For the third time in the past 13 years, Abilene Christian is feeling the ripple effects of conference realignment through NCAA athletics.
After spending the past five years as rivals in the Western Athletic Conference, ACU and Tarleton State turned the page on July 1, 2026, as both schools now prepare for a new era as all-sports members of the newly created United Athletic Conference.
“Today marks more than an official launch date — it represents the beginning of what’s next in collegiate athletics. It celebrates a new era for the United Athletic Conference (UAC) as it officially steps into a multi-sport conference, the continued strength of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN), and the formation of a joint-venture, Unisun Sports,” Unisun Sports CEO Jeff Bacon said.
The UAC — which has sponsored a football-only branch that ACU and Tarleton have both competed in since 2023 — was officially created via a merger of the remaining WAC schools and the football-playing members of the Atlantic Sun Conference, many of whom have shared a football conference with the Wildcats and Texans for the past three years.
“This is a strong move for ACU, greatly benefiting the university, our fans and all of our student-athletes, coaches and athletics administration,” ACU president Phil Schubert said. “The United Athletic Conference and alliance with the ASUN reflect a commitment to excellence and innovation in an ever-changing college athletics landscape. Most importantly, this positions us well to continue developing student-athletes for lives of Christian service and leadership and competitive success.”
“We are confident this new path best positions us for long-term success at the Division I level,” ACU vicepresident for athletics Zack Lassiter said.
“The eight UAC members beginning in the 2026-27 athletic season are like-minded institutions, including two fellow Texas schools, reducing travel demands for our student-athletes during regular season play and maintaining our access to NCAA Championships in all sports. Our existing football partnership with these schools has already built strong relationships with these new conference peers, and we are excited to expand our competition to all our athletic programs.”
Abilene Christian and Tarleton State were left as the Western Athletic Conference’s lone remaining football-playing institutions following a flurry of conference changes in the past two years that saw several former WAC schools depart.
UTRGV and Stephen F. Austin left for the Southland Conference, Seattle accepted an invite to the Big West Conference and Grand Canyon moved to the Mountain West Conference in the summer of 2025.
A few months later, California Baptist and Utah Valley announced their plans to join the Big West before the start of the 2026-27 school year, while Southern Utah and Utah Tech made similar announcements about their intention to leave for the Big Sky Conference.
That left ACU, Tarleton and UT-Arlington — which was a WAC member in all sports but football — as the conference’s three remaining teams before the merger that birthed the United Athletic Conference.
The Wildcats, Texans and Mavericks will be joined by five longtime A-Sun football-playing schools, a program moving up from NCAA Division II and another non-football playing school to give the new-look UAC nine total and seven football-playing members for the 2026-27 season.
“Tarleton State is now a full member of the United Athletic Conference, another strategic step in our rise in the collegiate ranks,” Tarleton State University president James Hurley said. “The UAC is a bold new chapter in the evolving landscape of collegiate athletics. Our Texans posted a historic athletic season in 2025-26, and we have no plans to slow down as we increase our competition, challenges and opportunities. Joining the UAC furthers our commitment in providing a first-class experience to our student-athletes, while continuing to establish our national prominence.”
“This is another important milestone for Tarleton State as we continue to elevate our department and the national footprint of a world-class institution,” Tarleton State director of athletics Steve Uryasz said. “Following an impressive year of countless conference championships and being named the top athletic department in the conference itself, we’re ready for the challenge in our next era of Tarleton State Athletics.”
Abilene Christian and Tarleton State share some significant recent football history with the five holdover A-Sun members who have now become their new all-sports conference rivals — the Austin Peay State Governors, the Central Arkansas Bears, the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, the North Alabama Lions and the West Georgia Wolves.
The University of West Florida Argonauts will round out ACU and Tarleton’s football conference schedules for the foreseeable future. The Argonauts — who are transitioning to NCAA Division I from the Division II Gulf South Conference in 2026-27 — will compete in the UAC as a football-only affiliate member while the rest of West Florida’s athletic programs will compete in the A-Sun.
The final team joining Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, UT-Arlington, UWF and the five other former A-Sun schools in the rebranded UAC is the University of Arkansas-Little Rock.
The Little Rock Trojans, who also officially joined the United Athletic Conference effective July 1, 2026, announced in October 2025 their plan to leave the Ohio Valley Conference and compete in the UAC in all sports as a non-football playing member.
“I would like to recognize our University Presidents, Directors of Athletics, Administration and those whose vision and leadership helped make this possible,” Bacon said. “Together, we’re creating a platform that strengthens our member institutions, and delivers innovation when asked what’s next.”
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: ACU, Tarleton embrace change as WAC rebrands to United Athletic Conference
Reporting by Andrew McCulloch, Abilene Reporter-News / Abilene Reporter-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Andrew McCulloch, Abilene Reporter-News | USA TODAY Network
