The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington.
The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States. 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.
Stephen F. Austin State University is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas. It was founded as a teachers' college in 1923 and subsequently renamed after one of Texas's founding fathers, Stephen F. Austin. Its campus resides on part of the homestead of Thomas Jefferson Rusk. On May 11, 2023, the university joined the University of Texas System; it was previously one of two public universities in the state not affiliated with one of Texas's seven university systems.
The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. Originally established as the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) in 1978, it was renamed as the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2001, and briefly rebranded as the ASUN Conference from 2016 to 2023. The conference still uses "ASUN" as an official abbreviation. The conference headquarters are located in Atlanta. On May 8th, 2024, the conference announced it would move its headquarters from Atlanta, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida in the fall of 2024.
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) sponsored football and crowned a champion every year from 1962 to 2012. Once considered one of the best conferences in college football, steady attrition from 1999 to 2012 forced the WAC to drop football after fifty-one years.
The Sam Houston Bearkats are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Sam Houston State University, located in Huntsville, Texas. Sam Houston's colors are orange and white. Sam Houston sports teams participate in NCAA Division I in Conference USA (CUSA), having joined that conference on July 1, 2023 after spending 34 years in the Southland Conference and two years in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). SHSU's primary rival is Stephen F. Austin (SFA) and tensions between the two schools can run high before major sporting events that pit one against the other.
The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) located in the U.S. state of Texas. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as members of the Southland Conference, which SFA rejoins for the 2024 season after a three-year absence. SFA had played the 2023 season in the United Athletic Conference (UAC), newly formed for the 2023 season as a merger of the football leagues of SFA's previous home of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). It replaced an alliance between the two conferences that operated in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Abilene Christian Wildcats refers to the sports teams of Abilene Christian University located in Abilene, Texas. The Wildcats joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) on July 1, 2021, after having spent the previous eight years in the Southland Conference. The nickname "Wildcat" is derived from the mascot of the team.
The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, United States.
The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks basketball team is the women's basketball team that represents Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) in Nacogdoches, Texas. SFA joined the Western Athletic Conference on July 1, 2021 after playing the previous 34 seasons in the Southland Conference.
The Tarleton State Texans, also known as the Tarleton Texans, are the athletic teams that represent Tarleton State University of Stephenville, Texas in NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports.
The UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros is a collegiate athletic program that represents the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). The Vaqueros inherited the NCAA Division I status of the Texas–Pan American Broncs and competed in the Western Athletic Conference. In March 2024, it was reported that the Vaqueros would leave the WAC for the Southland Conference, beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.
The Southland Bowling League (SBL) was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) bowling-only conference. The SBL was founded in 2015 for schools that sponsor women's bowling teams, but did not have bowling sponsored by their primary conferences. The SBL champion received an automatic bid to the NCAA Bowling Championship since the NCAA first awarded such bids in 2018. While the conference operated independently, administrative services were provided by the Southland Conference. The SBL merged into Conference USA (CUSA) after the 2022–23 season, with CUSA inheriting the SBL's automatic championship berth.
The 2021–22 Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks basketball team will represent Stephen F. Austin University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Ladyjacks are led by seventh year head coach Mark Kellogg and play their home games at the William R. Johnson Coliseum as members of the Western Athletic Conference.
The 2021–22 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks basketball team represented Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lumberjacks, led by sixth-year head coach Kyle Keller, played their home games at the William R. Johnson Coliseum in Nacogdoches, Texas. This season was the Lumberjacks' first as members of the Western Athletic Conference; SFA was one of four schools, all from Texas, that left the Southland Conference in July 2021 joining the WAC.
The 2022 NCAA Division I baseball season was a college baseball season in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level. It began on February 18, 2022, with play progressing through the regular season, various conference tournaments and championship series, and concluding with the 2022 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and 2022 Men's College World Series. The Men's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament and held annually in Omaha, Nebraska, at Charles Schwab Field Omaha, ended on June 26, 2022.
Beginning in the 2021–22 academic year, extensive changes occurred in NCAA conference membership, primarily at the Division I level.
The United Athletic Conference (UAC) is an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conference. The conference is a merger of the existing football leagues of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) and Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The UAC covers the southwestern, western, and southern United States with member institutions located in Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah, with a future member located in Georgia.
The 2024 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football team will represent Stephen F. Austin State University as a member of the Southland Conference (SLC) during the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Lumberjacks will be coached by sixth-year head coach Colby Carthel and play at Homer Bryce Stadium in Nacogdoches, Texas.
