Southland Conference The Southland Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the south central United States ( specifically Texas , Oklahoma , 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 . 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 1973 for NCAA Division II , but will move to Division I and rejoin the Southland effective 2013 ) , Arkansas State College ( now Arkansas State University ; departed 1987 , now a member of the Sun Belt Conference ) , Arlington State College ( now The University of Texas at Arlington , which joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2012 and will move to the Sun Belt in 2013 ) , Lamar State College of Technology ( now Lamar University , left in 1987 and re - joined in 1999 ; the only founding school that is currently a member ) , and Trinity University ( departed 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 above ) . In addition , the conference has also been home to some schools for one sport only . In the case of football , Troy fielded a team from 1996 – 2000 and Jacksonville State from 1997 - 2002 . This has also been the case for some Olympic sports like men ' s tennis , in which the University of Texas - Pan American and the University of New Orleans currently field teams as affiliate members . - Lamar re - joined the Southland Conference after competing in different conferences between the 1987 - 88 and 1998 - 99 seasons . Member schools . Future members . Houston Baptist has announced it will have a football team ready to start play in 2014 and will join the conference July 1 , 2013 , in all Southland - sponsored sports . On August 20 , 2012 , the Southland Conference announced that the University of the Incarnate Word will become a member of the league , effective July 1 , 2013 . Incarnate Word will begin the four - year shift to Division I with the Southland Conference ’ s assistance and oversight . It is expected that UIW will begin counting as an NCAA Division I team for scheduling purposes in 2014 - 2015 and will be fully eligible for NCAA championship events in 2017 - 2018 . On August 23 , 2012 , the University of New Orleans ( UNO ) announced that it would be joining the Southland Conference , effective the 2013 - 2014 academic year , after being an independent since 2010 . In 2012 Southland issued an invitation to the Abilene Christian University Wildcats , charter members as Abilene Christian College , to rejoin the Conference after an absence of four decades . ( on August 21 the " Times - Picayune " reported that the University of New Orleans " would become the Southland ' s 14th member , joining Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian " ) . The invitation was officially accepted by the Board of Trustees of Abilene Christian on August 25 . Membership timeline . Sports . The Southland Conference sponsors championship competition in eight men ' s and nine women ' s NCAA sanctioned sports . Future full member New Orleans is an Associate member for men ' s tennis . Football . 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 Stanley , Derrick Blaylock , Keith Davis , Ricky Sanders , Jeff Novak , Spergon Wynn , Wade Key and Ray Brown . 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 . Basketball . Among notable NBA stars attending Southland Conference schools include Karl Malone ( Louisiana Tech ) , Joe Dumars ( McNeese State ) , Jeff Foster ( Southwest Texas State ) and Andrew Toney ( Southwestern Louisiana ) . Former member Louisiana - Monroe ( then Northeast Louisiana ) advanced to the 1985 NCAA Women ' s Final Four . Facilities . Note : Future members in gray . Media . Southland Conference Television Network . The Conference began its own broadcast entity in 2008 , the Southland Conference Television Network . It airs in over 20 markets in the league ' s four - state region , plus on national networks such as Fox College Sports , and ESPN FullCourt and ESPN3 . In 2008 - 09 , the Network featured 35 broadcasts , then followed with 31 live events in 2009 - 10 and 31 in 2010 - 11 . The schedule includes regular season football games , regular season and tournament basketball , and the championships in women ' s soccer and women ' s volleyball . Some events are carried exclusively by ESPN3 , including the 2012 softball and baseball championships .