LLMpediaThe first transparent, open encyclopedia generated by LLMs

Southland Conference

Generated by DeepSeek V3.2
⚠Note: This article was automatically generated by a large language model (LLM) from purely parametric knowledge (no retrieval). It may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations. This encyclopedia is part of a research project currently under review.
Article Genealogy
Parent: Football Championship Subdivision Hop 4
Expansion Funnel Raw 74 → Dedup 0 → NER 0 → Enqueued 0
1. Extracted74
2. After dedup0 (None)
3. After NER0 ()
4. Enqueued0 ()
Southland Conference
NameSouthland Conference
Established1963
AssociationNCAA
DivisionDivision I (FCS)
Members10 (2024)
Sports17
HeadquartersFrisco, Texas
CommissionerChris Grant
RegionSouth Central United States

Southland Conference. The Southland Conference is an NCAA Division I athletic conference, competing in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Founded in 1963, its member institutions are primarily located in Texas and Louisiana, with a geographic footprint across the South Central United States. The conference sponsors championships in 17 sports and is headquartered in Frisco, Texas.

History

The league was established in 1963, with founding members including Trinity University, Lamar University, and Arkansas State University. Initially focused on men's basketball, it expanded its sport offerings and membership over subsequent decades, navigating the shifting landscape of NCAA realignment. Key moments in its evolution include the departure of several members to Conference USA and the Sun Belt Conference in the 1990s and 2000s, and a significant westward expansion in 2013 with the addition of schools like Abilene Christian University and the University of the Incarnate Word. The conference office relocated from Plano, Texas to its current home in Frisco, Texas in 2022, a city also known for hosting the FCS national championship game at Toyota Stadium.

Member institutions

The conference currently comprises ten full member institutions as of the 2024-25 academic year. The Texas-based members are Lamar University, McNeese State University, Texas A&M University–Commerce, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, the University of the Incarnate Word, and Abilene Christian University. The Louisiana contingent includes New Orleans, Northwestern State University, and Southeastern Louisiana University. Houston Christian University rounds out the membership. Many of these schools, such as McNeese State University and Northwestern State University, have long-standing rivalries within the league. Associate members, like the University of Texas at Tyler for certain sports, also participate in conference championships.

Sports sponsored

The conference sponsors competition in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sports. Men's sponsored sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field. Women's offerings consist of basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, and indoor and outdoor track and field. Notably, the league does not sponsor swimming and diving or wrestling. Its football champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I FCS football playoffs, competing for the FCS national championship.

Conference facilities

Member institutions compete in a variety of notable on-campus venues. Prominent football stadiums include McNeese State's Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Northwestern State's Harry Turpin Stadium. Significant basketball arenas are the Incarnate Word's McDermott Center and Abilene Christian's Moody Coliseum. For baseball, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi plays at Chapman Field, while Lamar University's softball team competes at the Lamar Softball Complex. The conference also utilizes neutral sites for its postseason basketball tournaments, recently held at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.

Championships

The conference awards championships in all its sponsored sports, with several programs achieving national recognition. In football, teams like McNeese State University and Sam Houston State University (now in Conference USA) have made deep runs in the FCS playoffs. The Stephen F. Austin State University men's basketball program, a former member, earned notable upsets in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. In baseball, schools such as the University of New Orleans and Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi have participated in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The league's track and field athletes frequently qualify for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Notable alumni

Many distinguished athletes and professionals began their careers at Southland Conference institutions. Football alumni include Terence Newman (Kansas State, via Butler Community College connection to the league's footprint), Jahri Evans (Bloomsburg, played in the Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints), and quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe (Sam Houston State University). Basketball figures include former NBA player and coach Avery Johnson (Southern University) and three-point specialist Stephen Curry's father, Dell Curry (Virginia Tech). Olympic medalists like track star Walter Davis (LSU) also hail from the region's athletic pipeline.

Category:NCAA Division I conferences Category:Sports leagues established in 1963 Category:Sports organizations based in Texas