Old conference? That’s WAC

UTRGV set to join Southland in 2024-25 season

UTRGV Athletics and the Southland Conference officially announced that UTRGV has accepted a formal invitation to join the conference, effective July 1.

With this move, UTRGV is set to leave the Western Athletic Conference. The university has been a member of the WAC since 2013 when legacy institution University of Texas-Pan American joined the conference.

All UTRGV Athletic programs, with the exception of men’s soccer and women’s swimming and diving, will accompany UTRGV in this move.

In a news conference Tuesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus, Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque described the university’s move to the Southland Conference as one that “makes sense for all [16 of] our programs.”

“We’re serious about championship success and we’re serious about the student-athlete experience,” Conque said. “The final piece of the puzzle is making sure we are in the right competitive environment. Making sure we’re in a conference with strong traditions, a tight geographic footprint, that makes sense for all our programs.”

Conque also said the tight geographical footprint of the conference will allow student athletes to spend less time on the road and more time in class and in training. 

UTRGV President Guy Bailey said he is “excited” about UTRGV’s move to the Southland, given what he describes as the “profound impact this decision is going to have on our university.”

“I think what we’re doing with this will elevate the student experience,” Bailey said. “… It’s gonna be great for our student athletes. But it’s gonna be great for our entire student body. … It also opens the door for collaborations with our peer institutions, and it’s gonna help us foster some academic partnerships as well.”

The Southland Conference, founded in 1963, contains 11 schools, all located in Texas and Louisiana. The conference is headquartered in Frisco, Texas.

Southland Conference Commissioner Chris Grant said the decision to invite UTRGV to the conference was a “no-brainer.”

“After my first conversation with President Bailey and Chasse, I knew right away,” Grant said. “We talked academics before we talked anything athletic. … Once I was able to bring that back to our board and showed them that, ‘Hey, this is bigger than the Southland, and this is bigger than competition,’ it really was a no-brainer.”

This move also allows for UTRGV’s rivalry with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, dubbed the South Texas Showdown, to take place within the same conference.

Adrian Rodriguez, vice president for Intercollegiate Athletics at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, spoke to The Rider after the news conference and said he is “thrilled” to have “the South Texas Showdown in the Southland Conference.”

“We compete in 12 different athletic programs,” Rodriguez said. “Could football be a part of that in the future? Perhaps down the road. Right now, we’re thrilled for the rivalry with UTRGV in the sports that we play.”

UTRGV Football head coach Travis Bush, who has two Southland Conference championship rings, described the Southland as “special.”

“It’s always been a special place for me,” Bush said. “… We’re excited. The rivalries, the locations, the communities, it’s a neat conference. It’s fun to be around and we’re excited about it.”

UTRGV Women’s Soccer head coach Mark Foster said he is “excited” to begin Southland contention.

“What I love about this move the most, it allows our athletes to be the No. 1 thing,” Foster said. “It’s the right thing for them. It gives them the chance to be in the classroom, compete in the classroom. But also gives them the chance, what they wanna do is compete on the field as well.”

There are still UTRGV programs eligible for WAC contention as they are still playing their seasons. These are baseball, men’s and women’s tennis, golf and track.

UTRGV Men’s and Women’s Track and Field head coach Shareese Hicks said that while her teams are still in the WAC, it does “not at all” change their plans this season.

“We are competitors through and through,” Hicks said. “We do want to continue to make an impact within the Western Athletic Conference. And then, however we finish, to take that same momentum, maybe even then some, into the Southland.”

UTRGV hosted several conference tournaments throughout the Rio Grande Valley as a member of the WAC. Conque “100%” expects to maintain that same hosting commitment as a Southland institution.

“We’ve already started those conversations [with the Southland],” he said. “We already know what championships are open for bid here soon, and we wanna continue to do that because it brings great Division I athletics to the region but also brings an economic impact that we know is very important.”

The first UTRGV program to compete in the Southland will be women’s soccer, followed by women’s volleyball at the start of the Fall 2024 semester.

_{UTRGV President Guy Bailey officially announces the university’s move to the Southland at a news conference at the UTRGV Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus. Bailey touted the academic opportunities this move would give the university and its student-athletes. Ali Halloum/The Rider}