Southland Conference - History

History

Founded in 1963, its members were Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University; departed 1973 for NCAA Division II, but will move to Division I and rejoin the Southland effective 2013), Arkansas State College (now Arkansas State University; departed 1987, now a member of the Sun Belt Conference), Arlington State College (now The University of Texas at Arlington, which joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2012 and will move to the Sun Belt in 2013), Lamar State College of Technology (now Lamar University, left in 1987 and re-joined in 1999; the only founding school that is currently a member), and Trinity University (departed 1971, now participating in NCAA Division III).

Since its founding, the Southland Conference has been the home for 18 college and university all-sports programs (see membership timeline above). In addition, the conference has also been home to some schools for one sport only. In the case of football, Troy fielded a team from 1996–2000 and Jacksonville State from 1997-2002. This has also been the case for some Olympic sports like men's tennis, in which the University of Texas-Pan American and the University of New Orleans currently field teams as affiliate members.