ARLINGTON, Texas -- UT-Arlington has accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference beginning this summer, part of an expansion that will push the league to at least 15 schools.
The move announced Friday will end a nine-year run in the Sun Belt Conference for the Mavericks, who spent one athletic season in the WAC in 2012-13 after nearly 50 years in the Southland Conference.
UTA is set to join the WAC on July 1, in time for the 2022-23 athletic season, along with another Texas school in Incarnate Word as well as Southern Utah.
With Chicago State's departure before the new schools join, the WAC will have 15 members, including eight from Texas. The other schools from the Lone Star State are Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State and UT-Rio Grande Valley.
UT-Arlington spent many years in the Southland with Lamar, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin.
Newcomer Southern Utah will be among seven schools outside Texas, mostly in the western U.S. The others are California Baptist, Dixie State (soon to be renamed Utah Tech), Grand Canyon, New Mexico State, Seattle and Utah Valley.
UTA has men's and women's teams in basketball, golf, tennis, track and cross country along with baseball, softball and volleyball programs. The school discontinued football in 1985.
