The Southland Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the south central United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision . 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.

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

History

Founded in 1963, the original members included Abilene Christian College (departed 1973), Arkansas State College (departed 1987), Arlington State College (now The University of Texas at Arlington), Lamar State College of Technology (now Lamar University), and Trinity University (departed 1971).

Southland Conference football ranks among the best Division I FCS leagues in the nation, and enjoys an annual expectation of competing for the national championship with multiple teams advancing to the NCAA playoffs each year. In 2002 and 2003, McNeese State finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the nation, and advanced to the 2002 national championship contest, the sixth such title game appearance since the league joined the FCS (then known as Division I-AA) in 1982. All told, Southland teams have played in 84 Division I-AA/FCS playoff games in 23 years, winning 42 of the contests.

Historically, the Southland's successful football heritage has sustained itself through numerous membership and classification changes. Originally an NAIA conference, the Southland joined the NCAA College Division in 1968. The College Division was re-named NCAA Division II in 1973, and the league played two seasons in that class. The Southland became an NCAA Division I league in 1975, and was a charter member of Division I-A (now Division I FBS) when Division I split for football in 1978. It moved to the FCS ranks in 1982, where it has remained to this day.

During its tenure as a Division I and I-A conference from 1975-81, the Southland Conference was instrumental in the startup of the Independence Bowl in 1976. The Southland representative served as the host team of the bowl until 1980, compiling a 2-3 record in the contests. The Conference can lay claim to five national football championships, including College Division championships through former members Arkansas State (1970, UPI) and Louisiana Tech (1972, National Football Foundation). Louisiana Tech also won the first-ever NCAA-sanctioned national title, winning the Division II playoffs in 1973. Tech followed that with the UPI's Division II national championship in 1974. Northeast Louisiana, now Louisiana-Monroe, won the 1987 Division I-AA national title.

McNeese State, which has made 12 appearances in the national playoffs, also played in the 1997 I-AA national championship game, and Stephen F. Austin played in the 1989 title game, one of four playoff runs for the Lumberjacks. Northwestern State has played in six national playoffs, and advanced to the semifinals in 1998, while Sam Houston State has earned four trips to the postseason, including the semifinals in 2004, Nicholls State has participated twice, and Texas State twice, advancing to the 2005 semifinals.

On four occasions, the Southland has placed three teams in the national 16-team playoffs. Six of the eight current football-playing members have qualified for the I-AA/FCS playoffs. In addition, Texas State won NCAA Division II titles in 1981 and 1982 before joining the Southland.

Non-football member Lamar University, which dropped its program in 1989, recently announced its plan to resume its football program in 2010. The Cardinals will play a Southland schedule in 2011.

The Southland has produced 149 first-team football All-Americans during its history, and has sent such talent to the professional ranks including Dallas' Keith Davis (SHSU), Arizona's Josh McCown (SHSU), Buffalo's Terrence McGee (Northwestern State), N.Y. Giant's Gary Reasons (Northwestern State), Baltimore's B. J. Sams (McNeese), Chicago's Mike Green (Northwestern State), Jacksonville's Kenny Wright (Northwestern State), Houston's Chad Stanley (SFA), Philadelphia's Jeremiah Trotter (SFA), San Diego's Clinton Ballard (Texas State) and Chicago's Chris Thompson (Nicholls). In the 2002 NFL Draft alone, five Southland players were selected.

With its current alignment of 12 institutions in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, the Southland is at its largest membership configuration in its 43-year history.

The Conference began its own broadcast entity in 2008, the Southland Conference Television Network, that aired in numerous markets in the league's three-state region as well as on national networks such as Fox College Sports, and ESPN FullCourt and ESPN360.com. In 2008-09, the Network featured 35 broadcasts, mainly football and basketball, and the Conference recently announced 31 live events for broadcast in 2009-10.

Former Southland Conference stars

Former NFL stars from the Southland include Fred Dean, Bill Bergey, Stan Humphries, Fred Barnett, Roger Carr, Marvin Upshaw, Larry Centers, Kavika Pittman, Mike Barber, Bruce Collie, Tim McKyer, Pat Tilley, Jackie Harris, Eugene Seale, Bubby Brister, Billy Ryckman, Rafael Septien, Buford Jordan, Marcus Spears, Terrance Shaw, Jeremiah Trotter, Mike Quinn, Chad Standley, Derrick Blaylock, Keith Davis and Ray Brown.

Current members

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Joined	Nickname
University of Central Arkansas	Conway, Arkansas	1907	Public	13,000	2006	Bears and Sugar Bears
Lamar University	Beaumont, Texas	1923	Public	13,994	1963	Cardinals and Lady Cardinals
McNeese State University	Lake Charles, Louisiana	1939	Public	8,784	1972	Cowboys and Cowgirls
Nicholls State University	Thibodaux, Louisiana	1948	Public	7,500	1991	Colonels and Lady Colonels
Northwestern State University	Natchitoches, Louisiana	1884	Public	10,159	1987	Demons and Lady Demons
Sam Houston State University	Huntsville, Texas	1879	Public	15,300	1987	Bearkats
Southeastern Louisiana University	Hammond, Louisiana	1925	Public	16,000	1997	Lions and Lady Lions
Stephen F. Austin State University	Nacogdoches, Texas	1921	Public	11,408	1987	Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks
University of Texas at Arlington	Arlington, Texas	1895	Public	25,297	1963	Mavericks
University of Texas at San Antonio	San Antonio, Texas	1969	Public	28,000	1991	Roadrunners
Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi	Corpus Christi, Texas	1947	Public	8,355	2006	Islanders
Texas State University–San Marcos	San Marcos, Texas	1899	Public	29,125	1987	Bobcats

Conference facilities

School	Football stadium	capacity	Basketball arena	capacity	Baseball park	capacity
Central Arkansas	Estes Stadium	8,035	Farris Center	6,000	UCA Field	1,000
Lamar	Provost Umphrey Stadium	17,500	Montagne Center	10,080	Vincent-Beck Stadium	3,500
McNeese State	Cowboy Stadium	17,410	Burton Coliseum	8,000	Cowboy Diamond	2,000
Nicholls State	John L. Guidry Stadium	12,800	Stopher Gym	3,800	Ray Didier Field	1,000
Northwestern State	Harry Turpin Stadium	15,971	Prather Coliseum	3,900	Brown-Stroud Field	1,200
Sam Houston State	Bowers Stadium	14,000	Bernard Johnson Coliseum	6,100	Don Sanders Stadium	1,163
Southeastern Louisiana	Strawberry Stadium	7,408	University Center	7,500	Pat Kennelly Diamond at Alumni Field	2,500
Stephen F. Austin	Homer Bryce Stadium	14,575	William R. Johnson Coliseum	7,203	Jaycees Field	1,000
UT Arlington	Non-football school	N/A	Texas Hall	4,200	Clay Gould Ballpark	1,600
UT San Antonio	Alamodome	65,000	Convocation Center	5,100	Roadrunner Field	800
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Non-football school	N/A	American Bank Center	8,000	Whataburger Field	5,400
Texas State	Bobcat Stadium	15,218	Strahan Coliseum	7,200	Bobcat Baseball Stadium	2,000

Note: The University of Texas at San Antonio starts its football program in 2011 and will use the Alamodome as their home field.[47754] The stadium seats 65,000, but seating capacity for UTSA games may be reduced. Lamar is starting football in 2010, they will renovate their field that they last used in 1989.

Championships

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

• In 2008, the University of Central Arkansas football team finished first in the Southland Conference standings. However, since UCA was ineligible for NCAA postseason (due to its transition from Division II to I), the Bears were also ineligible for the Southland Conference championship. Texas State was named the official Southland Conference champion and received the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division I Football Championship.

External links

• Official site of the Southland Conference