American Southwest Conference The American Southwest Conference ( ASC ) is a college athletic conference , founded in 1996 , whose member schools compete in the NCAA ' s Division III . The schools are located in Texas , Louisiana , Arkansas and Mississippi . The conference competes in baseball , men ' s and women ' s basketball , men ' s and women ' s cross country , football , men ' s and women ' s golf , men ' s and women ' s soccer , softball , men ' s and women ' s tennis , men ' s and women ' s track and field and women ' s volleyball . History . The American Southwest Conference was announced in May 1996 . The new league included some former members of the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association ( TIAA ) . Founding members of the ASC were Austin College , Hardin – Simmons University , Hardin – Simmons University , McMurry University , Mississippi College , Sul Ross State University , the University of Dallas and the University of the Ozarks . The expansion soon began as the University of Mary Hardin – Baylor joined the ASC in 1997 ; followed by East Texas Baptist University , LeTourneau University and Schreiner University in 1998 ; then Concordia University Texas in 1999 , and finally Louisiana College and Texas Lutheran University in 2000 . The University of Dallas was a member of the ASC until the end of the 2000 - 01 season to become an Independent ; and Austin College withdrew the ASC in the 2005 - 06 season to join the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference ( SCAC ) . The University of Texas at Tyler began athletics in 2002 and became a member in 2003 , but as a provisional member of the NCAA , was ineligible to participate in ASC or NCAA postseason tournaments until 2007 . Centenary College of Louisiana joined the conference in 2011 , after completing their transition from Division I to Division III , but almost immediately announced its departure for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference . Recently , however , several schools have announced plans to leave the conference in favor of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference , which lost seven of its members at the end of the 2011 - 12 school year . Centenary departed at the end of the 2011 - 12 season after joining the ASC in that same season ; Schreiner and Texas Lutheran will leave at the end of the 2012 - 13 season . In 2012 , McMurry left the ASC and completed the process of reclassifying to a full - scholarship , Division II institution and joined the Heartland Conference . Additionally , Mississippi College announced that it would be also leaving the conference and reclassifying to Division II in 2014 . Mississippi College will join the Gulf South Conference , a league that it had been a member of until 1996 . The departures of McMurry , Texas Lutheran and Mississippi College will leave the conference with only six football playing members , below the minimum seven participating schools required to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA football playoffs . The conference has not announced a plan to maintain its automatic bid . Member schools . Current members . < nowiki > * * < / nowiki > - Leaving the ASC following completion of the 2012 – 13 academic year . < br >