American Southwest Conference

Association	NCAA
First season	1996
Commissioner	David Flores[1]
Sports fielded	16 men's: 8 women's: 8
Division	Division III
No. of teams	4 (6 in 2026)
Headquarters	Richardson, Texas
Region	Gulf Coast
Official website	ascsports.org
Locations

TheAmerican Southwest Conference (ASC) is anintercollegiate athletic conference, founded in 1996, whose member schools compete in theNCAA'sDivision III. All member schools are located in the state ofTexas. The conference competes inbaseball, men's and women'sbasketball, men's and women'scross country,football, men's and women'sgolf, men's and women'ssoccer,softball, men's and women'stennis, men's and women'strack and field, and women'svolleyball.

The American Southwest Conference operates from the same headquarters complex in the Dallas suburb ofRichardson as theLone Star Conference ofNCAA Division II.

American Southwest Conference

120km
75miles

Hardin–Simmons

East Texas Baptist

Mary Hardin–Baylor

McMurry

Schreiner

Howard Payne

   

Location of ASC members: current, future

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

The expansion soon began as theUniversity of Mary Hardin–Baylor joined the ASC in 1997; followed byEast Texas Baptist University,LeTourneau University,Schreiner University and theUniversity of Texas at Dallas in 1998; thenConcordia University Texas in 1999, and finallyLouisiana Christian University, then known as Louisiana College, andTexas Lutheran University in 2000.

The University of Dallas was a member of the ASC until the end of the 2000–01 season to become aIndependent; and Austin College withdrew the ASC in the 2005–06 season to join theSouthern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). TheUniversity 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.^[2][3]

Recently, however, several schools have announced plans to leave the conference in favor of theSouthern Collegiate Athletic Conference, which lost seven of its members at the end of the 2011–12 school year. Centenary^[4] departed at the end of the 2011–12 season after joining the ASC in that same season; Schreiner^[5] and Texas Lutheran^[6] left 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 theHeartland Conference.^[7] Additionally, Mississippi College announced that it would be also leaving the conference and reclassifying to Division II in 2014.^[8] Mississippi College will rejoin theGulf South Conference, a league that it had been a member of until 1996.^[9]

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.

ASC officials announced on March 13, 2014, the forthcoming addition ofMcMurry University andBelhaven University to its membership.^[10][11] McMurry will rejoin the ASC after a two-year stint in theDivision II level, competing as a member of theHeartland Conference; while Belhaven is scheduled to join the ASC as a provisional member in 2015.

On December 3, 2015, ASC officials reported thatTexas Lutheran University andSouthwestern University would join the conference for football in 2017^[12] as football-only members. Both schools are members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, but the conference only had four remaining schools competing in football. Two other SCAC schools.Austin College andTrinity University (Texas), announced they would play football in theSouthern Athletic Association beginning with the 2017 season. The SCAC dropped football as a conference sport after the 2016 season.

In July 2018, the NCAA approved UT Tyler's application to begin a transition toNCAA Division II effective with the 2019–20 school year. Accordingly, UT Tyler left the ASC at the end of the 2018–19 school year. While the school did not immediately announce its future affiliation, it stated that it expected to join theLone Star Conference.^[13] The following month, UT Tyler was officially unveiled as an incoming LSC member.^[14]

In July 2020, Louisiana College announced that it would leave the NCAA and applied to rejoin theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics after the 2020–21 school year.^[15]

More changes in the ASC membership were announced August 13, 2020, when Austin reported it would return to the conference as a football-only affiliate beginning with the 2021 season, committing to at least four years as an affiliate,^[16] then on August 19, 2021, Southwestern University announced its football program will move to theSouthern Athletic Association (SAA) to start the 2023 season as an affiliate member.^[17] and on November 26, 2021, when theUSA South Athletic Conference initially named Belhaven as its newest member in the 2022–23 academic year.^[18] However, on February 18, 2022, Belhaven was announced as an inaugural member of the newCollegiate Conference of the South (CCS) following a geographical split in the USA South, where the Blazers will remain as football associate members.^[19]

On November 1, 2022,McMurry University announced that it will leave the ASC in the fall of 2024 to join theSouthern Collegiate Athletic Conference.^[20] While on February 1, 2023,Sul Ross State University announced that it will leave the ASC in the fall of 2024 to join theLone Star Conference into Division II.^[21] Additionally on May 15, 2023, the SCAC announced it would also be accepting Concordia and University of the Ozarks as members for the 2024–25 school year.^[22] The rapid loss of members continued, with UT Dallas announcing their intent to transition to Division II and follow fellow conference member Sul Ross State to the Lone Star Conference on July 20, 2023 and LeTourneau announcing that they would be following McMurry, Concordia, and Ozarks to the SCAC on April 25, 2024, with both changes occurring for the 2025–26 school year.^[23][24] If no more schools join the ASC, the conference will be down to four schools, below the minimum required to qualify for an automatic bid to the NCAA championships for those sports with 100% participation.

David Flores was named the new commissioner of the American Southwest Conference on June 21, 2023, replacing the long-time commissioner, Amy Carlton.^[1]

Recently, on March 18, 2025, the ASC announced a ten-year agreement that ensures the stability, strength, and growth of the conference (with the return of McMurry University and Schreiner University, beginning in the 2026–27 academic year, thus bringing back to six members) to solidify and pave the way for an exciting new chapter in its storied history.^[25]

• 1996 – In May 1996, the American Southwest Conference (ASC) was founded. Charter members includedAustin College,Hardin–Simmons University,Howard Payne University,McMurry University,Mississippi College,Sul Ross State University, theUniversity of Dallas and theUniversity of the Ozarks, beginning the 1996–97 academic year.
• 1997 – TheUniversity of Mary Hardin–Baylor joined the ASC in the 1997–98 academic year.
• 1998:
  • East Texas Baptist University,LeTourneau University,Schreiner University and theUniversity of Texas at Dallas joined the ASC in the 1998–99 academic year.
  • Also at that time,Texas Lutheran University joined the ASC as an affiliate member for football.
• 1999 –Concordia University Texas joined the ASC in the 1999–2000 academic year.
• 2000 –Louisiana College (now Louisiana Christian University) joined the ASC, along with Texas Lutheran upgrading to full membership for all sports, in the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2001 – U. of Dallas left the ASC to become aDivision III Independent after the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2003 – TheUniversity of Texas at Tyler joined the ASC in the 2003–04 academic year.
• 2006 – Austin College left the ASC to join theSouthern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) after the 2005–06 academic year.
• 2011 –Centenary College of Louisiana joined the ASC in the 2011–12 academic year.
• 2012 – Two institutions left the ASC to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective after the 2011–12 academic year:
  • Centenary (La.) to join the SCAC
  • and McMurry to join theDivision II ranks of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and theHeartland Conference
• 2013:
  • Schreiner and Texas Lutheran left the ASC to join the SCAC after the 2012–13 academic year.
  • TheUniversity of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) joined the ASC as an associate member for women's golf in the 2014 spring season (2013–14 academic year).
• 2014:
  • Mississippi College left the ASC to reclassify in the NCAA Division II ranks and theGulf South Conference (GSC) after the 2013–14 academic year.
  • McMurry rejoined the ASC (therefore it withdrew from Division II to return to Division III) in the 2014–15 academic year.
• 2015 –Belhaven University joined the ASC in the 2015–16 academic year.
• 2017 –Southwestern University joined the ASC as an associate member for football (with Texas Lutheran rejoining back for football) in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).
• 2019 – UT Tyler left the ASC to join the NCAA Division II ranks and theLone Star Conference (LSC) after the 2018–19 academic year.
• 2021:
  • Louisiana College left the ASC to join theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and theRed River Athletic Conference (RRAC) after the 2020–21 academic year.
  • Austin College returned to the ASC as an associate member for football in the 2021 fall season (2021–22 academic year).
• 2022 – Belhaven left the ASC to join theUSA South Athletic Conference (USA South) as an affiliate member for football in the 2022–23 academic year. It was initially slated to join the USA South for all sports, but before this move took effect, the USA South amicably had split into two conferences. Instead, Belhaven became a full member of the newly formedCollegiate Conference of the South (CCS).
• 2023 – Southwestern (Tex.) left the ASC as an associate member for football to join theSouthern Athletic Association (SAA) for that sport after the 2022 fall season (2022–23 academic year).
• 2024:
  • Four institutions left the ASC to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2023–24 academic year:
    • McMurry, Concordia (Tex.) and the U. of the Ozarks to join the SCAC
    • and Sul Ross State to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the LSC.
  • Austin College and Texas Lutheran left the ASC as associate members for football to join theSouthern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) for that sport after the 2023 fall season (2023–24 academic year).
• 2025 – Two institutions left the ASC to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective beginning the 2025–26 academic year:
  • UT Dallas to join the LSC
  • and LeTourneau to join the SCAC
• 2026 – McMurry and Schreiner will both rejoin the ASC, beginning the 2026–27 academic year; with McMurry rejoining the ASC for a second time.

The ASC currently has four full members, all areprivate schools:

Notes

Notes

The ASC currently has one affiliate member, apublic school.

Notes

The ASC has fifteen former full members, all but two wereprivate schools:

Notes

Notes

 Full member (all sports)  Full member (non-football)  Associate member (football)  Associate member (sport) 

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Soccer	Tennis	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Total ASC Sports
ETBU	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Hardin-Simmons	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Howard Payne	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	6
UMHB	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	7
2025–26 Totals	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	2	29

School	Bass Fishing	Clay Target Shooting	Esports	Ice Hockey	Lacrosse	Swimming & Diving	Track & Field (Indoor)	Wrestling
ETBU	MLF	N	N	Independent	MCLA, LSA (DII)	N	N	N

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Volleyball	Total ASC Sports
ETBU	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Hardin-Simmons	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Howard Payne	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	6
UMHB	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	7
2025–26 Totals	4	3	4+1	4	4	4	2	4	29+1
UC Santa Cruz			Y						1

School	Acrobatics & Tumbling	Beach Volleyball	Clay Target Shooting	Esports	Swimming & Diving	Track & Field (Indoor)	Wrestling
ETBU	Independent	N	N	N	N	N	N
UMHB	Independent	Independent	N	N	N	N	N

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