American Southwest Conference

American Southwest Conference (ASC)
American Southwest Conference logo
Established	1996
Association	NCAA
Division	Division III
Members	14
Sports fielded	16 (men's: 8; women's: 8)
Region	Gulf Coast
Headquarters	Richardson, Texas
Commissioner	Amy Carlton (since 2006)
Website	ascsports.org
Locations
American Southwest Conference locations

The American Southwest Conference (ASC) is a college athletic conference, founded in 1996, whose member schools compete in the NCAA's Division III. The schools are located in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. The conference competes in baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field and women's volleyball.

History

The American Southwest Conference was announced in May 1996. The new league included some former members of the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA). Founding members of the ASC were Austin College, Hardin–Simmons University, Hardin–Simmons University, McMurry University, Mississippi College, Sul Ross State University, the University of Dallas and the University of the Ozarks.

The expansion soon began as the University of Mary Hardin–Baylor joined the ASC in 1997; followed by East Texas Baptist University, LeTourneau University and Schreiner University in 1998; then Concordia University Texas in 1999, and finally Louisiana College and Texas Lutheran University in 2000.

The University of Dallas was a member of the ASC until the end of the 2000-01 season to become an Independent; and Austin College withdrew the ASC in the 2005-06 season to join the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). The University of Texas at Tyler began athletics in 2002 and became a member in 2003, but as a provisional member of the NCAA, was ineligible to participate in ASC or NCAA postseason tournaments until 2007. Centenary College of Louisiana joined the conference in 2011, after completing their transition from Division I to Division III, but almost immediately announced its departure for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Recently, however, several schools have announced plans to leave the conference in favor of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, which lost seven of its members at the end of the 2011-12 school year. Centenary departed at the end of the 2011-12 season after joining the ASC in that same season; Schreiner and Texas Lutheran will leave at the end of the 2012-13 season.

In 2012, McMurry left the ASC and completed the process of reclassifying to a full-scholarship, Division II institution and joined the Heartland Conference. Additionally, Mississippi College announced that it would be also leaving the conference and reclassifying to Division II in 2014. Mississippi College will join the Gulf South Conference, a league that it had been a member of until 1996.

The departures of McMurry, Texas Lutheran and Mississippi College will leave the conference with only six football playing members, below the minimum seven participating schools required to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA football playoffs. The conference has not announced a plan to maintain its automatic bid.

Member schools

Current members

The schools are divided into two divisions: East and West.
The West Division	The East Division

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Mascot	Football?
Concordia University Texas	Austin, Texas	1926	Private/Lutheran	1,200	Tornadoes	1999	Mr. Tornado	No
East Texas Baptist University	Marshall, Texas	1912	Private/Baptist	1,350	Tigers	1998	Toby	Yes
Hardin–Simmons University	Abilene, Texas	1891	Private/Baptist	2,333	Cowboys	1996	Simon the Simonite	Yes
Howard Payne University	Brownwood, Texas	1889	Private/Baptist	1,400	Yellow Jackets	1996	Buzzsaw	Yes
LeTourneau University	Longview, Texas	1946	Private	3,758	Yellowjackets	1998	Buzz	No
Louisiana College	Pineville, Louisiana	1906	Private/Baptist	1,000	Wildcats	2000	Victor	Yes
University of Mary Hardin–Baylor	Belton, Texas	1845	Private/Baptist	2,713	Crusaders	1997	CRUnk the Sader	Yes
Mississippi College	Clinton, Mississippi	1826	Private/Baptist	4,162	Choctaws	1996	Chief Choc	Yes
University of the Ozarks	Clarksville, Arkansas	1834	Private/Presbyterian	630	Eagles	1996		No
Schreiner University**	Kerrville, Texas	1923	Private/Presbyterian	930	Mountaineers	1998	Monty	No
Sul Ross State University	Alpine, Texas	1917	Public/Texas State University	2,070	Lobos	1996	Sully	Yes
University of Texas at Dallas	Richardson, Texas	1961	Public/University of Texas	18,864	Comets	1998	Temoc	No
University of Texas at Tyler	Tyler, Texas	1971	Public/University of Texas	5,326	Patriots	2002	Swoop	No
Texas Lutheran University**	Seguin, Texas	1891	Private/Lutheran	1,400	Bulldogs	2000	LUCKY	Yes

** - Leaving the ASC following completion of the 2012–13 academic year.

Former members

Institution	Location	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current Conference	Football?
Austin College	Sherman, Texas	Kangaroos	1996	2006	SCAC	Yes
Centenary College of Louisiana	Shreveport, Louisiana	Gentlemen (men's) Ladies (women's)	2011	2012	SCAC	No
University of Dallas	Dallas, Texas	Crusaders	1996	2001	SCAC	No
McMurry University	Abilene, Texas	War Hawks	1996	2012	Heartland	Yes

Membership timeline

External links

• Official website

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