Heartland Conference
The Heartland Conference was a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division II level, which was founded in 1999. The majority of members were in Texas, with additional members in Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. The conference office was located in Waco, Texas. History. The conference was formed in 1999 by founding members Drury University, University of the Incarnate Word, Lincoln University, Rockhurst University, St. Edward's University, St. Mary's University and Texas Wesleyan University. Oklahoma Panhandle State University and Dallas Baptist University joined in 2002. Founding members Drury and Rockhurst left  the Heartland Conference to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) in 2005. Western New Mexico University and Montana State University - Billings joined in 2005. However, WNMU re-joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2006 and MSUB joined the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2007. Newman University, Texas A&M International University and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin joined the conference in 2006, making the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith joined the conference in the Fall of 2009 after transitioning from the NJCAA. In the fall of 2010, Lincoln  left for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and Incarnate Word left for the Lone Star Conference. In July 2011, McMurry University announced that it had been accepted as candidate for D-II membership and would join the Heartland Conference in the fall of 2012. In February 2012, Oklahoma Christian University announced its intention to seek membership in NCAA Division II. In Spring 2012, Rogers State University, a member of the NAIA Sooner Athletic Conference, applied for membership. The conference confirmed in July 2012 that Oklahoma Christian's teams would play full conference schedules starting in Fall 2012 and that  Rogers State and Lubbock Christian University would begin conference play in 2013-14. On August 30, 2017, the Lone Star Conference announced that eight of the nine members of the Heartland Conference would join in fall 2019; the remaining member, Newman, announced it would seek other affiliation at that time. On February 8, 2018, Newman announced that it would become an associate member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association beginning in the 2019–20 season. On October 18, 2018 Rogers State decided to join the MIAA instead of the Lone Star. Sports. Dallas Baptist's baseball team competed in NCAA  Division I for much of its Heartland Conference tenure. At the time the league disbanded, the Patriots were single-sport members of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Heartland Conference sponsored 13 sports, seven for women and six for men. National championships. Arkansas-Fort Smith (as Westark Junior College) won the 1981 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJACC) men's basketball national championship. St. Mary's won NAIA national championships in Softball (1986) and Men's Basketball (1989). St. Mary's Men's Golf team was named the Golf Coaches Association of America 2008-2009 Academic National Champions, which St. Mary 's treats as a fifth team national. Dallas Baptist won the 2003 National Christian College Athletic Association Baseball national championship. Lubbock Christian won NAIA national championships in Baseball (1983 & 2009) and Softball (2008).