After a short stint in the Western Athletic Conference, Lamar is returning to the Southland Conference in 2023.
Lamar was a part of the “Texas Four” that left the Southland to join the WAC officially on July 1, 2021, alongside Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, and Abilene Christian. Plus, Incarnate Word is leaving the Southland for the WAC on July 1, 2022. However, two of those institutions don’t plan on staying long.
Sam Houston is set to leave the WAC for the FBS and Conference USA in 2023. And now, Lamar is the second new WAC member to leave after a short stint.
“We are grateful for our time in the WAC, but we are thrilled for our return to the Southland Conference fueled by the league’s combination of dynamic leadership, membership stability, regional rivalries, and vision for the future,” Lamar University President Jaime Taylor said.
In a press release, the Southland stated the university’s move is seen as part of a broader trend in the changing landscape of college athletics, as schools and conferences grapple with the implications of factors such as NIL agreements, the transfer portal, and the reimagining of the NCAA. Forging strong partnerships with like-minded peer institutions is fundamental to ensuring future opportunities for student-athletes to compete and prepare for success in life.
“In college athletics, the only constant is change, so our Board of Directors remain committed to each other, and building upon our strong foundation that enables our universities to capitalize on the best opportunities together,” new Southland Conference Commissioner Chris Grant said. “There are big things happening in the Southland Conference, so all I can say is ‘stay tuned.”
In January of 2021, the WAC announced it is bringing back football. The seven members were the four Texas schools from the Southland, D2-transitioning Tarleton State and Dixie State, and Big Sky Sky member Southern Utah (who is set to join in 2022). The ASUN also announced a football-playing conference that month, and the WAC and ASUN combined for a one-year partnership league called the AQ7 so all of the new members had access to an auto-bid into the FCS playoffs.
Lamar went 0-6 in the AQ7 standings and 2-9 overall in the fall of 2021. The WAC and the ASUN are now separate and are their own leagues in 2022.
Matt Brown, the publisher of Extra Points, joined the FCS Football Talk podcast in February and mentioned that the Southland could be targeting some of its former members. Below is a clip explaining why a program would return to a conference it just left.
In 2023, FCS membership will be (as of now):
Southland – 7 (SLU, Nicholls, McNeese, NW State, HBU, Texas A&M-Commerce, & Lamar
WAC – 6 (SFA, ACU, Tarleton, Dixie St/Utah Tech, SUU, UIW)
“The Western Athletic Conference has a long history of success and we will continue to assess the ever changing landscape and make decisions that give our membership the best opportunity to compete for championships and provide a high level student athlete experience,” WAC Commissioner Brian Thornton said in a statement. “Our institutions are unified in their commitment to the WAC remaining one of the premier mid-major conferences in the country.”
