EDINBURG — UTRGV officially became a member of the Southland Conference on Monday with July 1 marking the turn of the NCAA athletic calendar. UTRGV athletics held a ceremony Monday afternoon to unveil new Southland Conference logos on Sam Williams Court inside the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
“Definitely woke up with a little bit different pep in my step and I think our coaches and staff and hopefully student-athletes would say the same thing,” UTRGV vice president and athletic director Chasse Conque said. “So much has transpired since we made the official announcement back in March, but going back to the reasons why, this was solely focused on our student-athletes. It was in their best interest, we felt, to put them in a league that had a regional footprint. I love the institutions that we’re going to compete against, and now with the addition of Stephen F. Austin over the last couple weeks, you’ve got seven (schools) from right here in the state of Texas, five in Louisiana, so we’re really excited about today and excited about the future of UTRGV in the Southland Conference.”
The Southland Conference is composed of 12 full-time members — Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, Lamar, McNeese, New Orleans, Nicholls, Northwestern State, Stephen F. Austin, Southeastern, Texas A&M-Commerce,Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UTRGV.
UTRGV will compete in the Southland Conference in volleyball, women’s soccer, cross country, basketball, golf, tennis, track & field, baseball, and football beginning in 2025.
UTRGV’s men’s soccer and women’s swimming and diving teams will continue to compete in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). UTRGV was a member of the WAC from 2013-2024.
UTRGV FOOTBALL NOTES
UTRGV football will begin fall practice at the beginning of September, UTRGV head football coach Travis Bush said Monday.
“We’re not having a training camp in August. They won’t come until school starts, we won’t practice really til September, but it’s going to be broken up like three mini spring trainings,” Bush said. “We’ll go about three weeks of good practice and give them an open week at the end of each month and do that September, October, November, so really you’re looking at about three spring balls worth of practice.”
Conque and Bush both confirmed UTRGV’s first football game in program history will be played on Aug. 30, 2025 against Sul Ross at Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium in Edinburg.
“We are going to kickoff against Sul Ross on Aug. 30, 2025 at night at Vackar Stadium. Excited about that, excited about that opponent, and we’ll have more information coming with the rest of our schedule,” Conque said. “Obviously, we’ll play a full Southland Conference schedule that first year giving us eight conference games — four at home, four on the road — so we’re getting close. It’s hard to believe we’re 420 or so days away.”
“They came up to Division II and they’ve got a good program. They’re a good quality opponent,” Bush said. “There’s a lot of Sul Ross alumni down here, a lot of coaches down here, so I think it’ll be a good game with a good fan base for them and a good opener for us.”
