Houston Baptist University to Join Southland Conference on July 1, 2013
FRISCO,
Texas - The Southland Conference and Houston Baptist University announced
Monday that the institution will become the newest member of the NCAA Division
I league. The university will become the 11th member of the Southland on July
1, 2013, and will then become eligible for conference championships and NCAA automatic bids in
most of the league's sports.
Houston Baptist, a
private institution that rejoined NCAA Division I this year, announced last
month it will start a football program that will compete at the Football
Championship Subdivision (FCS) level and. HBU's football program will join the
Southland in 2014, giving the league an all-time high of nine football teams.
Additionally, the
university has plans to replace 48-year-old Sharp Gym, home of HBU basketball
and volleyball, with a new multi-purpose Special Events Center on its campus in
southwest Houston.
The HBU Huskies
currently participates in 14 of the Southland's 17 sponsored championships,
including men's sports basketball, baseball, cross country, golf, and indoor
and outdoor track and field. On the women's side, HBU sponsors basketball,
cross country, golf, soccer, softball, indoor and outdoor track and field, and
volleyball. HBU also sponsors men's soccer, but the Southland does not offer a
championship in the sport.
"After a great amount
of study, the Southland Conference Board of Directors was unanimous in
extending the offer of membership to Houston Baptist University," said Dr.
Baker Pattillo, Southland Board Chairman and the president at Stephen F. Austin
State University. "We are honored to learn of the acceptance from the HBU Board
of Trustees, and we have been very impressed with the leadership of President
Robert Sloan and his vision for the university and its athletics program,
including the exciting news of the Huskies' new football program joining the
Southland."
"I am
thrilled at the invitation and believe entering the Southland Conference with
its long-standing traditions is a great opportunity for HBU," Sloan
said. "We have for many years enjoyed competing against the other
conference universities, and the continued development of these rivalries should
enhance the connection of our students and alumni to HBU. We are honored to
join this historic conference and to be able to work with so many outstanding
colleagues in higher education."
While the Houston area
serves as the location of the largest alumni base for Southland institutions,
HBU will be the first Southland member located in the nation's fourth largest
city and 10th largest media market. Additionally, approximately 20,000 students
from metropolitan Houston attend Southland institutions each year, and nearly
90,000 active alumni live in the area. The league has also hosted its annual
men's and women's basketball tournament in the area since 2007.
"The addition of
Houston Baptist is the latest step in the effort of the Southland presidents to
ensure future membership stability for the league," added Southland
commissioner Tom Burnett. "As we've mentioned previously, the board has only
shown interest in institutions that clearly bring added value to the league.
The group clearly sees the benefits of adding a football-playing institution in
the biggest city within the Southland's current footprint."
Houston Baptist will
join Oral Roberts University (joining the Southland in 2012) as the league's
first private institutions since charter members Trinity University and Abilene
Christian University departed the conference in early 1970s.
"This is certainly an exciting time for HBU
athletics. Joining the Southland Conference is a huge plus for us, and puts us
where we want to be for a league home," HBU athletics director Steve Moniaci
said. We are looking forward to competing against, and building rivalries with,
these great universities from our region that compete in the Southland. Not
only will this be fantastic for our student-athletes - who will soon have the
opportunity to challenge for automatic bids to the NCAA Championships, but it
will also give our fans the opportunity to travel to these schools, see us
compete and support the Huskies."
Currently a member of
the Great West Conference, the HBU program recently completed a return to NCAA
Division I after a 17-year run as an NAIA powerhouse, winning 40 league titles
and competing in 35 NAIA national tournaments. Previously a member of the NCAA
from 1967 to 1990 (and in Division I from 1973-89), HBU was once a member of the
Trans America Athletic Conference (now known as the Atlantic Sun Conference),
where it won multiple league championships and earned numerous NCAA postseason
berths. HBU has produced numerous golf professionals, include eight-time Merit
of Order recipient and European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, multiple
All-America selections in many sports, professional athletes and Olympians.
Founded in 1960,
Houston Baptist University is an independent Christian liberal arts institution
with a diverse student body. Dedicated to the development of the intellect,
moral character and spiritual lives of its students, HBU serves approximately
2,700 students on its 100-acre campus. The university offers nearly 30
undergraduate major programs and eight pre-professional programs in its five
colleges and honors college. HBU is accredited by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS).
The Southland
Conference has excelled competitively throughout its history, including winning
five various national championships in football, and advancing four men's
basketball teams to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and one to the NIT Final Four. The
league has also sent a women's basketball team to the NCAA Final Four, another
team to the NCAA Elite Eight and two squads to the WNIT championship game. In
2011, the Southland ranked as the eighth-best Division I baseball conference in
the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), and has produced numerous major league
players, including 25 draft choices this year.
Southland softball
teams have defeated nationally-ranked teams every year since 1995, the league
has produced a women's volleyball NCAA Final Four participant, and track and
field individuals have won a combined 32 NCAA championships. The Southland
placed three men's golf teams into the 2011 NCAA regionals, and has produced
two top-10 national NCAA team finishes since 2006.
Academically, the
Southland has experienced the best improvement of all Division I conferences in
the NCAA Academic Performance Program during the past five years, and in
2009-10, its men's basketball programs collectively had the 10th best yearly
Academic Progress Rate (APR) among the 31 conferences. The league celebrates
and honors academic achievement with its F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship
Award, the Scholar-Athlete Award, the Commissioner's Honor Roll and the
All-Academic Teams.
In 2008, the league
developed the award-winning Southland Conference Television Network that
provides more than 30 annual live productions of various sports events to more
than two dozen regional and national affiliates.
Burnett added the
Southland will continue to review membership possibilities in coming months.
"The Southland's membership review process remains open, and we expect that the
Board of Directors will advance with a primary focus on possibly adding
institutions that sponsor football," he said.