Sooner Athletic Conference

History

Chronological timeline

• 1978 – The Sooner Athletic Conference was founded. Charter members included Bethany Nazarene College, Oklahoma Baptist University, Oklahoma Christian University, Phillips University and the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, beginning the 1978–79 academic year.
• 1980 – John Brown University joined the Sooner in the 1980–81 academic year.
• 1983 – John Brown left the Sooner to become an NAIA Independent after the 1982–83 academic year.
• 1986 – Oklahoma City University joined the Sooner in the 1986–87 academic year.
• 1994 – USAO left the Sooner to join the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference after the 1993–94 academic year.
• 1994 – Lubbock Christian University and Wayland Baptist University joined the Sooner in the 1994–95 academic year.
• 1995 – John Brown rejoined the Sooner in the 1995–96 academic year.
• 1998 – Phillips left the Sooner as the school ceased operations after the 1997–98 academic year.
• 1998 – St. Gregory's University joined the Sooner in the 1998–99 academic year.
• 2000 – USAO rejoined the Sooner in the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2001 – Northwestern Oklahoma State University joined the Sooner in the 2001–02 academic year.
• 2007 – Mid-America Christian University and Rogers State University joined the Sooner in the 2007–08 academic year.
• 2012 – Three institutions left the Sooner and the NAIA to join the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2011–12 academic year:
• * Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene to the Great American Conference
• * and Oklahoma Christian to the Heartland Conference
• 2013 – Lubbock Christian and Rogers State left the Sooner and joined the NCAA Division II ranks and the Heartland after the 2012–13 academic year.
• 2013 – Northwood University–Texas, Southwestern Assemblies of God University, Southwestern Christian University and Texas Wesleyan University joined the Sooner in the 2013–14 academic year.
• 2014 – Northwood–Texas left the Sooner as the school ceased operations after the 2013–14 academic year.
• 2015 – Oklahoma Baptist left the Sooner and the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the GAC after the 2014–15 academic year.
• 2015 – Bacone College joined the Sooner in the 2015–16 academic year.
• 2016 – The University of Houston–Victoria, the University of the Southwest and the University of St. Thomas joined the Sooner as associate members for women's golf in the 2017 spring season.
• 2017 – Central Christian College of Kansas and Oklahoma Panhandle State University joined the Sooner in the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2017 – Indiana Institute of Technology and Lourdes University joined the Sooner as associate members for men's wrestling in the 2017–18 academic year.
• * the University of Houston–Victoria, the University of the Southwest and the University of St. Thomas for women's golf
• 2017 – St. Gregory's left the Sooner as the school announced that it would close at the end of the fall 2017 semester during the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2018 – Langston University joined the Sooner in the 2018–19 academic year.
• 2018 – Five institutions joined the Sooner as associate members, all effective in the 2018–19 academic year:
• * Arizona Christian University, Lyon College, Ottawa University–Arizona and Texas College for football
• * and Rochester College for men's wrestling
• 2019 – Bacone left the Sooner to become an NAIA Independent as part of the Association of Independent Institutions after the 2018–19 academic year.
• 2019 – Houston–Victoria and Southwest left the Sooner as an associate member for women's golf after the 2019 spring season.
• 2019 – St. Thomas left the Sooner as an associate member for women's golf, as the school announced to move up to the NCAA Division III ranks and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after the 2019 spring season.
• 2019 – Three institutions joined the Sooner as associate members, both effective in the 2019–20 academic year:
• * Cleary University for men's wrestling
• * and Lyon and Waldorf University for women's wrestling
• 2020 – Five institutions left the Sooner as associate members, all effective after the 2019–20 academic year:
• * Cleary, Indiana Tech, Lourdes and Rochester Christian for men's wrestling
• * and Waldorf for women's wrestling
• 2020 – The University of North [Texas at Dallas] joined the Sooner as a provisional member for some sports in the 2020–21 academic year.
• 2021 – North Texas–Dallas has upgraded as a full member within the Sooner for all sports in the 2021–22 academic year.
• 2021 – Arkansas Baptist College and Louisiana College joined the Sooner as associate members for football in the 2021 fall season.
• 2022 – Jarvis Christian College joined the Sooner as an associate member for men's and women's wrestling in the 2022–23 academic year.
• 2023 – Two institutions left the Sooner and the NAIA as associate members for football, both effective after the 2022 fall season :
• * Lyon to join the NCAA Division III ranks as an NCAA Division III independent schools for that sport
• * and Arizona Christian to join the Frontier Conference for that sport
• 2023 – Arkansas Baptist and North American University joined the Sooner as associate members for football in the 2023 fall season.
• 2024 – The College of the Ozarks joined the Sooner in the 2024–25 academic year.
• 2025:
• * North American left the Sooner as an associate member for football after the 2024 fall season, as the school announced it would discontinue its football program.
• * North Texas–Dallas left the Sooner to join the Red River Athletic Conference after the 2024–25 academic year.

  Member schools

Current members

Associate members

Former members

Former associate members

Membership timeline