United Athletic Conference#Current members

{{Infobox sports league

| name = United Athletic Conference

| color = #1A2857; {{box-shadow border|a|#E91E2D|2px}}

| font_color = #FFFFFF

| logo = United_Athletic_Conference.png

| logo_size = 250

| founded = {{Start date and age|2021|2|23}} (Unofficially)
{{Start date and age|2023|7|1}} (Officially)

| association = NCAA

| division = Division I

| subdivision = FCS (football)

| teams = 9

| sports = 1

| mens = 1

| womens = 0

| region = Southwestern United States
Western United States
Southern United States

| formerly = WAC–ASUN Challenge (2021–2022)
ASUN–WAC Football Conference (2022–2023)

| headquarters =

| Commissioner = Brian Thornton (2022—2024)
Jeff Bacon (2023—present)

| website = {{URL|https://uacfootball.com/}}

| map = ASUN WAC Football Conference states map.png

| map_size = 250

}}

The United Athletic Conference (UAC), also known as The United, is an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) intercollegiate athletic conference. The conference is a merger of the existing football leagues of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) and Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The UAC covers the southwestern, western, and southern United States with member institutions located in Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.

History

=Western Athletic Conference=

On January 14, 2021, the WAC announced its intention to reinstate football as a conference-sponsored sport at the FCS level, as well as the addition of five new members to the conference in all sports, including football.{{cite press release |title=WAC Announces Expansion, Plans to Reinstate Football |url=https://www.wacsports.com/general/2020-21/releases/20210113xbg9zk |website=Western Athletic Conference|date=14 January 2021 }} The new members announced included the "Texas Four" of Abilene Christian University, Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, and Stephen F. Austin State University, then members of the Southland Conference, along with Southern Utah University, from the Big Sky Conference. Originally, all schools were planned to join in July 2022, but the entry of the Texas Four was moved to July 2021 after the Southland expelled its departing members.{{cite news|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/2021/01/14/as-wac-conference-announces-addition-of-5-schools-frisco-based-southland-conference-left-in-no-mans-land/ |title=As WAC announces addition of 5 schools, Frisco-based Southland Conference left in no man's land |first=Sam |last=Blum |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |date=January 14, 2021 |access-date=January 18, 2021}} The WAC also announced that it would most likely add another football-playing institution at a later date.

On the same day, news broke that the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a non-football-playing WAC member, had committed to creating an FCS football program by 2024.{{cite web |last1=Jeyarajah |first1=Shehan |title=UTRGV commits to add FCS football by 2024. |url=https://www.texasfootball.com/article/2021/01/14/utrgv-commits-to-add-fcs-football-by-2024?ref=article_preview_img |website=Dave Campbell's Texas Football |access-date=14 January 2021}} UTRGV later announced it would play an exhibition schedule in 2024 before starting full varsity play in 2025. However, UTRGV moved their athletics program, including football, from the WAC to the Southland in 2024 before they played a single game in the alliance.{{cite press release|url=https://goutrgv.com/news/2024/3/25/general-utrgv-athletics-accepts-invitation-to-join-southland-conference-in-2024-25.aspx |title=UTRGV Athletics Accepts Invitation to Join Southland Conference in 2024-25 |publisher=UTRGV Vaqueros Athletics |date=March 25, 2024 |access-date=March 25, 2024}}

The WAC ultimately partnered with the Atlantic Sun Conference (then officially branded as the ASUN Conference) to reestablish its football league, with the Texas Four being joined by three incoming ASUN members for at least the fall 2021 season in what it calls the ASUN–WAC (or WAC–ASUN) Challenge.{{cite press release|url=https://asunsports.org/sports/fball/2020-21/releases/20210223bff9nn |title=ASUN, WAC Conferences Announce Football Partnership for 2021 |publisher=ASUN Conference |date=February 23, 2021 |accessdate=February 23, 2021}}{{cite press release|url=https://asunsports.org/sports/fball/2020-21/releases/20210222nmh2xm |title=From the Commissioner's Desk: @ASUN_Football Update |publisher=ASUN Conference |date=February 23, 2021 |accessdate=February 23, 2021}} The Challenge was abbreviated as "AQ7", as the top finisher of the seven teams would be an automatic qualifier for the FCS postseason.{{cite news |url=https://www.krqe.com/sports/ncaa-football/fcs-college-football-2021-aq7-preview/ |title=FCS college football 2021: AQ7 preview |agency=Stats Perform |website=KRQE |date=August 20, 2021 |accessdate=September 5, 2021}} The two conferences renewed their alliance for the 2022 season, although both leagues will conduct separate conference seasons and then choose the alliance's automatic qualifier by an as-yet-undetermined process. Both the WAC and ASUN initially planned to have six playoff-eligible teams in 2022, but each lost such a member with the start of FBS transitions by Jacksonville State and Sam Houston.

{{see also|2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season#Membership changes}}

On November 5, 2021, it was reported that New Mexico State (an FBS independent) and Sam Houston would be leaving the WAC for Conference USA in 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32560304/conference-usa-add-liberty-jacksonville-state-new-mexico-state-sam-houston-state-beginning-2023 |website=ESPN|title=C-USA picks Liberty among four new additions |date=5 November 2021}} The WAC responded by adding football-playing Incarnate Word from the Southland Conference and non-football school UT Arlington from the Sun Belt Conference; however, UIW later reversed course and decided to stay with the SLC only days before the 2022-23 athletic season officially began.{{cite press release|url=https://wacsports.com/general/2021-22/releases/20220120nrv7nj|website=WAC|title=University of Texas at Arlington Accepts Invitation to Join WAC |date=21 January 2022 }}{{cite press release|url=https://www.southland.org/news/2022/6/24/general-university-of-the-incarnate-word-staying-in-the-southland-conference.aspx |title=UNIVERSITY OF THE INCARNATE WORD STAYING IN THE SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE |publisher=Southland Conference |date=June 24, 2022 |access-date=June 24, 2022}} Lamar also announced that it too would return to its former home of the Southland Conference in 2023 roughly three months prior to UIW's announcement, on April 8, 2022; however, three months later, it was announced that the SLC and Lamar would be accelerating the rejoining process so that Lamar could return for the 2022 athletic season instead.{{cite press release|url=https://www.southland.org/news/2022/4/7/general-lamar-university-is-coming-home-to-the-southland-conference.aspx |title=Lamar University Is Coming Home to the Southland Conference |publisher=Southland Conference |date=April 8, 2022 |access-date=April 8, 2022}}{{cite web |author1=Thomas Scott |title=Lamar moving to Southland Conference -- immediately |url=https://www.chron.com/sports/lamar/article/Lamar-accelerates-move-to-Southland-Conference-17297267.php |publisher=Hearst |access-date=July 11, 2022 |date=July 11, 2022}}

The WAC has been speculated to move back up to FBS in the future following the re-establishment of the football conference at the FCS level.{{cite web |last1=Deaver |first1=Colin |title=Reports: WAC football to return in 2022, rise to FBS later in decade |url=https://www.ktsm.com/sports/college-sports/nmsu/reports-wac-football-to-return-in-2022-rise-to-fbs-later-in-decade/ |website=KTSM.com |date=7 January 2021 |access-date=14 January 2021}}

=Atlantic Sun Conference=

The ASUN Conference announced that it would be adding the University of Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky University, and former member Jacksonville State University, as incoming members on January 29, 2021, with the intent of sponsoring football in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2022.{{cite press release|url=https://asunsports.org/general/2020-21/releases/20210126nthmsg |title=ASUN Conference Announces Three New Institutions; Adds Football as 20th Sport |publisher=ASUN Conference |date=January 29, 2021 |access-date=January 29, 2021}} However, with these three schools joining in 2021, the league partnered with another conference beginning to sponsor football also in 2022, the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), to allow the three teams to join the WAC as football affiliates for 2021, branding it interchangeably as the "ASUN–WAC Challenge" and "WAC–ASUN Challenge"; the two leagues will receive a combined bid to the FCS playoffs.

As soon as it was announced, however, the football league was thrown into jeopardy, as Jacksonville State announced it would be leaving once again in 2023 for Conference USA (CUSA), an FBS conference. Liberty University was also invited to CUSA for 2023, but had already competed as an FBS independent for some time and was not included in the ASUN's new football league.{{cite web |title=Conference USA to add Liberty, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State beginning in 2023 |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32560304/conference-usa-add-liberty-jacksonville-state-new-mexico-state-sam-houston-state-beginning-2023 |website=ESPN|date=5 November 2021 }} With the WAC also losing Sam Houston, another football-sponsoring school, to CUSA, the two conferences announced they would be renewing their alliance for the 2022 season.{{cite press release|url=https://asunsports.org/sports/fball/2021-22/releases/20220518bz4t65 |title=ASUN and WAC Renew Football Alliance |publisher=ASUN Conference |date=May 18, 2022 |access-date=May 19, 2022}} On September 17, 2021, the ASUN announced Austin Peay State University, a football-sponsoring school, as a new member for the 2022–23 season.{{cite press release|url=https://www.asunsports.org/general/2021-22/releases/20210916gkbm0v |title=ASUN Conference Welcomes Austin Peay State University as its Newest Member |publisher=ASUN Conference |date=September 17, 2021 |accessdate=September 17, 2021}}

=Merger=

ESPN reported on December 9, 2022, that the ASUN and WAC had agreed to form a new football-only conference that plans to start play in 2024. The initial membership would consist of Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, and North Alabama from the ASUN, and Abilene Christian, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, and Utah Tech from the WAC. UTRGV was originally planned to become the 10th member upon its planned addition of football in 2025; however, they moved their athletics program, including football, from the WAC to the Southland in 2024 before they played a single game in the alliance.[https://herosports.com/fcs-utrgv-join-southland-conference-bzbz/ "FCS Daily Dose: FCS Startup UTRGV To Join The Southland Conference"] HERO Sports. Retrieved 2024-04-25. The new football conference also reportedly planned to move "from what is currently known as FCS football to what is currently known as FBS football at the earliest practicable date."{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/35216756/atlantic-sun-wac-teams-pairing-move-fbs-sources-say |title=Atlantic Sun, WAC teams pairing up to attempt move to FBS, sources say |first=Pete |last=Thamel |website=ESPN.com |date=December 9, 2022 |access-date=December 9, 2022}} On December 20, the two conferences confirmed the football merger, announcing that the new football league would start to play in 2023 under the tentative name of "ASUN–WAC Football Conference". The new football league played a six-game schedule in 2023 and planned to start full round-robin conference play in 2024, but this was before the league expanded beyond 9 members following the 2023 season. Neither conference's announcement mentioned any plans to move to FBS.{{cite press release|url=https://asunsports.org/sports/fball/2022-23/releases/20221220kpoghs |title=@ASUN_Football and WAC Release 2023 Schedule |publisher=ASUN Conference |date=December 20, 2022 |access-date=December 22, 2022}}{{cite press release|url=https://wacsports.com/sports/fball/2022-23/releases/2023fbconfschedule |title=ASUN And WAC Unveil 2023 Football Schedule |publisher=Western Athletic Conference |date=December 20, 2022 |access-date=December 22, 2022}}

The ASUN and WAC jointly announced on January 5, 2023, that the football conference had established a basic governing structure and had hired Oliver Luck as executive director.{{cite press release|url=https://asunsports.org/sports/fball/2022-23/releases/20230105d8sjt0 |title=ASUN-WAC Football Names Executive Director and New Conference Structure |publisher=ASUN Conference |date=January 5, 2023 |access-date=January 9, 2023}}

On April 17, 2023, ASUN-WAC Football Partnership formally rebranded as the United Athletic Conference.{{cite press release|url=https://wacsports.com/sports/fball/2022-23/releases/uacfbrelease |title=ASUN-WAC Football Partnership Formally Rebrands As The United Athletic Conference |publisher=Western Athletic Conference |date=April 17, 2023 |access-date=April 17, 2023}} The UAC's waiver request to be recognized as a single-sport FCS football conference was denied by the NCAA later the same month.{{cite news|url=https://theathletic.com/4460388/2023/04/27/united-athletic-conference-ncaa-waiver-request-denied/|title=NCAA denies United Athletic Conference's waiver request to be single-sport conference|date=April 27, 2023|agency=The Athletic|author=Vannini, Chris|accessdate=July 5, 2023|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705052650/https://theathletic.com/4460388/2023/04/27/united-athletic-conference-ncaa-waiver-request-denied/|archivedate=July 5, 2023}}

On September 8, 2023, the University of West Georgia announced it would transition from Division II and join the ASUN in 2024; accordingly, the UAC announced that the West Georgia football program would also join the conference the same year.{{cite press release|url=https://uacfootball.com/news/2023/9/8/football-uac-welcomes-west-georgia-as-its-11th-member.aspx |title=UAC Welcomes West Georgia as its 11th Member |publisher=United Athletic Conference |date=September 8, 2023 |access-date=September 8, 2023}}

{{Location map+|USA|width=700|float=center|caption=Locations of United Athletic Conference members |relief=no|places=

{{Location map~|USA|label=Utah Tech|position=bottom|mark=Blue pog.svg|link=Utah Tech Trailblazers football|lat=37.095|long=-113.578}}

{{Location map~|USA|label=Tarleton State|position=bottom|mark=Blue pog.svg|link=Tarleton State Texans football|lat=32.216|long=-98.216}}

{{Location map~|USA|label=Abilene Christian|position=top|mark=Blue pog.svg|link=Abilene Christian Wildcats football|lat=32.470|long=-99.708}}

{{Location map~|USA|label=Southern Utah|position=top|mark=Blue pog.svg|link=Southern Utah Thunderbirds football|lat=37.6764| long=-113.0713}}

{{Location map~|USA|label=Central Arkansas|position=top|mark=Blue pog.svg|link=Central Arkansas Bears football|lat=35.0781|long=-92.4579}}

{{Location map~|USA|label=Eastern Kentucky|position=right|mark=Blue pog.svg|link=Eastern Kentucky Colonels football|lat=37.7353|long=-84.2987}}

{{Location map~|USA|label=North Alabama|position=bottom|mark=Blue pog.svg|link=North Alabama Lions football|lat=34.8075|long=-87.6813}}

{{Location map~|USA|label=Austin Peay|position=top|mark=Blue pog.svg|link=Austin Peay Governors football|lat=36.5350|long=-87.3549}}

{{Location map~|USA|label=West Georgia|position=right|mark=Blue pog.svg|link=West Georgia Wolves football|lat=33.5753|long=-85.1041}}

}}

Member schools

=Current members=

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
Institution !Location !Founded !Joined !Type !Enrollment !Nickname !class="unsortable"\|Colors !Primary conference
Austin Peay State University \| Clarksville, Tennessee \| 1927 \| 2022 \|rowspan= 8\|Public \| 9,609 \| Governors \| {{college color boxes\|Austin Peay Governors}} \|rowspan="5"\|ASUN
University of Central Arkansas \| Conway, Arkansas \| 1907 \|rowspan="2"\|2021 \| 9,913 \| Bears \| {{college color boxes\|Central Arkansas Bears}}
Eastern Kentucky University \| Richmond, Kentucky \| 1874 \| 13,984 \| Colonels \| {{college color boxes\|Eastern Kentucky Colonels}}
University of North Alabama \| Florence, Alabama \| 1830 \|2022 \| 11,056 \| Lions \| {{college color boxes\|North Alabama Lions}}
University of West Georgia \| Carrollton, Georgia \| 1906 \|2024 \|14,394 \| Wolves \| {{college color boxes\|West Georgia Wolves}}
Southern Utah University \| Cedar City, Utah \| 1897 \|2022 \|14,330 \| Thunderbirds \| {{college color boxes\|Southern Utah Thunderbirds}} \| rowspan="4"\|WAC
Tarleton State University \| Stephenville, Texas \| 1899 \|rowspan="2"\|2023 \| 13,995 \| Texans \| {{college color boxes\|Tarleton State Texans}}
Utah Tech University \| St. George, Utah \| 1911 \| 12,556 \| Trailblazers \| {{college color boxes\|Utah Tech Trailblazers}}
Abilene Christian University \| Abilene, Texas \| 1906 \| 2021 \| Private (Church of Christ) \| 6,219 \| Wildcats \| {{college color boxes\|Abilene Christian Wildcats}}

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

Institution

!Location

!Founded

!Joined

!Type

!Enrollment

!Nickname

!class="unsortable"|Colors

!Primary
conference

Austin Peay State University

| Clarksville, Tennessee

| 1927

| 2022

|rowspan= 8|Public

| 9,609

| Governors

| {{college color boxes|Austin Peay Governors}}

|rowspan="5"|ASUN

University of Central Arkansas

| Conway, Arkansas

| 1907

|rowspan="2"|2021

| 9,913

| Bears

| {{college color boxes|Central Arkansas Bears}}

Eastern Kentucky University

| Richmond, Kentucky

| 1874

| 13,984

| Colonels

| {{college color boxes|Eastern Kentucky Colonels}}

University of North Alabama

| Florence, Alabama

| 1830

|2022

| 11,056

| Lions

| {{college color boxes|North Alabama Lions}}

University of West Georgia

| Carrollton, Georgia

| 1906

|2024

|14,394

| Wolves

| {{college color boxes|West Georgia Wolves}}

Southern Utah University

| Cedar City, Utah

| 1897

|2022

|14,330

| Thunderbirds

| {{college color boxes|Southern Utah Thunderbirds}}

| rowspan="4"|WAC

Tarleton State University

| Stephenville, Texas

| 1899

|rowspan="2"|2023

| 13,995

| Texans

| {{college color boxes|Tarleton State Texans}}

Utah Tech University

| St. George, Utah

| 1911

| 12,556

| Trailblazers

| {{college color boxes|Utah Tech Trailblazers}}

Abilene Christian University

| Abilene, Texas

| 1906

| 2021

| Private
(Church of Christ)

| 6,219

| Wildcats

| {{college color boxes|Abilene Christian Wildcats}}

=Former members=

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
Team \|\| Location \|\| Nickname \|\| Joined{{efn\|group=full\|name=datejoined\|The United Athletic Conference officially began in the 2023 season. The year joined reflects when the program joined the UAC or WAC-ASUN Challenge as a whole.}} \|\| Departed \|\|Current Primary Conference \|\|Current Football Conference
Jacksonville State University \|Jacksonville, Alabama \|Gamecocks \|2021 \|2022{{efn\|group=full\|name=elligibility\|The ASUN Conference and Western Athletic Conference both held individual conference schedules (WAC 2021-22, ASUN 2022 only) which included schools that were ineligible for the FCS postseason due to D-II or FBS transitions. Tarleton and Utah Tech transitioned from Division II and therefore played only in the WAC in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Sam Houston and Jacksonville State began transitioning to FBS and therefore played in the WAC and ASUN, respectively, for the 2022 season.}} \| colspan="2" \| CUSA
Kennesaw State University \|Kennesaw, Georgia \|Owls \|2022 \|2023 \| colspan="2" \| CUSA
Lamar University \|Beaumont, Texas \|Cardinals \|2021 \|2022 \| colspan="2" \| Southland
Sam Houston State University \|Huntsville, Texas \|Bearkats \|2021 \|2022{{efn\|group=full\|name=elligibility}} \| colspan="2" \| CUSA
Stephen F. Austin State University \| Nacogdoches, Texas \| Lumberjacks \| 2021 \| 2024 \| colspan="2" \| Southland
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley \| Brownsville & Edinburg, Texas{{efn\|group=full\|While UTRGV has multiple campuses within its service area, its athletic program is based at the Edinburg campus, which it inherited from its athletic predecessor, the University of Texas–Pan American. The football team plans to play home games in both Brownsville (home to a UTRGV campus inherited from the University of Texas at Brownsville) and Edinburg; when UTRGV confirmed the addition of football in late 2022, it committed to establishing separate marching bands and spirit programs for the two campuses.{{cite press release\|url=https://goutrgv.com/news/2022/11/18/football-utrgv-announces-approval-of-football-womens-aquatics-band-spirit-programs.aspx \|title=UTRGV announces approval of football, women's aquatics, band, spirit programs \|publisher=UTRGV Vaqueros \|date=November 18, 2022 \|access-date=March 11, 2023}}}} \| Vaqueros \| 2021{{efn\|group=full\|When UTRGV first committed to adding a football program in 2021, it was announced as an inaugural but non-playing member of the UAC, with plans to begin conference play in 2025 once its program was fully established. However, UTRGV announced it would move its entire athletics program (including its football team) to the Southland Conference in 2024, before it had played a single game within the UAC.}} \| 2024 \| colspan="2" \| Southland

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"

Team || Location || Nickname || Joined{{efn|group=full|name=datejoined|The United Athletic Conference officially began in the 2023 season. The year joined reflects when the program joined the UAC or WAC-ASUN Challenge as a whole.}} || Departed ||Current
Primary
Conference ||Current
Football
Conference

Jacksonville State University

|Jacksonville, Alabama

|Gamecocks

|2021

|2022{{efn|group=full|name=elligibility|The ASUN Conference and Western Athletic Conference both held individual conference schedules (WAC 2021-22, ASUN 2022 only) which included schools that were ineligible for the FCS postseason due to D-II or FBS transitions.

Tarleton and Utah Tech transitioned from Division II and therefore played only in the WAC in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Sam Houston and Jacksonville State began transitioning to FBS and therefore played in the WAC and ASUN, respectively, for the 2022 season.}}

| colspan="2" | CUSA

Kennesaw State University

|Kennesaw, Georgia

|Owls

|2022

|2023

| colspan="2" | CUSA

Lamar University

|Beaumont, Texas

|Cardinals

|2021

|2022

| colspan="2" | Southland

Sam Houston State University

|Huntsville, Texas

|Bearkats

|2021

|2022{{efn|group=full|name=elligibility}}

| colspan="2" | CUSA

Stephen F. Austin State University

| Nacogdoches, Texas

| Lumberjacks

| 2021

| 2024

| colspan="2" | Southland

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

| Brownsville & Edinburg, Texas{{efn|group=full|While UTRGV has multiple campuses within its service area, its athletic program is based at the Edinburg campus, which it inherited from its athletic predecessor, the University of Texas–Pan American. The football team plans to play home games in both Brownsville (home to a UTRGV campus inherited from the University of Texas at Brownsville) and Edinburg; when UTRGV confirmed the addition of football in late 2022, it committed to establishing separate marching bands and spirit programs for the two campuses.{{cite press release|url=https://goutrgv.com/news/2022/11/18/football-utrgv-announces-approval-of-football-womens-aquatics-band-spirit-programs.aspx |title=UTRGV announces approval of football, women's aquatics, band, spirit programs |publisher=UTRGV Vaqueros |date=November 18, 2022 |access-date=March 11, 2023}}}}

| Vaqueros

| 2021{{efn|group=full|When UTRGV first committed to adding a football program in 2021, it was announced as an inaugural but non-playing member of the UAC, with plans to begin conference play in 2025 once its program was fully established. However, UTRGV announced it would move its entire athletics program (including its football team) to the Southland Conference in 2024, before it had played a single game within the UAC.}}

| 2024

| colspan="2" | Southland

=Membership timeline=

DateFormat = yyyy

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20

Period = from:2020 till:2028

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#

Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)

id:line value:black

id:bg value:white

id:AssocF value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports

id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football

id:Full value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only

id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote)

id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference

id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two

PlotData=

width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: OVC

bar:4 color:AssocF from:2021 till:2022 text:Jacksonville State (2021-22)

bar:4 shift:30 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:2023 text: ASUN

bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text: CUSA

bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Southland

bar:5 color:AssocF from:2021 till:2022 text:Lamar (2021–22)

bar:5 shift:30 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text: Southland

bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Southland

bar:6 color:AssocF from:2021 till:2022 text:Sam Houston (2021–22)

bar:6 shift:30 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:2023 text: WAC

bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text: CUSA

bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Southland

bar:7 color:AssocF from:2021 till:2024 text:Stephen F. Austin (2021–2024)

bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: Southland

bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Southland

bar:1 color:AssocF from:2021 till:end text:Abilene Christian (2021–Present)

bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Southland

bar:2 color:AssocF from:2021 till:end text:Central Arkansas (2021–Present)

bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: OVC

bar:3 color:AssocF from:2021 till:end text:Eastern Kentucky (2021–Present)

bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2022 text: Big South

bar:9 color:AssocF from:2022 till:2023 text:Kennesaw State (2022–23)

bar:9 shift:30 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:2024 text: Independent

bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:2024 till:end text: CUSA

bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2022 text: OVC

bar:8 color:AssocF from:2022 till:end text:Austin Peay (2022–Present)

bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2022 text: Big South

bar:10 color:AssocF from:2022 till:end text:North Alabama (2022–Present)

bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2022 text: Big Sky

bar:11 color:AssocF from:2022 till:end text:Southern Utah (2022–Present)

bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Independent

bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:2021 till:2023 text: WAC

bar:12 color:AssocF from:2023 till:end text:Tarleton (2023–Present)

bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Independent

bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:2021 till:2023 text: WAC

bar:13 color:AssocF from:2023 till:end text:Utah Tech (2023–Present)

bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2024 text: Gulf South (D-II)

bar:14 color:AssocF from:2024 till:end text:West Georgia (2024–Present)

bar:N color:white from:2020 till:2021 text:None

bar:N color:orange from:2021 till:2023 text:WAC-ASUN Challenge

bar:N color:yellow from:2023 till:end text:United Athletic Conference

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:2021

TextData =

fontsize:L

textcolor:black

pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center)

text:^"United Athletic Conference membership history"

{{Font color||{{RGB|190|186|218}}|Full members}}

{{Font color||{{RGB|141|210|198}}|Full non-playing members}}

{{Font color||{{RGB|255|255|179}}|Other Conference}}

{{Font color||{{RGB|253|180|98}}|Other Conference}}

Conference Champions

cellpadding="5"

|valign="top" width=25em|{{2024 United Athletic Conference standings}}

valign="top" width=25em|{{2023 United Athletic Conference standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{2022 WAC–ASUN Challenge football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{2021 WAC–ASUN Challenge football standings}}

Football conference champions

This is a list of the champions since 2023.

class="wikitable"
Year !Regular Season Champion !Record !FCS Championship Result
style="text-align:center;"\|2023 \|Austin Peay \| style="text-align:center;"\|9–3 \|First Round
style="text-align:center;"\|2024 \|Abilene Christian \| style="text-align:center;"\|9–5 \|Second Round

class="wikitable"

Year

!Regular Season Champion

!Record

!FCS Championship Result

style="text-align:center;"|2023

|Austin Peay

| style="text-align:center;"|9–3

|First Round

style="text-align:center;"|2024

|Abilene Christian

| style="text-align:center;"|9–5

|Second Round

Conference facilities

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center"

style="text-align:center; background:#1A2857; color: white"

| School

| Football stadium

| Capacity

style="text-align:center; {{NCAA color cell|Abilene Christian Wildcats}}"| Abilene Christian

| Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium

| {{nts|12000}}

style="text-align:center; {{NCAA color cell|Austin Peay Governors}}"| Austin Peay

| Fortera Stadium

| {{nts|10000}}

style="text-align:center; {{NCAA color cell|Central Arkansas Bears}}"| Central Arkansas

| Estes Stadium

| {{nts|10000}}

style="text-align:center; {{NCAA color cell|Eastern Kentucky Colonels}}"| Eastern Kentucky

| Roy Kidd Stadium

| {{nts|20000}}

style="text-align:center; {{NCAA color cell|North Alabama Lions}}"| North Alabama

| Braly Municipal Stadium

| {{nts|14215}}

style="text-align:center; {{NCAA color cell|Southern Utah Thunderbirds}}"| Southern Utah

| Eccles Coliseum

| {{nts|8500}}

style="text-align:center; {{NCAA color cell|Tarleton Texans}}"| Tarleton

| Memorial Stadium

| {{nts|24,000}}

style="text-align:center; {{NCAA secondary color cell|Utah Tech Trailblazers}}"| Utah Tech

| Greater Zion Stadium

| {{nts|10000}}{{cite web|url=https://dixiestateathletics.com/documents/2018/9/20//2018_DSU_MSOC_Media_Guide.pdf?id=3258 |title=University Quick Facts |work=2018 Dixie State Men's Soccer Media Guide |page=1 |publisher=Dixie State Trailblazers |access-date=January 23, 2019}}

style="text-align:center; {{NCAA color cell|West Georgia Wolves}}"| West Georgia

| University Stadium

| {{nts|10,000}}

Notes

References

External links

{{Official website}}

Category:ASUN Conference

Category:Western Athletic Conference

Category:Sports in the Southern United States

Category:Sports in the Western United States

Category:Sports organizations established in 2023

Category:Articles which contain graphical timelines