United Athletic Conference (football)
The United Athletic Conference, also known as The United, is an intercollegiate athletic conference formed in 2023 for the sport of football. It originated as an alliance of the existing football leagues of the Atlantic Sun Conference and Western Athletic Conference. Its members compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The lineup for the 2025 season includes institutions in the states of Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.
On July 1, 2026, the UAC will cease to exist as a football-only conference, and the WAC will assume the UAC name as part of a strategic rebranding. The members of the football-only UAC will become the core membership of the all-sports UAC.
History
2021 season as "AQ7"
After sponsoring major-college football 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. The new members included the "Texas Four" of Abilene Christian University, Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, and Stephen F. Austin State University, all from the Southland Conference, along with Southern Utah University, from the Big 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.The same week that the WAC announced its plans to resume football, the Atlantic Sun 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, the University of Central Arkansas, and former member Jacksonville State University.
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 Challenge. The Challenge was abbreviated as the "AQ7", as the top finisher of the seven teams would be an automatic qualifier for the FCS postseason.
2022 season: AQ alliance renewed
For the 2022 season, the ASUN added former Big South members North Alabama and Kennesaw State, along with former Ohio Valley Conference member Austin Peay. Meanwhile, the WAC added Southland Conference member Incarnate Word, former Division II schools Tarleton State and Utah Tech, and non-football playing UT Arlington from the Sun Belt Conference, 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 for Conference USA, effective in fall 2023. 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. Finally, on June 24, 2022, Incarnate Word made a last-minute decision to stay in the Southland rather than join the WAC.The net result still 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 but for playoff qualification purposes, only the joint ASUN-WAC Challenge standings mattered.
Merger as United Athletic Conference
On December 9, 2022, ESPN reported 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 including Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, and North Alabama from the ASUN, and Abilene Christian, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, and Utah Tech from the WAC. 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. 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." 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.
The ASUN and WAC jointly announced on January 5, 2023, that the football conference had established a basic governing structure and had hired Oliver Luck as executive director. On April 17, 2023, the ASUN-WAC football partnership formally rebranded as the United Athletic Conference. Later the same month, the NCAA denied the UAC's waiver request to be recognized as a single-sport FCS football conference. 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, the University of West Georgia announced it would transition from Division II and join the ASUN in 2024, with its football program joining the UAC. Non-football WAC member UT Rio Grande Valley also planned to add the sport at the FCS level and join the UAC for 2024, 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. Then, on May 29, 2024, Stephen F. Austin announced its intention to return to the Southland Conference, effective in fall 2024. Thus, for the 2024 season, the UAC remained a nine-team league, with eight continuing members plus West Georgia replacing Stephen F. Austin.
Absorption Into an all-sports conference
On June 26, 2025, the Atlantic Sun Conference and the Western Athletic Conference jointly announced a new organizational structure scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026. Under the agreement, the Western Athletic Conference will adopt the United Athletic Conference name and continue operating as an NCAA Division I multi-sport conference, maintaining the WAC’s historical continuity and Division I status.Beginning with the 2026–27 academic year, the rebranded all-sports conference will include Abilene Christian University, Tarleton State University, and the University of Texas at Arlington, along with the five ASUN institutions that sponsor scholarship football. The ASUN members that do not sponsor scholarship football will continue to operate as an all-sports conference under the Atlantic Sun Conference name.
Conference officials described the 2026 reorganization as a continuation and rebranding of the Western Athletic Conference rather than the creation of a new league. Under this structure, the WAC’s existing NCAA Division I recognition and championship qualification status will be retained by the renamed conference.
Member schools
Current football members
Members departing for the Big Sky Conference on July 1, 2026.| Institution | Location | Founded | Joined | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Colors | Primary conference |
| Abilene Christian University | Abilene, Texas | 1906 | 2021 | Private | 6,219 | Wildcats | WAC | |
| Austin Peay State University | Clarksville, Tennessee | 1927 | 2022 | Public | 9,609 | Governors | ASUN | |
| University of Central Arkansas | Conway, Arkansas | 1907 | 2021 | Public | 10,123 | Bears | ASUN | |
| Eastern Kentucky University | Richmond, Kentucky | 1874 | 2021 | Public | 13,984 | Colonels | ASUN | |
| University of North Alabama | Florence, Alabama | 1830 | 2022 | Public | 11,056 | Lions | ASUN | |
| Southern Utah University | Cedar City, Utah | 1897 | 2022 | Public | 14,330 | Thunderbirds | WAC | |
| Tarleton State University | Stephenville, Texas | 1899 | 2023 | Public | 13,995 | Texans | WAC | |
| Utah Tech University | St. George, Utah | 1911 | 2023 | Public | 12,556 | Trailblazers | WAC | |
| University of West Georgia | Carrollton, Georgia | 1906 | 2024 | Public | 14,394 | [West Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia Wolves football|Wolves] | ASUN |
Membership timeline
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id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Current value:rgb # Use this color to current members as of the 2026 Season
id:Former value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is no longer a member
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
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bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: OVC
bar:4 color:Former from:2021 till:2022 text:Jacksonville State
bar:4 shift:40 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:2023 text: ASUN
bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text: CUSA
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Southland
bar:5 color:Former from:2021 till:2022 text:Lamar
bar:5 shift:30 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text: Southland
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Southland
bar:6 color:Former from:2021 till:2022 text:Sam Houston
bar:6 shift:30 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:2023 text: WAC
bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text: CUSA
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Southland
bar:7 color:Former from:2021 till:2024 text:Stephen F. Austin
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: Southland
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Southland
bar:1 color:Current from:2021 till:end text:Abilene Christian
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Southland
bar:2 color:Current from:2021 till:end text:Central Arkansas
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: OVC
bar:3 color:Current from:2021 till:end text:Eastern Kentucky
bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2022 text: Big South
bar:9 color:Former from:2022 till:2023 text:Kennesaw State
bar:9 shift:30 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:2024 text: Independent
bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:2024 till:end text: CUSA
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2022 text: Big Sky
bar:11 color:Former from:2022 till:end text:Southern Utah
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text: Big Sky
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2022 text: OVC
bar:8 color:Current from:2022 till:end text:Austin Peay
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2022 text: Big South
bar:10 color:Current from:2022 till:end text:North Alabama
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Independent
bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:2021 till:2023 text: WAC
bar:13 color:Former from:2023 till:2026 text:Utah Tech
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text: Big Sky
bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2021 text: Independent
bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:2021 till:2023 text: WAC
bar:12 color:Current from:2023 till:end text:Tarleton State
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2024 text: Gulf South
bar:14 color:Current from:2024 till:end text:West Georgia
bar:N color:white from:2020 till:2021 text:None
bar:N color:orange from:2021 till:2023 text:WAC-ASUN Challenge
bar:N color:yellow from:2023 till:end text:United Athletic Conference
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Football conference champions
| Year | Regular season champion | Record | FCS Championship Result |
| 2023 | Austin Peay | 9–3 | First Round loss |
| 2024 | Abilene Christian | 9–5 | Second Round loss |
| 2025 | Abilene Christian | 9–5 | Second Round loss |
| 2025 | Tarleton State | 12–2 | Quarterfinals loss |
Facilities
| ' | Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium | 12000 |
| [Austin Peay Governors football|] | Fortera Stadium | 10000 |
| [Central Arkansas Bears football|] | Estes Stadium | 10000 |
| [Eastern Kentucky Colonels football|] | Roy Kidd Stadium | 20000 |
| ' | Braly Municipal Stadium | 14215 |
| [Tarleton State Texans football|] | Memorial Stadium | |
| [West Georgia Wolves football|] | University Stadium | |
| Eccles Coliseum | 8500 | |
| [Utah Tech Trailblazers football|] | Greater Zion Stadium | 10500 |