Sooner Athletic Conference


The Sooner Athletic Conference is a small college athletics conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Originally developed as a five-team conference of Oklahoma-based schools, the SAC now boasts 12 schools in a league that spans four states – Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
As of December 2017, SAC member institutions have collected 102 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics team championships – the most among NAIA conferences – since the league formed in 1978.
Throughout the league's 39-year history, the SAC continues to be known as the conference "Where Champions Play". Various institutions have competed under the SAC banner over the years. Today only the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma remains from the original group that was formed when Bethany Nazarene, Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma Christian and Phillips University withdrew from the Texoma Conference to form the SAC.
Membership has changed over the years with today's current members being admitted as follows: Oklahoma City, Wayland Baptist, John Brown, Mid-America Christian, Southwestern Assemblies of God, Texas Wesleyan, Southwestern Christian, Bacone, Central Christian and Oklahoma Panhandle State.
The league also includes associate members on a per-sport basis, with University of Houston-Victoria, University of the Southwest and University of St. Thomas being part of the SAC in women's golf since 2017. Indiana Institute of Technology and Lourdes University were added as associate members in men's wrestling for 2017–18.
In the 2018–19 school year, the SAC will crown league champions in 17 intercollegiate sports – eight for women and nine for men. Women's sports are basketball, softball, golf, tennis, cross country, soccer, volleyball, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field. Men compete in football, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, cross country, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, soccer, and wrestling. The newest conference sport is football, added for the 2018 season.
The conference is known for a rich basketball tradition. Member schools have won the men's NAIA tournament 12 times and women's NAIA tournament 16 times. SAC member schools also boast 12 NAIA national titles in men's golf, 11 in softball, 10 in women's golf, 8 in women's indoor track and field, 7 in men's cross country, 5 in men's tennis, 4 each in men's and women's outdoor track and field, 3 in men's indoor track and field, 2 in baseball and 1 in competitive cheer.

Member schools

Current members

Membership timeline


DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1978 till:2022
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width:15 textcolor:darkblue shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1978 till:2015 text:Oklahoma Baptist
bar:2 color:Full from:1978 till:2012 text:Oklahoma Christian
bar:3 color:Full from:1978 till:1998 text:Phillips
bar:4 color:Full from:1978 till:2012 text:Southern Nazarene
bar:5 color:Full from:1978 till:1994 text:USAO
bar:5 color:Full from:2000 till:end text:
bar:6 color:Full from:1980 till:1983 text:John Brown
bar:6 color:Full from:1995 till:end text:
bar:7 color:Full from:1986 till:end text:Oklahoma City
bar:8 color:Full from:1994 till:2013 text:Lubbock Christian
bar:9 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Wayland Baptist
bar:10 color:Full from:1999 till:2017 text:St. Gregory's
bar:11 color:Full from:2002 till:2012 text:Northwestern Oklahoma State
bar:12 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:Mid-America Christian
bar:13 color:Full from:2007 till:2013 text:Rogers State
bar:14 color:Full from:2013 till:2014 text:Northwood
bar:15 shift: color:Full from:2013 till:end text:Southwestern Assemblies of God
bar:16 shift: color:Full from:2013 till:end text:Southwestern Christian
bar:17 shift: color:Full from:2013 till:end text:Texas Wesleyan
bar:18 shift: color:Full from:2015 till:2019 text:Bacone College
bar:19 shift: color:Full from:2017 till:end text:Central Christian
bar:20 shift: color:Full from:2017 till:end text:Panhandle State
bar:21 shift: color:Full from:2018 till:end text:Langston
bar:22 shift: color:AssocxF from:2020 till:2021 text:North Texas–Dallas
bar:22 shift: color:Full from:2021 till:end
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pos: tabs:
text:^"Sooner Athletic Conference membership history"
  1. > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space.
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