Heartland Conference

Heartland Conference
Established	1999
Association	NCAA
Division	Division II
Members	10
Sports fielded	13 (men's: 6; women's: 7)
Region	Central United States
Headquarters	Waco, Texas
Commissioner	Tony Stigliano (since 1999)
Website	heartlandsports.org
Locations

The Heartland Conference is 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 are in Texas, with additional members in Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. The conference office is 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.^[1] The University of Arkansas - Fort Smith joined the conference in the Fall of 2009 after transitioning from the NJCAA.^[2] In the fall of 2010, Lincoln left for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association^[3] and Incarnate Word left for the Lone Star Conference.^[4] 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.^[5] In February 2012, Oklahoma Christian University announced its intention to seek membership in NCAA Division II. ^[6] In Spring 2012, Rogers State University, a member of the NAIA Sooner Athletic Conference, applied for membership.^[7] 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.^[8]

Member schools

Current members

Affiliate members

• Texas–Permian Basin — was a full member from 2006–2016.

Former members

Membership timeline

 Full member (all sports)   Full member (non-football)   Associate member (football-only)   Associate member (sport) 

Sports

Dallas Baptist's baseball team currently competes in NCAA Division I as a baseball affiliate of the Missouri Valley Conference; it returned to the MVC baseball conference starting in the 2014 season. OPSU sponsors a non-conference football team.

The Heartland Conference sponsors 13 sports, seven for women and six for men.

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Tennis	Total HC Sports
Arkansas–Fort Smith	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	5
Dallas Baptist		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	5
Lubbock Christian	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		5
Newman	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
Oklahoma Christian	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		5
Oklahoma Panhandle State	Y	Y	Y	Y			4
Rogers State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		5
St. Edward's	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
St. Mary's	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	5
Texas A&M International	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		5
Totals	9	10	9	10	8	5	51
Affiliate Members
Eastern New Mexico					Y		1
Midwestern State					Y		1
Texas–Permian Basin					Y		1
West Texas A&M					Y		1

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Volleyball	Total HC Sports
Arkansas–Fort Smith	Y	Y	Y			Y	Y	5
Dallas Baptist		Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	5
Lubbock Christian	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	6
Newman	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Oklahoma Christian	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y			5
Oklahoma Panhandle State	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	5
Rogers State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y			5
St. Edward's	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
St. Mary's	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
Texas A&M International	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	6
Totals	9	9	10	8	8	5	8	57

Other sponsored sports by school

• ^‡ — D-I sport
• Oklahoma Christian (IND) — Swimming & Diving (M), Swimming & Diving (W) begin play in 2017.^[9]

National championships

St. Mary's won NAIA national championships in Softball (1986) and Men's Basketball (1989).^[10]

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).

References

External links

• Official website

NCAA Division II
Atlantic	Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Mountain East Conference Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Independent — Bluefield State College
Central	Great American Conference Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
East	Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference East Coast Conference Northeast-10 Conference
Midwest	Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Great Lakes Valley Conference Great Midwest Athletic Conference Independent — Oakland City University Salem International University
South	Gulf South Conference Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Sunshine State Conference Independent — Auburn University at Montgomery
South Central	Heartland Conference Lone Star Conference Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Southeast	Conference Carolinas Peach Belt Conference South Atlantic Conference
West	California Collegiate Athletic Association Great Northwest Athletic Conference Pacific West Conference
Division II	Independents ECAC Division II Lacrosse League
NCAA	Conferences Institutions Baseball (Championship) Basketball (Men, Women) Cross Country (Men, Women) Field Hockey (Championship) Football (Championship) Golf (Men, Women) Lacrosse (Men, Women) Rowing (Championship) Soccer (Men, Women) Softball (Championship) Swimming & Diving (Men, Women) Tennis (Men, Women) Track & Field (Men's indoor and outdoor, Women's indoor and outdoor) Volleyball (Championship) Wrestling (Championship) Discontinued — Ice Hockey (Championship)