 | |
| Formerly | WAC–ASUN Challenge (2021–2022) ASUN–WAC Football Conference (2022–2023) |
|---|---|
| Association | NCAA |
| Founded | July 1, 2023; 2 years ago (2023-07-01) |
| Commissioner | Brian Thornton (2022–2024) Jeff Bacon (2023–present) |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division I |
| Subdivision | FCS (football) |
| No. of teams | 9 |
| Region | Southwestern United States Western United States Southern United States |
| Official website | uacfootball |
| Locations | |
 | |
TheUnited Athletic Conference (UAC), also known asThe United, is anintercollegiate athletic conference formed in 2023 for the sport of football. Its members compete in theNCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The lineup for the 2025 season includes institutions in the states ofArkansas,Alabama,Georgia,Kentucky,Tennessee,Texas, andUtah. The conference originated as a merger of the existing football leagues of theAtlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) andWestern Athletic Conference (WAC). The UAC will become an all-sports conference in 2026, including eight former members of the WAC and ASUN plus one school arriving from theOhio Valley Conference.
After sponsoring major-college football (ultimately at theFBS level) from 1962 through 2012, the WAC suffered membership changes that transformed it into a non-football conference as of 2013, and it remained so for eight seasons. On January 14, 2021, the WAC announced the addition of five new members, all of which were already playing FCS football, and declared its intention to reinstate football as a conference sport at the FCS level.[1] The new members included the "Texas Four" ofAbilene Christian University,Lamar University,Sam Houston State University, andStephen F. Austin State University, all from theSouthland Conference, along withSouthern Utah University, from theBig Sky Conference. Initially, all five planned to join the WAC in July 2022, but the entry of the Texas Four was moved up to July 2021 after the Southland expelled its departing members.[2]
The same week that the WAC announced its plans to resume football, theAtlantic Sun Conference (then officially branded as the ASUN Conference) revealed plans to sponsor the sport for the first time, also at the FCS level. On January 29, 2021, the ASUN announced that it would be adding three football-playing schools:Eastern Kentucky University, theUniversity of Central Arkansas, and former memberJacksonville State University.[3]
Both the WAC and the ASUN thus fell short of the minimum six football-playing members needed for an automatic qualifier to the FCS postseason. On February 23, 2021, they announced a partnership in which the WAC's Texas Four would join the three incoming ASUN football members for at least the 2021 season, in what was called the ASUN–WAC (or WAC–ASUN) Challenge.[4][5] The Challenge was abbreviated as the "AQ7", as the top finisher of the seven teams would be an automatic qualifier for the FCS postseason.[6]
For the 2022 season, the ASUN added formerBig South membersNorth Alabama andKennesaw State, along with formerOhio Valley Conference memberAustin Peay.[7] Meanwhile, the WAC added Southland Conference memberIncarnate Word, formerDivision II schoolsTarleton State andUtah Tech, and non-football playingUT Arlington from theSun Belt Conference,[8] along with previously-announced Southern Utah. These additions should have given both conferences the minimum six eligible FCS football schools needed for a postseason AQ in 2022, but unexpected departures, and announcements of departures, left them short of this goal. On November 5, 2021, it was reported that Jacksonville State of the ASUN and Sam Houston State of the WAC would be leaving the FCS ranks forConference USA, effective in fall 2023.[9] Then, on April 8, 2022, Lamar announced it was leaving the WAC after just one season to return to its former home, the Southland Conference.[10][11] Finally, on June 24, 2022, Incarnate Word made a last-minute decision to stay in the Southland rather than join the WAC.[12]
The net result left the WAC and ASUN each with six football-playing members, but the FBS transitions of Sam Houston State and Jacksonville State made them ineligible for the FCS postseason, and the WAC could not yet count Tarleton State and Utah Tech, both also ineligible because of their transitions from D2 to FCS. The mutual setbacks led the two conferences to renew their AQ alliance for the 2022 season with their eight remaining playoff-eligible members, five from the ASUN and three from the WAC. They kept separate football standings (with Jacksonville State eligible for the ASUN title and Sam Houston State eligible for the WAC title) but for playoff qualification purposes, only the joint ASUN-WAC Challenge standings mattered.
ESPN reported on December 9, 2022, that the ASUN and WAC had agreed to form a new football-only conference to start play in 2024, with an initial nine-team lineup includingAustin Peay,Central Arkansas,Eastern Kentucky, andNorth Alabama from the ASUN, andAbilene Christian,Southern Utah,Stephen F. Austin,Tarleton State, andUtah Tech from the WAC.[13] The ASUN's fifth AQ alliance participant from the 2022 season, Kennesaw State, was not included after announcing in mid-October that it would be following Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State to Conference USA, effective in fall 2024.[14] Kennesaw ended up playing the 2023 season as an FCS independent.
The new football conference reportedly planned to move "from what is currently known as FCS football to what is currently known as FBS football at the earliest practicable date."[15] On December 20, the ASUN and WAC confirmed their football merger, announcing that the new league would start to play in 2023 under the tentative name of "ASUN–WAC Football Conference." League members drafted a six-game schedule in 2023 and planned to start full round-robin play in 2024. Neither conference's official announcement of the football merger mentioned any plans to move to FBS.[16][17]
The ASUN and WAC jointly announced on January 5, 2023, that the football conference had established a basic governing structure and had hiredOliver Luck as executive director.[18] On April 17, 2023, the ASUN-WAC football partnership formally rebranded as the United Athletic Conference (UAC).[19] Later the same month, the NCAA denied the UAC's waiver request to be recognized as a single-sport FCS football conference.[20] The UAC operated under its new name nevertheless, with the NCAA officially recognizing only the continuation of the ASUN-WAC partnership formed in 2021.
On September 8, 2023, theUniversity of West Georgia announced it would transition fromDivision II and join the ASUN in 2024, with its football program joining the UAC.[21] Non-football WAC memberUT Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) also planned to add the sport at the FCS level and join the UAC for 2024,[22][23] but on March 25, 2024 announced its football program would debut instead in the Southland Conference, UTRGV's new all-sports home as of 2024–25.[24] Then, on May 29, 2024, Stephen F. Austin announced its intention to return to the Southland Conference, effective in fall 2024.[25] Thus, for the 2024 season, the UAC remained a nine-team league, with eight continuing members plus West Georgia replacing Stephen F. Austin.
On June 26, 2025, shortly after Utah Tech and Southern Utah announced that they would be leaving the WAC and UAC to join the Big Sky Conference for all sports including football, the WAC and ASUN announced that the three remaining members of the WAC (Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, and non-football UT Arlington) and the five football-playing members of the ASUN (Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, and West Georgia) would become members of an all-sports version of the United Athletic Conference, effective July 1, 2026. The UAC would inherit the WAC's automatic qualifiers to NCAA championships, most importantly to the men's and women's Division I basketball tournament.[26] The joint statement framed the demise of the WAC as a "strategic alliance" of the WAC and the ASUN, under which the WAC would "rebrand" as the UAC while the non-football-playing members of the ASUN[a] continued to operate after July 1, 2026 as a non-football conference under the Atlantic Sun name. The "rebranding" tactic enabled the new all-sports UAC to avoid a new conference's customary waiting period to be eligible for NCAA automatic qualifiers. Plans called for the UAC and ASUN to operate as a "consortium" under ASUN commissioner Jeff Bacon.[27] By the 2025 football season, Oliver Luck had departed the UAC, and Bacon and his WAC counterpart, Rebekah Ray, were serving as co-directors of the football league.
On October 10, 2025, theUniversity of Arkansas at Little Rock (branded as Little Rock for athletics) announced it would leave theOhio Valley Conference and join the UAC effective July 1, 2026,[28] giving the league nine members (seven football-playing schools) for its first year as an all-sports conference.
Members becoming all-sports members of the UAC on July 1, 2026.
Members departing for theBig Sky Conference on July 1, 2026.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Joined | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Colors | Primary conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abilene Christian University | Abilene, Texas | 1906 | 2021 | Private (Church of Christ) | 6,219 | Wildcats | WAC (UAC in 2026) | |
| Austin Peay State University | Clarksville, Tennessee | 1927 | 2022 | Public | 9,609 | Governors | ASUN (UAC in 2026) | |
| University of Central Arkansas | Conway, Arkansas | 1907 | 2021 | 10,123 | Bears | |||
| Eastern Kentucky University | Richmond, Kentucky | 1874 | 13,984 | Colonels | ||||
| University of North Alabama | Florence, Alabama | 1830 | 2022 | 11,056 | Lions | |||
| Southern Utah University | Cedar City, Utah | 1897 | 2022 | Public | 14,330 | Thunderbirds | WAC (Big Sky in 2026) | |
| Tarleton State University | Stephenville, Texas | 1899 | 2023 | Public | 13,995 | Texans | WAC (UAC in 2026) | |
| Utah Tech University | St. George, Utah | 1911 | 2023 | Public | 12,556 | Trailblazers | WAC (Big Sky in 2026) | |
| University of West Georgia | Carrollton, Georgia | 1906 | 2024 | Public | 14,394 | Wolves | ASUN (UAC in 2026) |
| Institution | Location | Founded | Joining | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Colors | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abilene Christian University | Abilene, Texas | 1906 | 2026 | Private (Church of Christ) | 6,219 | Wildcats | WAC | |
| University of Arkansas at Little Rock | Little Rock, Arkansas | 1927 | Public | 8,026[29] | Trojans | OVC | ||
| Austin Peay State University | Clarksville, Tennessee | 1927 | 9,609 | Governors | ASUN | |||
| University of Central Arkansas | Conway, Arkansas | 1907 | 10,123 | Bears | ASUN | |||
| Eastern Kentucky University | Richmond, Kentucky | 1874 | 13,984 | Colonels | ||||
| University of North Alabama | Florence, Alabama | 1830 | 11,056 | Lions | ||||
| Tarleton State University | Stephenville, Texas | 1899 | 13,995 | Texans | WAC | |||
| University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington, Texas | 1895 | 42,863 | Mavericks | ||||
| University of West Georgia | Carrollton, Georgia | 1906 | 14,394 | Wolves | ASUN |
| Team | Location | Nickname | Joined[b] | Departed | Current Primary Conference | Current Football Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville State University | Jacksonville, Alabama | Gamecocks | 2021 | 2022[c] | CUSA | |
| Kennesaw State University | Kennesaw, Georgia | Owls | 2022 | 2023 | CUSA | |
| Lamar University | Beaumont, Texas | Cardinals | 2021 | 2022 | Southland | |
| Sam Houston State University | Huntsville, Texas | Bearkats | 2021 | 2022[c] | CUSA | |
| Stephen F. Austin State University | Nacogdoches, Texas | Lumberjacks | 2021 | 2024 | Southland | |
Full membersFull members (non-football)Assoc. members (football only) Assoc. members (other sports) Other ConferenceOther Conference
The United Athletic Conference will sponsor championship competition in 8 men's and 9 women's NCAA sanctioned sports.[30]
| Sport | Men's | Women's |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball | 9 | – |
| Basketball | 9 | 9 |
| Cross Country | 9 | 9 |
| Football | 7 | – |
| Golf | 9 | 9 |
| Soccer | – | 8 |
| Softball | – | 8 |
| Tennis | 4 | 5 |
| Track and Field (Indoor) | 7 | 8 |
| Track and Field (Outdoor) | 7 | 8 |
| Volleyball | – | 9 |
| School | Baseball | Basketball | Cross Country | Football | Golf | Tennis | Track & Field (Indoor) | Track & Field (Outdoor) | Total Sports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abilene Christian | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
| Austin Peay | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | 6 |
| Central Arkansas | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 7 |
| Eastern Kentucky | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 7 |
| Little Rock | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 6 |
| North Alabama | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[a] | No[a] | 6 |
| Tarleton State | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 7 |
| UT Arlington | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
| West Georgia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 7 |
| Totals | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 61 |
Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the league which are played by UAC schools:
| School | Soccer | Wrestling |
|---|---|---|
| Central Arkansas | ASUN | No |
| Little Rock | No | Pac-12 |
| School | Basketball | Cross Country | Golf | Soccer | Softball | Tennis | Track & Field (Indoor) | Track & Field (Outdoor) | Volleyball (Indoor) | Total UAC Sports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abilene Christian | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9 |
| Austin Peay | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9 |
| Central Arkansas | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
| Eastern Kentucky | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
| Little Rock | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7 |
| North Alabama | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[a] | No[a] | Yes | 7 |
| Tarleton State | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9 |
| UT Arlington | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
| West Georgia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 |
| Totals | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 73 |
Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the league which are played by UAC schools:
| School | Beach volleyball | Flag football[a] | Lacrosse | Swimming & diving | Stunt[b] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Peay | ASUN | No | ASUN | No | No |
| Central Arkansas | ASUN | No | No | No | IND |
| Eastern Kentucky | ASUN | No | No | No | No |
| Little Rock | No | No | No | ASUN | No |
| North Alabama | ASUN | [c] | No | No | No |
| Tarleton State | CUSA | No | No | No | No |
| UT Arlington | No | [d] | No | No | No |
| West Georgia | ASUN | No | No | No | [e] |
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| Year | Regular Season Champion | Record | FCS Championship Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Austin Peay | 9–3 | First Round loss |
| 2024 | Abilene Christian | 9–5 | Second Round loss |
