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 South Central states, with schools in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, with two members in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington competing as affiliates for football only.
The East Texas A&M Lions softball team is the intercollegiate softball program representing East Texas A&M University. The school competes in the Southland Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). For their first eight years of existence, they competed in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) in Division II. The East Texas A&M softball team plays its home games at John Cain Family Softball Complex on the university campus in Commerce, Texas. The team is currently coached by Brittany Miller.
The Central Oklahoma Bronchos football team represents the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) in college football. The team is a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), which is in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Bronchos football program began in 1902 and has since compiled over 600 wins, two national championships, and 28 conference championships. As of 2022, the Bronchos are ranked fifth in NCAA Division II for wins. In 1962, the Bronchos went 11–0 on the season and defeated Lenoir–Rhyne University (NC) 28–13 in the Camellia Bowl to claim its first NAIA national championship. Twenty years later, Central Oklahoma defended its home turf and defeated Colorado Mesa University 14–11 in the NAIA national championship game to take its second title and finish the season with a 10–2 record. Despite its rich history in football, Central Oklahoma has struggled beginning in the late 2000s. In 2024, the program broke on a 21 year playoff drought. The Bronchos play their home games at Chad Richison Stadium, a 12,000-seat football stadium built in 1965, and remodeled in 2022. The Bronchos have enjoyed nine undefeated home seasons and are 6–1 in playoff games at Chad Richison Stadium.
The UT Permian Basin Falcons football team represents the University of Texas Permian Basin in college football at the NCAA Division II level. The Falcons are members of the Lone Star Conference (LSC), fielding its team in the LSC since 2016. The Falcons play their home games at Ratliff Stadium in Odessa, Texas while Astound Broadband Stadium in the neighboring city of Midland, Texas serves as an alternate home stadium.
The East Texas A&M Lions football team is the college football program representing East Texas A&M University. 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 East Texas A&M football team plays its home games at Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium on the university campus in Commerce, Texas. On December 16, 2017, East Texas A&M 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 East Texas A&M was the last founding member remaining. The football team began competing at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level starting with the 2022 season.
The C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl is the name of an American football bowl game played at three different locations in Central Texas since 2001, featuring teams from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Between 2012 and 2018, it was played as a doubleheader with an NCAA Division II postseason game, which was also known as the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl.
The East Texas A&M Lions softball team is the intercollegiate softball program representing East Texas A&M University. The school competes in the Southland Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). For their first eight years of existence, they competed in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) in Division II. The East Texas A&M softball team plays its home games at John Cain Family Softball Complex on the university campus in Commerce, Texas. The team is currently coached by Brittany Miller.
Colby Don Carthel is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, a position he has held since December 2018. Carthel served as the head football coach at Texas A&M University–Commerce from 2013 to 2018, leading the 2017 Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football team to an NCAA Division II Football Championship title. Prior to his time as head coach, he was the defensive coordinator under his father, Don Carthel, at West Texas A&M University, from 2006 to 2012. Carthel played football at Angelo State University, where he was an all-conference linebacker.
The 2017 Midwestern State Mustangs football team represented Midwestern State University in the 2017 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by head coach Bill Maskill, who is in his 16th season at Midwestern State. The Mustangs played their home games at Memorial Stadium and were members of the Lone Star Conference.
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 2018 First Responder Bowl was a college football bowl game scheduled for December 26, 2018, at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. It was one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. Sponsored by Servpro, a franchisor of fire and water cleanup and restoration, the game was officially known as the Servpro First Responder Bowl. The ninth overall staging of the bowl, this was the first edition since being rebranded; its prior six editions were the Heart of Dallas Bowl, preceded by the TicketCity Bowl in its first two stagings.
The 2018 Tarleton State Texans football team represented Tarleton State University in the 2018 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by head coach Todd Whitten, who was in his third consecutive season at Tarleton State and ninth overall as the head coach of the program. The Texans played their home games at Memorial Stadium and were members of the Lone Star Conference. The Texans finished the regular season with an overall record of 10–0 record and mark of 8–0 in conference play, and winning the LSC championship.
The 2013 Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football team represented Texas A&M University-Commerce in the 2013 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by head coach Colby Carthel, who was in his first season at A&M-Commerce. The Lions played their home games at Memorial Stadium and were members of the Lone Star Conference (LSC). The Lions finished fifth in the LSC, and their 7–5 record was their first season above .500 since 2001. They were selected to participate in the Live United Texarkana Bowl, their first postseason appearance since the 1995 NCAA Division II playoffs.
The 2014 Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football team represented Texas A&M University–Commerce in the 2014 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by head coach Colby Carthel, who was in his second season at Texas A&M–Commerce. The Lions played their home games at Memorial Stadium and were members of the Lone Star Conference (LSC). With a 9–3 record, the Lions were outright Lone Star champions for the first time since 1990. They were selected to participate in the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl, where they defeated East Central in their first postseason win since the 1991 NCAA Division II playoffs.
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 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 Lone Star Conference football began on August 30 when West Texas A&M lost to CSU-Pueblo and ended with West Texas A&M loss against Winston-Salem in the NCAA D2 Semi Final on December 8. It was Abilene Christian and Incarnated Word last season before they moved to NCAA D1 Southland Conference.
The 2020–21 Tarleton State Texans men's basketball team represented Tarleton State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Texans, led by first-year head coach Billy Gillispie, played their home games at the Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, Texas, as first-year members of the Western Athletic Conference.
The 2016 Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football team represented Texas A&M University–Commerce as a member of the Lone Star Conference (LSC) during the 2016 NCAA Division II football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Colby Carthel, the Lions compiled an overall record of 11–2 with a mark of 8–1 in conference play, winning the LSC title for the third consecutive season. Texas A&M–Commerce advanced to the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs for the fifth time in program history. In the first round, the Lions defeated Colorado Mesa, 34–23, for the program's first playoff win since 1991, but lost to the Grand Valley State, 55–32, in the second round. The Lions were ranked No. 9 in the final AFCA poll.
The 2016 UT Permian Basin Falcons football team represented the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB) in the 2016 NCAA Division II football season as a member of the Lone Star Conference. The program's inaugural season, the Falcons were led by head coach Justin Carrigan; Carrigan previously served as the offensive coordinator at Tarleton State.
