The Southland Conference (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 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, 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.
History
Chronological timeline
Founded in 1963, its members were Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University; departed in 1973 for NAIA, then moved to NCAA Division II before they rejoined Division I and the Southland in 2013), Arkansas State College (now Arkansas State University; departed in 1987, now a member of the Sun Belt Conference), Arlington State College (now the University of Texas at Arlington, departed in 2012 and now in the United 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, 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 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; now LSU New Orleans) 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 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 Atlantic Sun 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 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 the early-2020s realignment cycle, for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. However, shortly after Texas 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 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 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 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 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.
Member schools Current full members Institution Location Founded Type Enrollment Endowment Nickname Joined Colors East Texas A&M University Commerce, Texas 1889 Public Total Texas A&M Commerce Common Data Set 2021 - 2022. The Texas A&M University System $33.2 Lions 2022 Houston Christian University Houston, Texas 1960 Christian $132 Huskies 2013 San Antonio, Texas 1881 Catholic $175 Cardinals 2013 Lamar University Beaumont, Texas 1923 Public $162 Cardinals &Lady Cardinals 1963; 1999; 2022 New Orleans, Louisiana 1958 Public $25.8 Privateers 2013 McNeese State University Lake Charles, Louisiana 1939 Public $118 Cowboys &Cowgirls 1972 Nicholls State University Thibodaux, Louisiana 1948 Public $30 Colonels 1991 Northwestern State University Natchitoches, Louisiana 1884 Public $20.8 Demons &Lady Demons 1987 Southeastern Louisiana University Hammond, Louisiana 1925 Public $22.6 Lions &Lady Lions 1997 Stephen F. Austin State University Nacogdoches, Texas 1923 Public $128.0https://www.sfasu.edu/bondholder-information/documents/SFA_Annual_Report_2021-signed.pdf Page 5 Lumberjacks& Ladyjacks 1987; 2024 Corpus Christi, Texas 1947 Public $21.3 Islanders 2006 University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, Texas 2015 Public $103.7 Vaqueros 2024
Notes
Former full members School names and nicknames listed here reflect those in use in each institution's final school year of Southland Conference membership.
Institution Location Founded Type Nickname Joined Left Colors Currentconference Abilene Christian University Abilene, Texas 1906 Churchof Christ Wildcats 1963 1973 United 2013 2021 Arkansas State University Jonesboro, Arkansas 1909 Public Indians 1963 1987 Sun Belt (SBC) Conway, Arkansas 1907 Public Bears &Sugar Bears 2006 2021 United Louisiana Tech University Ruston, Louisiana 1894 Public Bulldogs &Lady Techsters 1971 1987 Sun Belt (SBC) Monroe, Louisiana 1931 Public Indians 1982 2006 Sun Belt (SBC) Denton, Texas 1890 Public Mean Green 1982 1996 American Oral Roberts University Tulsa, Oklahoma 1963 Evangelical Golden Eagles 2012 2014 Summit Lafayette, Louisiana 1898 Public Ragin' Cajuns 1971 1982 Sun Belt (SBC) Sam Houston State University Huntsville, Texas 1879 Public Bearkats 1987 2021 Conf. USA (CUSA) Texas State University San Marcos, Texas 1899 Public Bobcats 1987 2012 Pac-12 Arlington, Texas 1895 Public Mavericks 1963 2012 United San Antonio, Texas 1969 Public Roadrunners 1991 2012 American Trinity University San Antonio, Texas 1869 Nonsectarian Tigers 1963 1972 Southern (SAA)
Notes
Former associate members Institution Location Founded Type Nickname Joined Left SLCsport(s) Currentprimaryconference Currentconferencein formerSLC sport(s) Augusta University Augusta, Georgia 1828 Public Jaguars 2021 2025 Peach Belt (PBC) West Coast (WCC) 2021 2025 Boise State University Boise, Idaho 1932 Public Broncos 2022 2025 Beach volleyball Pac-12 Big 12 Bryant University Smithfield, Rhode Island 1863 Nonsectarian Bulldogs 2022 2024 America East (AmEast) Ohio Valley (OVC) 2022 2024 2022 2024 2022 2025 Big South (BSC) Centenary College of Louisiana Shreveport, Louisiana 1825 UnitedMethodist Gentlemen 2000 2003 Southern (SCAC) N/A Delaware State University Dover, Delaware 1891 Public Hornets 2021 2022 Mid-Eastern (MEAC) Francis Marion University Florence, South Carolina 1970 Public Patriots 2021 2025 Carolinas (CC) Big Sky (BSC) Jacksonville State University Jacksonville, Alabama 1883 Public Gamecocks 1997 2003 Football Conf. USA (CUSA) Chicago, Illinois 1859 Public Flames 2022 2023 Missouri Valley (MVC) Mid-American (MAC) Lafayette, Louisiana 1898 Public Ragin' Cajuns 1982 1987 Women's sports Sun Belt (SBC) New Orleans, Louisiana 1958 Public Privateers 2012 2013 Southland (SLC) Princess Anne, Maryland 1886 Public Hawks 2021 2022 Mid-Eastern (MEAC) New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, New Jersey 1881 Public Highlanders 2021 2025 America East (AmEast) Big South (BSC) 2021 2025 San Jose State University San Jose, California 1857 Public Spartans 2022 2025 Beach volleyball Mountain West (MW) Mountain Pacific (MPSF) Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, Texas 1947 Public Islanders 2003 2006 Southland (SLC) Edinburg, Texas 1927 Public Broncs 2000 2013 Southland (SLC) Troy State University Troy, Alabama 1887 Public Trojans 1996 2001 Football Sun Belt (SBC)
Notes
Membership timeline
1. - 2. - 3. -
Sports 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.
+ Teams in Southland Conference competitionSportMen'sWomen's Baseball Basketball Beach Volleyball Cross Country Football Golf Soccer Softball Tennis Track and Field (Indoor) Track and Field (Outdoor) Volleyball (Indoor)
Men's sponsored sports by school
School Baseball Basketball Cross Country Football Golf Tennis Track & Field(Indoor) Track & Field(Outdoor) Total Southland Sports East Texas A&M 6 Houston Christian 7 Incarnate Word 8 Lamar 8 LSU New Orleans 7 McNeese 7 Nicholls 6 Northwestern State 6 Southeastern Louisiana 7 Stephen F. Austin 7 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 6 UTRGV 8 Totals 11 12 12 10 10 6 11 11 83
Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southland Conference which are played by SLC schools:
School Soccer Swimming &Diving Fencing Houston Christian OVC No No Incarnate Word OVC MPSF MPSF UTRGV OVC No No
Notes
Women's sponsored sports by school School Basketball Beach Volleyball Cross Country Golf Soccer Softball Tennis Track & Field(Indoor) Track & Field(Outdoor) Volleyball Total Southland Sports East Texas A&M 8 Houston Christian 9 Incarnate Word 9 Lamar 9 LSU New Orleans 7 McNeese 10 Nicholls 9 Northwestern State 8 Southeastern Louisiana 9 Stephen F. Austin 10 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 10 UTRGV 8 Totals 12 7 12 8 11 10 8 12 12 12 104
Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southland Conference which are played by SLC schools: School Swimming &Diving Fencing Incarnate Word MPSF MPSF UTRGV MPSF No
Notes
Football