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 Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas, with two members in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington competing as affiliates for football only.
Tarleton State University is a public research university with its main campus in Stephenville, Texas. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 15,000 students in the fall of 2022. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
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.
Texas A&M University–Central Texas is a public university in Killeen, Texas. It is one of the newest members of The Texas A&M University System. Founded in 1999 as a branch of Tarleton State University, it became an independent member of the Texas A&M University System in September 2009. A&M-Central Texas is an upper division college, meaning its students must complete their freshman and sophomore-level coursework at a two-year college or other institution of higher education. Texas A&M–Central Texas primarily serves non-traditional students: The average age of the student body is 34, 40% of students are affiliated with the US military, and most students attend part-time. Texas A&M–Central Texas' students are known as the Warriors, and the school colors are navy blue, maroon, and silver. The university has a main campus, an extension building in north Killeen, and a site location on the United States Army post at Fort Cavazos.
Texas vs The Nation was an American college football all-star bowl game played from 2007 to 2013. Originally played at the Sun Bowl Stadium, the format of the game pitted 50 top-rated college seniors who played college or high school football in Texas against a squad of 50 top-rated seniors from the other 49 states. In its first year, 73% of players who participated in the game were signed by National Football League (NFL) teams. In 2011, the game moved from El Paso to San Antonio, and the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) became the named sponsor of the game. In 2012, the NFLPA began its own all-star game, the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, and the Texas vs The Nation game was not held. The game was revived in 2013 at Eagle Stadium in Allen, but did not return in 2014.
The Tarleton State Texans football program, also known as the Tarleton Texans, is the intercollegiate American football team for Tarleton State University located in the U.S. state of Texas. Through the 2019 season, the team competed in NCAA Division II as members of the Lone Star Conference, but moved to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) beginning in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. In fall 2021, Tarleton's full-time home of the Western Athletic Conference revived its football league at the FCS level, with Tarleton as one of the inaugural members.
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. Before Tarleton became a four-year institution in 1961, they were known as the "Plowboys". The Texans compete as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for 12 of their 14 varsity sports. During the school's four-year transition to full D-I membership, set to end in July 2024, Tarleton has planned to add several sports, with women's soccer the first to be confirmed, eventually launching in 2022. Tarleton next added beach volleyball, a women-only sport at the NCAA level, in the 2024 season, competing as a single-sport member of Conference USA.
Nick Stephens is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Tennessee and Tarleton State.
The Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football team is the college football program representing Texas A&M University–Commerce. The school competes in the Southland Conference (SLC) in Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Prior to joining the Southland, they competed in the Lone Star Conference of Division II. The A&M–Commerce football team plays its home games at Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium on the university campus in Commerce, Texas. On Dec. 16, 2017, A&M-Commerce won its first NCAA Division II national championship, by defeating West Florida, 37-27, in Kansas City. The Lions recorded a perfect record in 1934, won the NAIA National Championship in 1972, and have amassed a total of 24 LSC conference championships since joining as a charter member in 1931. On September 28, 2021, the university accepted an invitation from the Southland Conference, moving the university's athletics programs up to the NCAA Division I level. This ended a 90-year affiliation with the Lone Star Conference, as A&M-Commerce was the last founding member remaining. The football team will compete at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level beginning in the 2022 season.
James R. Johnson is an American university sports administrator and a former NCAA Division II conference commissioner. Johnson is currently the athletic director for Pittsburg State University, an NCAA Division II sports program in Pittsburg, Kansas. Previously, Johnson was the Commissioner of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA).
The 2017 Tarleton State Texans football team represented Tarleton State University in the 2017 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by head coach Todd Whitten, who was in his consecutive second season at Tarleton State and eighth overall as head coach of the Texans. The Texans played their home games at Memorial Stadium and were members of the Lone Star Conference. The Texans finished the regular season with a 6–5 record, 4–4 in the LSC, and tie for fourth place in the Lone Star Conference. The Texans were invited to play in the inaugural Corsicana Bowl in Corsicana, Texas, where they lost to Central Oklahoma, 38–31.
The 2020 New Mexico State Aggies football team represented New Mexico State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by eighth–year head coach Doug Martin and played their home games at Sun Bowl due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the state of New Mexico. They competed as an independent.
The 2012 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team represented Abilene Christian University as a member of the Lone Star Conference (LSC) during the 2012 NCAA Division II football season. Led by first-year head coach Ken Collums, the Wildcats compiled an overall record of 7–4 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for fifth place in the LSC. The team played home games at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene, Texas.
The 2012 Angelo State Rams football represented Angelo State University in the 2012 NCAA Division II football season as a member of the Lone Star Conference.
The 2012 Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds football represents Eastern New Mexico University in the 2012 NCAA Division II football season as a member of the Lone Star Conference (LSC). Led by first-year head coach Josh Lynn, the Greyhounds finished the season 3–7 overall with a conference mark of 2–6, placing seventh.
The 2012 West Texas A&M Buffaloes football team represented West Texas A&M University in the 2012 NCAA Division II football season as a member of the Lone Star Conference. The Buffaloes ended the regular season with 9–2 record which was enough to claim a share of the Lone Star Conference title and to qualify for the NCAA tournament as a six seed in region 4. West Texas A&M went on to win the NCAA Super Region Four Tournament but ended the season with a loss to Winston-Salem State in the National semi-final. With the 57–20 win over Western State on September 8, eighth-year head coach Don Carthel tied former head coach Joe Kerbel for the most wins in school history with 68, passing him a week later with win over Texas A&M–Kingsville. The Buffaloes had multiple shutouts for first time since 2008.
The 2012 Midwestern State Mustangs football team represented Midwestern State University in the 2012 NCAA Division II football season as a member of the Lone Star Conference.
The 2022 Tarleton State Texans football team represented Tarleton State University as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by head coach Todd Whitten, who was coaching his thirteenth season overall with the program. The Texans played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Stephenville, Texas.
