the Southland Conference , UTRGV sponsors teams in eight men's and eight women's NCAA sanctioned sports: UTPA, then Pan American College, won the 1963 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament under Coach Sam Williams . Lucious "Luke" Jackson was one of the players on that championship team. Jackson was selected 4th overall during the 1964 NBA draft. He was selected to the 1964–65 NBA All-Rookie Team and played in

86-464: A different conference structure than the above multisport conferences. These schools have memberships in other conferences for other sports. This list includes conferences in sports that the NCAA does not fully split into divisions, such as men's volleyball and rifle. Sports in which the NCAA sponsors separate championships for men and women are officially treated by the NCAA as two separate sports. Among

129-673: A football home until an ASUN football league was established. The Southland began the process of rebuilding its core membership in September 2021, announcing that East Texas A&M University, then named Texas A&M University–Commerce, would start a transition from NCAA Division II and join the conference in July 2022. The SLC also announced a football scheduling alliance with the Ohio Valley Conference , another FCS league that had experienced major membership losses during

172-482: A football program for NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level competition by 2024. At the time, it was believed that the program would compete as part of the newly reinstated football conference within the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). On December 11, 2022, Travis Bush was hired to be the first head coach of UTRGV. UTRGV has since delayed the start of varsity football to

215-633: A member of the Sun Belt Conference ), Arlington State College (now The University of Texas at Arlington , departed in 2012 and now in the Western Athletic Conference ), Lamar State College of Technology (now Lamar University ; departed in 1987, rejoined in 1999, left again in 2021, returned in 2022), and Trinity University (departed in 1972, now participating in NCAA Division III). Since its founding,

258-447: A second such sport in 2025. Unlike the other two divisions, Division III institutions cannot offer athletic scholarships. Among the other NCAA Division III requirements, schools have sports sponsorship requirements set by the NCAA. All institutions, regardless of enrollment, must sponsor at least three team sports for each sex/gender, and each playing season represented by each sex/gender. A sports sponsorship rule unique to Division III

301-623: A week, the Southland expelled those four schools, leading the WAC to move their entry up to July 2021. A fifth member, Central Arkansas , announced on January 29 that it would join the ASUN Conference effective that July. At the time, the ASUN was a non-football conference, but soon entered into a football partnership with the WAC that gave Central Arkansas and two other incoming ASUN members

344-534: A year earlier, moved that sport to the NEC. On March 25, 2024, the Southland expanded again with the announcement that UTRGV would join the conference effective July 1, 2024, joining Lamar from the WAC. Two months later, multiple media reports indicated that Stephen F. Austin would return to the SLC in July 2024; this move was officially announced on May 29. The Southland added four associate members in golf effective with

387-634: Is governed by a presidential Board of Directors and an Advisory Council of athletic and academic administrators. Chris Grant became the Southland's seventh commissioner on April 5, 2022. From 1996 to 2002, for football only, the Southland Conference was known as the Southland Football League . The conference's offices are located in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas . According to a press release from April 11, 2022,

430-592: Is that the total number of sports that must be sponsored differs by a school's full-time undergraduate enrollment. Schools with an enrollment of 1,000 or fewer must sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women; those with larger enrollments must sponsor six men's and six women's sports. As in the other divisions, teams that include both men and women are treated as men's sports for the purpose of these regulations. Conferences that sponsor football highlighted in yellow. These all-sports conferences sponsor sports which do not have D-III championships. In addition to

473-643: The American Sports Network to syndicate and televise selected games, while also continuing its association with ESPN3. A separate deal allowed Louisiana-based Cox Sports Television to air select games. After ASN folded following the 2016–17 academic year, the Southland announced a television agreement with Eleven Sports . During 2017-18, conference-controlled games aired on ESPN3, Eleven Sports , Fox Sports Southwest and Cox Sports Television . For 2018-19, ESPN productions began to be split between ESPN3 and ESPN+ platforms. On October 8, 2020,

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516-666: The Mid-American Conference in July 2023. School names and nicknames listed here reflect those in use in each institution's final school year of Southland Conference membership. Full members Full members (non-football) Associate members (football only) Affiliate member (other sport) Other Conference Other Conference 1. - Southwestern Louisiana became the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (Louisiana–Lafayette, now athletically branded as simply Louisiana) in 1999. 2. - Northeast Louisiana became

559-647: The United Athletic Conference (UAC) in 2023. However, the UTRGV athletic program was moved to the Southland Conference (SLC) before the football team ever played a game as a UAC member. After becoming a four-year college in 1952, the Broncs were members of the NAIA until the 1962–63 season. The Broncs were an independent in the first year of NAIA membership. From the 1953–54 season to the 1961–62 season,

602-608: The University of Texas–Pan American (UTPA; since merged into the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley , or UTRGV) and the University of New Orleans (UNO) fielded teams as affiliate members before 2013, when UTPA joined the WAC and UNO became a full Southland member. The Southland underwent major turmoil in 2021, losing five members. On January 14, the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) announced that four Southland members—Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston , and Stephen F. Austin —would join that conference in July 2022. Within

645-466: The early-2020s realignment cycle , for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. However, shortly after A&M–Commerce was announced as a future member, the SLC was set to experience further attrition when the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) announced that it would leave for the WAC after the 2021–22 school year. Ultimately, however, this did not come to pass, as UIW announced it would be staying in

688-495: The 1971 College World Series under Coach Al Ogletree . The UTPA Tennis program won several NAIA championships (doubles and singles) from 1959 through 1962 under Coach Don Russell, who himself captured several championships while playing and coaching the team. Other prominent Bronc champions included John Sharpe and George Kon, with Sharpe and Russell winning three consecutive doubles titles together from 1959 to 1961. On January 14, 2021, news broke that UTRGV had explored to create

731-517: The 1985 NCAA Women's Final Four. Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights/licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, food and novelties. Total expenses includes coaching/staff, scholarships, buildings/ground, maintenance, utilities and rental fees and all other costs including recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues and insurance costs. The Conference began its own syndicated broadcast entity in 2008,

774-402: The 2021–22 school year. One school joined in men's golf only, two in women's golf only, and one in both. A fifth school joined at the same time for both men's and women's tennis, and two more schools joined in July 2022, one for men's and women's golf and tennis and the other for beach volleyball. However, as noted previously, two of these schools left a year later when their full-time home of

817-480: The 2025 season, though it plans to play an exhibition schedule in 2024. The school purchased H-E-B Park – later renamed to Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium – in 2024 to be the primary home of the football team in 2025. Sams Memorial Stadium will also host a game each year. The WAC merged its football league with that of the ASUN Conference (since reverted to its past name Atlantic Sun Conference ) to create

860-431: The 2026 season, as well as the conference tournaments in men's and women's basketball, baseball, and softball through 2026. More recently, Lamar announced it would return to the SLC effective in 2023–24. In addition, on April 11, 2022 the conference announced in a press release that it had partnered with Troika Media Group to institute a rebrand to be implemented before the end of the calendar year. The release stated that

903-610: The Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. The Vaqueros began play for women's basketball in 1982. Their 10–5 record in NAIA play was their only winning season until 2014-15, when they finished 19–15 in their final season as the Broncs. They finished their season in the WAC title game, though they lost to New Mexico State 70–52. They were invited to the WBI, their first ever postseason appearance in school history. They lost to Louisiana-Lafayette 78–56 in

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946-657: The Atlantic Sun Conference) and returned to independent status until 1986–87. UTPA joined the American South Conference as a charter member in 1987 and remained a member until the American South Conference merged with the Sun Belt Conference in 1991. The Broncs left the Sun Belt Conference at the end of the 1997–98 season and returned to independent status. In 2008 it was announced that the Broncs would be charter members of

989-554: The Football Bowl Subdivision must be "multisport conferences" and participate in conference play in at least six men's and eight women's sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, and at least two other women's team sports. Each school may count one men's and one women's sport not sponsored by its primary conference toward the above limits, as long as that sport competes in another Division I conference. The men's and women's sports so counted need not be

1032-598: The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference entered into a women's golf partnership with the Northeast Conference. The Southland Conference announced UIC joining the conference as an affiliate in men's tennis for the 2022–23 season on July 14. San Jose State was added as a multi-year beach volleyball affiliate beginning with the 2023 season (2022–23 school year). UIC would only spend one season in SLC men's tennis, moving that sport to

1075-564: The NBA All-Star Game that same year. He played his entire career with the Philadelphia 76ers. The basketball program, during the mid-1970s was coached by Abe Lemons . Under Lemons, the program had very successful seasons but, lamentably, failed to get invited to any NCAA tournaments. Coach Lemons was later hired away by the University of Texas at Austin. Upon Lemons' departure to the University of Texas at Austin, Bill White

1118-514: The NCAA regulations, Division II institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women (or four for men and six for women), with two team sports for each sex, and each playing season represented by each sex. Teams that consist of both men and women are counted as men's teams for sports sponsorship purposes. Conferences that sponsor football are highlighted in yellow. These all-sports conferences sponsor sports which do not have D-II championships. One of these conferences will add

1161-463: The SLC only 7 months after announcing its departure. McNeese was also courted by the WAC, and also flirted with a move to Conference USA , but eventually stayed in the SLC. According to the American Press , the daily newspaper of McNeese's home of Lake Charles, Louisiana , McNeese became "the de facto lead school in the league". It was set to host the SLC's football media day through at least

1204-500: The Southland Conference Television Network. It aired in over 25 markets in the league's four-state region, plus on national networks such as Fox College Sports , ESPN GamePlan , and ESPN3 . In 2008-09, the network featured 35 broadcasts, and over 30 in each of the next four seasons. For 2013 and 2014, the syndicated network was restricted to only regular season football games. The remainder of

1247-486: The Southland Conference announced a multi-year extension through the 2024–25 academic year as well as an expansion of its media rights agreement with ESPN. List of NCAA conferences The National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) is divided into three divisions based on scholarship allocation. Each division is made up of several conferences for regional league competition. Unless otherwise noted, changes in conference affiliation will occur on July 1 of

1290-428: The Southland Conference has been the home for 18 college and university all-sports programs (see membership timeline below). In addition, the conference has also been home to some schools for one sport only. In the case of football, Troy University fielded a team from 1996 to 2000 and Jacksonville State University did so from 1997 to 2002. This has also been the case for some Olympic sports like men's tennis, in which

1333-659: The Southland Conference in 2025. Southland Conference The Southland Conference , abbreviated as SLC , is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana ). It participates in the NCAA 's Division I for all sports; for football , it participates in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Southland sponsors 18 sports, 10 for women and eight for men, and

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1376-986: The Southland Conference which are played by SLC schools: Notes Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southland Conference which are played by SLC schools: Notes Former and current players from the Southland that would go on to star in the National Football League include Gary Barbaro , Mike Barber , Fred Barnett , Bill Bergey , Derrick Blaylock , Bubby Brister , Ray Brown , Roger Carr , Mark Carrier , Larry Centers , Bruce Collie , Keith Davis , Fred Dean , Jackie Harris , Stan Humphries , Buford Jordan , Wade Key , Josh McCown , Tim McKyer , Jeff Novak , Kavika Pittman , Mike Quinn , Billy Ryckman , Ricky Sanders , Eugene Seale , Rafael Septién , Terrance Shaw , Marcus Spears , Chad Stanley , Pat Tilley , Jeremiah Trotter , Marvin Upshaw , Lardarius Webb and Spergon Wynn . The Southland

1419-455: The University of Louisiana at Monroe (Louisiana–Monroe) in 1999. 3. - UTPA merged with the University of Texas at Brownsville to become the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) in 2015. The Southland Conference sponsors championship competition in eight men's and 10 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The most recently added sport is beach volleyball, with SLC competition starting in 2019–20. Men's varsity sports not sponsored by

1462-511: The conference was to undergo a rebrand in 2022 that included a new name and logo. The rebranding was unveiled in March 2023, with a new logo but no change to the conference name. Founded in 1963, its members were Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University; departed in 1973 for NCAA Division II, but moved to Division I and rejoined the Southland in 2013), Arkansas State College (now Arkansas State University; departed in 1987, now

1505-619: The first round. The next year, they finished 18–13, marking the first time in program history that they had consecutive winning seasons. Though they lost in the WAC title game to New Mexico State again, they were invited to the WBI, where they lost to TCU 97–73. On November 19, 2016, the UTRGV Women's Volleyball Team defeated the Utah Valley Woman's Volleyball team, making them the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Volleyball Champions of 2016. The UTPA baseball squad placed 4th in

1548-554: The given year. Under NCAA regulations, all Division I conferences defined as "multisport conferences" must meet the following criteria: Schools in all divisions that sponsor athletic programs for only one sex/gender need only meet the sports sponsorship requirements for that sex/gender. Conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision must meet a more stringent set of NCAA requirements than other conferences. Among these additional NCAA regulations, institutions in

1591-604: The previously football-only Great West Conference when it began all-sports play in 2008. During the fall of 2008, the UTPA Cross Country team was the first to win a Great West Conference team title. UTPA exited Great West Conference after the 2012–2013 season. The UTPA Broncs were one of the newest members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Men's soccer returned to the athletic program in 2015, and women's soccer started in 2014. Football will play an exhibition-only season in 2024 before starting full varsity play in

1634-682: The rebrand would include, among other things, a new name for the conference. On July 11, 2022, Lamar and the Southland Conference announced Lamar's accelerated return to the SLC effective immediately. The following day saw the SLC lose two of its women's golf associates when the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Northeast Conference (NEC) announced a partnership for baseball and men's and women's golf that saw all MEAC schools that sponsored those sports become NEC associates. Accordingly, Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore , which had joined SLC women's golf just

1677-555: The same sport. In addition to competing in football, multisport conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision must still meet the general NCAA Division I requirements regarding the minimum number of men's and women's sports ( see above ). Multisport conferences that do not compete in football must still meet the general NCAA Division I requirements regarding the minimum number of men's and women's sports ( see above ). Division I ice hockey has

1720-417: The schedule was available on ESPN3 or regional sports networks, including regular season and tournament basketball as well as championships in soccer, volleyball, softball and baseball. ESPN3 also carried an exclusive package of football games beyond the syndicated network's schedule. SLCTV dissolved on July 1, 2015. Beginning with the 2015–16 school year, the Southland Conference entered into an agreement with

1763-683: The teams were members of the Big State Conference. In 1962–63, the team had a dual membership in the NAIA and NCAA College Division. The Broncs began transitioning to the NCAA University Division in 1965–66 with the tennis team. The men's basketball began its transition in 1968–69. Broncs men's basketball participated as an Independent until the 1979–80 season when the team was a member of the Trans America Athletic Conference (now known as

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1806-745: Was instrumental in founding the Independence Bowl , and the Southland champion served as the automatic home team for that bowl from 1976–1980. On May 21, 2014, the Southland Conference approved the use of instant replay at all its home games becoming the first FCS league to fully commit to having all games utilize instant replay. Among notable NBA stars attending Southland Conference schools include Karl Malone (Louisiana Tech), Joe Dumars (McNeese), Jeff Foster (Southwest Texas State, now known as Texas State), and Andrew Toney (Southwestern Louisiana, now known as Louisiana). Former member Louisiana–Monroe (then Northeast Louisiana) advanced to

1849-499: Was named the head basketball coach. While at Pan American, Coach White led the Broncs to their first post-season tournament play at the Division I level. During the 1980–81 season, Pan American earned a berth to the 1981 National Invitation Tournament. The Broncs lost to the 1981 NIT champs, the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The basketball program was also later coached by Lon Kruger , who later went on to coach at Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, UNLV, and Oklahoma. He also coached

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