Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division I conference founded in 1962. It will operate as the United Athletic Conference beginning in 2026. A total of 43 institutions have been full members of the WAC, with membership spanning 15 states in the western United States. In the 2025–26 academic year, the final season using the Western Athletic Conference name, the conference includes three members in Texas, three in Utah, and one in California.
For the first 41 years of its existence, the WAC competed at the highest level of college athletics across all sports. The conference expanded from its original six members to a peak of 16 in 1996, before seven of its institutions seceded in 1998 to form the Mountain West Conference. Thereafter the WAC struggled to maintain a top-level football conference and ultimately discontinued the sport after the 2012–13 season, leaving the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision to become a Division I non-football conference. After a major expansion in 2021, the WAC reinstated football, competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Further membership losses soon foiled plans to someday return to the FBS level, and in 2023 the WAC again became a non-football conference, with its football-playing members joining the football schools of the Atlantic Sun Conference to form the football-only United Athletic Conference.
The WAC will officially rebrand as the United Athletic Conference on July 1, 2026, and become an all-sports conference including the three remaining members of the WAC, the five members of the ASUN that play football in the UAC, and the non-football University of Arkansas at Little Rock from the Ohio Valley Conference.
Members
Full members
Members departing for the Big West Conference on July 1, 2026.Members departing for the Big Sky Conference on July 1, 2026.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Joined | Type | Enrollment | Endowment | Nickname | Colors |
| Abilene Christian University | Abilene, Texas | 1906 | 2021 | Private | 6,730 | $824 | Wildcats | |
| California Baptist University | Riverside, California | 1950 | 2018 | Private | 11491 | $119.1 | Lancers | |
| Southern Utah University | Cedar City, Utah | 1897 | 2022 | Public | 15,000 | $29.9 | Thunderbirds | |
| Tarleton State University | Stephenville, Texas | 1899 | 2020 | Public | 13996 | $42 | Texans | |
| Arlington, Texas | 1895 | 2022 | Public | 42863 | $218 | Mavericks | ||
| Utah Tech University | 1911 | 2020 | Public | 12650 | $16.3 | Trailblazers | ||
| Utah Valley University | Orem, Utah | 1941 | 2013 | Public | 41728 | $100 | Wolverines |
;Notes:
Future UAC members
Affiliate members
These schools field programs in the WAC for sports not sponsored by their primary conferences:| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Primary conference | WAC sport | Joined | Former full member |
| Sacramento, California | 1947 | Public | 27,972 | Hornets | Big Sky | Baseball | 2005–06 |
;Notes
Former full members
The WAC has 36 former full members:| Institution | Nickname | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Joined | Left | Current primary conference |
| Falcons | USAF Academy, Colorado | 1954 | Federal | 4,413 | 1980 | 1999 | Mountain West | |
| Wildcats | Tucson, Arizona | 1885 | Public | 39,236 | 1962 | 1978 | Big 12 | |
| Arizona State University | Sun Devils | Tempe, Arizona | 1885 | Public | 59,794 | 1962 | 1978 | Big 12 |
| Boise State University | Broncos | Boise, Idaho | 1932 | Public | 22,678 | 2001 | 2011 | Mountain West |
| Brigham Young University | Cougars | Provo, Utah | 1875 | Private | 34,130 | 1962 | 1999 | Big 12 |
| California State University, Bakersfield | Roadrunners | Bakersfield, California | 1965 | Public | 10,500 | 2013 | 2020 | Big West |
| Bulldogs | Fresno, California | 1911 | Public | 22,565 | 1992 | 2012 | Mountain West | |
| Chicago State University | Cougars | Chicago, Illinois | 1867 | Public | 2620 | 2013 | 2022 | NEC |
| Colorado State University | Rams | Fort Collins, Colorado | 1870 | Public | 28,417 | 1968 | 1999 | Mountain West |
| Pioneers | Denver, Colorado | 1864 | Private | 11,476 | 2012 | 2013 | Summit | |
| Grand Canyon University | Antelopes | Phoenix, Arizona | 1949 | Private For-Profit | 103427 | 2013 | 2025 | Mountain West |
| Rainbow Warriors & Rainbow Wahine | Honolulu, Hawaii | 1907 | Public | 20,435 | 1979 | 2012 | Big West Mountain West | |
| Vandals | Moscow, Idaho | 1889 | Public | 12,312 | 2005 | 2014 | Big Sky | |
| Roos | Kansas City, Missouri | 1933 | Public | 16,944 | 2013 | 2020 | Summit | |
| Lamar University | Cardinals/ Lady Cardinals | Beaumont, Texas | 1923 | Public | 17898 | 2021 | 2022 | SLC |
| Louisiana Tech University | Bulldogs Lady Techsters | Ruston, Louisiana | 1894 | Public | 11,581 | 2001 | 2013 | CUSA |
| Rebels | Las Vegas, Nevada | 1957 | Public | 28,203 | 1996 | 1999 | Mountain West | |
| Wolf Pack | Reno, Nevada | 1874 | Public | 18,227 | 2000 | 2012 | Mountain West | |
| Lobos | Albuquerque, New Mexico | 1889 | Public | 35,211 | 1962 | 1999 | Mountain West | |
| New Mexico State University | Aggies | Las Cruces, New Mexico | 1888 | Public | 21,694 | 2005 | 2023 | CUSA |
| Rice University | Owls | Houston, Texas | 1912 | Private | 6,082 | 1996 | 2005 | American |
| San Diego State University | Aztecs | San Diego, California | 1897 | Public | 28,789 | 1978 | 1999 | Mountain West |
| Sam Houston State University | Bearkats | Huntsville, Texas | 1879 | Public | 21,679 | 2021 | 2023 | CUSA |
| San Jose State University | Spartans | San Jose, California | 1857 | Public | 30,448 | 1996 | 2013 | Mountain West |
| Seattle University | Redhawks | Seattle, Washington | 1891 | Private | 7,755 | 2012 | 2025 | WCC |
| Southern Methodist University | Mustangs | Dallas, Texas | 1911 | Private | 12,000 | 1996 | 2005 | ACC |
| Stephen F. Austin State University | Lumberjacks & Ladyjacks | Nacogdoches, Texas | 1923 | Public | 11946 | 2021 | 2024 | SLC |
| Texas Christian University | Horned Frogs | Fort Worth, Texas | 1873 | Private | 9,725 | 1996 | 2001 | Big 12 |
| Miners | El Paso, Texas | 1914 | Public | 21,011 | 1968 | 2005 | CUSA | |
| Vaqueros | Edinburg, Texas | 2013 | Public | 32419 | 2013 | 2024 | SLC | |
| Roadrunners | San Antonio, Texas | 1969 | Public | 30,474 | 2012 | 2013 | American | |
| Texas State University | Bobcats | San Marcos, Texas | 1899 | Public | 34,229 | 2012 | 2013 | Sun Belt |
| Golden Hurricane | Tulsa, Oklahoma | 1894 | Private | 4,352 | 1996 | 2005 | American | |
| Utes | Salt Lake City, Utah | 1850 | Public | 32,388 | 1962 | 1999 | Big 12 | |
| Utah State University | Aggies | Logan, Utah | 1888 | Public | 28,796 | 2005 | 2013 | Mountain West |
| Cowboys & Cowgirls | Laramie, Wyoming | 1866 | Public | 12,496 | 1962 | 1999 | Mountain West |
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