Stephen F. Austin Joining the Southland Conference
Stephen F. Austin has formerly announced that they are leaving the Western Athletic Conference to rejoin the Southland Conference.
One of the worst kept secrets in college basketball has formerly hit the news as Stephen F. Austin officially announced that they will be leaving the Western Athletic Conference to join the Southland Conference. This move will be official in just one month as the Lumberjacks will be joining their new conference on July 1st.
SF Austin was a member of the WAC for just three years after they left the Southland, which they had called home since 1987. The WAC entered a growth period where they added what was termed the “Texas Four” in an aggressive move which saw Abilene Christian, Sam Houston State, Lamar, and SF Austin all join the WAC. Now, just three years later, Abilene Christian is the only school remaining.
As a member of the Southland, SF Austin became a fan favorite upset pick between 2014-2018. The Lumberjacks appeared in the NCAA Tournament in four out of those five seasons (135 - 36 overall), including a first round win against #5 VCU in 2014 and a first round win against #3 West Virginia in 2016. Technically, 117 games between 2014-2019, including NCAA appearances and Southland Conference titles were nullified due to NCAA penalties surrounding issues with certifying 82 student-athletes and their progress toward degree requirements.
Now the historic school is rejoining the Southland, which has started to come alive. The recent success of McNeese behind Will Wade has helped elevate the conference, Incarnate Word is building a strong team (you can read our article on the Cardinals here), and schools like Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Lamar are building strong programs. The conference that was ranked 27th last year, should continue to climb higher.
What does this mean for the WAC? The WAC is being dismantled before our eyes. SF Austin is leaving and joining the Southland, UT Rio Grande Valley is leaving and joining the Southland as well, Seattle & and Grand Canyon are leaving and joining the WCC, and New Mexico State, Sam Houston State, Lamar and Chicago State all left within the last 3 years. Now, just 7 teams remain in Abilene Christian, California Baptist, Southern Utah, Tarleton State, UT Arlington, Utah Tech, and Utah Valley.
The future of the WAC is certainly up in the air at this point. Abilene Christian’s President Phil Schubert shed some light on the topic and stated that they were still invested in the WAC as long as they keep their postseason AQ for the NCAA Tournament, in which they do still qualify with 7 members (the limit is 6). In fact, he went on to say that he wants to help build the WAC and believes there will be other opportunities to bring schools into the WAC as other conferences face realignment issues. Perhaps, all isn’t doom and gloom for the WAC.
For SF Austin, this was a no brainer move. They fit geographically well in the Southland and as mentioned, they previously dominated the conference. Now the conference is stronger than it was before and adding SF Austin elevates it to another level. The largest question here is, why leave immediately. Often when a school announces they are leaving a conference, there is at least a one year gap between the announcement and then they officially leave. As a result, this immediate departure has resulted in a $3 million exit fee. The details of how this is being paid is not public yet, however, people are speculating that SF Austin may not be the ones footing the bill. It could be the Southland Conference, the UT system (SF Austin formerly joined the University of Texas System in 2023), etc.
What do you think about the move? Do you believe this is a positive for SF Austin and the Southland? What do you think will happen to the WAC? Let us know in the comments.
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