Established 1999 | Association NCAA Members 10 (9 in 2017) | |
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Sports fielded 13 (men's: 6; women's: 7) Region South Central United States | ||
The Heartland Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division II level, which was founded in 1999. The majority of members are in Texas, with additional members in Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. The conference office is located in Waco, Texas.
Contents
History
The conference was formed in 1999 by founding members Drury University, University of the Incarnate Word, Lincoln University, Rockhurst University, St. Edward's University, St. Mary's University and Texas Wesleyan University. Oklahoma Panhandle State University and Dallas Baptist University joined in 2002. Founding members Drury and Rockhurst left the Heartland Conference to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) in 2005. Western New Mexico University and Montana State University - Billings joined in 2005. However, WNMU re-joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2006 and MSUB joined the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2007. Newman University, Texas A&M International University and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin joined the conference in 2006, making the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. The University of Arkansas - Fort Smith joined the conference in the Fall of 2009 after transitioning from the NJCAA. In the fall of 2010, Lincoln left for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and Incarnate Word left for the Lone Star Conference. In July 2011, McMurry University announced that it had been accepted as candidate for D-II membership and would join the Heartland Conference in the fall of 2012. In February 2012, Oklahoma Christian University announced its intention to seek membership in NCAA Division II. In Spring 2012, Rogers State University, a member of the NAIA Sooner Athletic Conference, applied for membership. The conference confirmed in July 2012 that Oklahoma Christian's teams would play full conference schedules starting in Fall 2012 and that Rogers State and Lubbock Christian University would begin conference play in 2013-14.
Current members
Affiliate members
Membership timeline
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football-only) Associate member (sport)
Sports
Dallas Baptist's baseball team currently competes in NCAA Division I as a baseball affiliate of the Missouri Valley Conference; it returned to the MVC baseball conference starting in the 2014 season. OPSU sponsors a non-conference football team.
The Heartland Conference sponsors 13 sports, seven for women and six for men.
Other sponsored sports by school
National championships
St. Mary's won NAIA national championships in Softball (1986) and Men's Basketball (1989).
St. Mary's Men's Golf team was named the Golf Coaches Association of America 2008-2009 Academic National Champions, which St. Mary's treats as a fifth team national.
Dallas Baptist won the 2003 National Christian College Athletic Association Baseball national championship.
Lubbock Christian won NAIA national championships in Baseball (1983 & 2009) and Softball (2008).