Gulf Star Conference


The Gulf Star Conference was an NCAA Division II conference that existed for three academic years from 1984-85 to 1986-87. All of the schools subsequently joined the Southland Conference. Dave Waples was the only commissioner, with the conference office located in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Aftermath

Although the Southland eventually took in all of the former Gulf Star schools, only four joined the Southland immediately upon the Gulf Star's demise. The other two Gulf Star members, Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana, initially became independents. Nicholls State joined the SLC for the 1991–92 school year. SLU became a member of the Trans America Athletic Conference in that same year, and moved to the Southland in 1997–98. To date, only Nicholls State, Northwestern State, and Southeastern Louisiana remain in the Southland Conference, as Southwest Texas State joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2013 while Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin moved to the Western Athletic Conference in 2021.

Member schools

Final members

;Notes:

Membership timeline


DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1984 till:1994
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5
Colors =
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used
PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Nicholls State
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:1991 text:D-I Ind.
bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:1991 till:end text:Southland
bar:2 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Northwestern State
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:end text:Southland
bar:3 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Sam Houston State
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:end text:Southland
bar:4 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Southeastern Louisiana
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:1991 text:D-I Ind.
bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1991 till:end text:TAAC
bar:5 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Southwest Texas State
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:end text:Southland
bar:6 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Stephen F. Austin State
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:end text:Southland
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:1984
TextData =
fontsize:M
textcolor:black
pos: tabs:
text:^"Gulf Star Conference membership history"
  1. > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space.
<#

Championships

Baseball

Football

Men's basketball

SeasonTeamRecord
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87