Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Southland Conference

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Established
  
1963

Members
  
13

Association
  
NCAA

Region
  
West South Central

Southland Conference

Division
  
Division I D-IAA/FCS (1982–) NCAA D-IA (1978–1981) NCAA D-I (1975–1977) NCAA D-II (1964–1974)

Sports fielded
  
17 (men's: 8; women's: 9)

The Southland Conference is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas). 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 17 sports, nine for women and eight for men, and is governed by a presidential Board of Directors and an Advisory Council of athletic and academic administrators. Tom Burnett was named the Southland's sixth commissioner on Dec. 23, 2002. From 1996 to 2002, for football only, the Southland Conference was known as the Southland Football League.

Contents

The conference's offices are located in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas.

History

Founded in 1963, its members were Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University; departed in 1973 for NCAA Division II, but moved to Division I and re-joined 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 now also in the Sun Belt), Lamar State College of Technology (now Lamar University; departed in 1987, but re-joined in 1999), and Trinity University (departed in 1971, 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) and the University of New Orleans (UNO) fielded teams as affiliate members before 2013, when UTPA joined the WAC and UNO became a full Southland member.

Current members

Notes
  1. Abilene Christian re-joined the Southland Conference in 2013 after joining the NAIA and Lone Star Conference after the 1972–73 season.
  2. Lamar re-joined the Southland Conference after competing in the American South and Sun Belt conferences between the 1987–88 and 1998–99 seasons.

Former members

Notes

Membership timeline

Full members Full members (non-football) Associate members (football only)

1. - Southwestern Louisiana became the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (Louisiana–Lafayette) in 1999.
2. - Northeast Louisiana became the University of Louisiana at Monroe (Louisiana–Monroe) in 1999.

Sports

The Southland Conference sponsors championship competition in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

Men's sponsored sports by school

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southland Conference which are played by SLC schools:

Women's sponsored sports by school

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southland Conference which are played by SLC schools:

  • Women's Bowling - The Southland Conference provides administrative support for the Southland Bowling League, but the SBL operates independently from regular conference operations. The women's bowling league was established in 2015 and includes Southland Conference members Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin, plus Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Monmouth, Tulane, Valparaiso and Vanderbilt.

    • Football

  • Former and current NFL stars from the Southland include Gary Barbaro, Mike Barber, Fred Barnett, Bill Bergey, Derrick Blaylock, Bubby Brister, Ray Brown, Roger Carr, Mark Carrier, Larry Centers, Bruce Collie, Keith Davis, Fred Dean, Jackie Harris, Stan Humphries, Buford Jordan, Wade Key, Josh McCown, Tim McKyer, Jeff Novak, Kavika Pittman, Mike Quinn, Billy Ryckman, Ricky Sanders, Eugene Seale, Rafael Septien, Terrance Shaw, Marcus Spears, Chad Stanley, Pat Tilley, Jeremiah Trotter, Marvin Upshaw, Lardarius Webb and Spergon Wynn.
  • The Southland was instrumental in founding the Independence Bowl, and the Southland champion served as the automatic home team for that bowl from 1976–1980.
  • On May 21, 2014, the Southland Conference approved the use of instant replay at all its home games becoming the first FCS league to fully commit to having all games utilize instant replay.

    • Men's basketball

    Among notable NBA stars attending Southland Conference schools include Karl Malone (Louisiana Tech), Joe Dumars (McNeese State), Scottie Pippen (Central Arkansas), Jeff Foster (Southwest Texas State), and Andrew Toney (Southwestern Louisiana).

    Women's basketball

    Former member Louisiana-Monroe (then Northeast Louisiana) advanced to the 1985 NCAA Women's Final Four.

    Championships

  • Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
  • Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament
  • Southland Conference Baseball Tournament
  • Southland Conference Softball Tournament

    • Spending and revenue

    Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights/licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, food and novelties. Total expenses includes coaching/staff, scholarships, buildings/ground, maintenance, utilities and rental fees and all other costs including recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues and insurance costs.

    Facilities

    Notes:

  • Texas A&M–Corpus Christi uses off-campus Whataburger Field as their home field for some high-profile games and some tournaments.
  • Abilene Christian will move its football program into the new Wildcat Stadium for the 2017 season, following 57 seasons at Shotwell Stadium (which will remain in use for local high school games).
  • Abilene Christian's new Elmer Gray Stadium opened on April 10, 2015. The stadium is used for both Track & Field and Soccer. The new stadium replaces the original Elmer Gray Stadium, which was demolished to make way for Wildcat Stadium.

    • Southland Conference Television Network

    The Conference began its own syndicated broadcast entity in 2008, the Southland Conference Television Network. It aired in over 25 markets in the league's four-state region, plus on national networks such as Fox College Sports, ESPN GamePlan, and ESPN3. In 2008-09, the network featured 35 broadcasts, and over 30 in each of the next four seasons.

    For 2013 and 2014, the syndicated network was restricted to only regular season football games. The remainder of the schedule was available on ESPN3 or regional sports networks, including regular season and tournament basketball as well as championships in soccer, volleyball, softball and baseball. ESPN3 also carried an exclusive package of football games beyond the syndicated network's schedule.

    SLCTV dissolved on July 1, 2015. Beginning with the 2015-16 school year, the Southland Conference entered into an agreement with the American Sports Network to syndicate and televise selected games, while also continuing its association with ESPN3. A separate deal will allow for Louisiana-based Cox Sports Television to air select games.

    References

    Southland Conference Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA