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Abilene Christian Wildcats

Sports teams of Abilene Christian University in Texas, US

Sports teams of Abilene Christian University in Texas, US

FieldValue
nameAbilene Christian Wildcats
logoAbilene Christian Wildcats logo.svg
logo_width200
universityAbilene Christian University
associationNCAA
conferenceWAC (primary)
divisionDivision I (FCS)
directorZack Lassiter
locationAbilene, Texas
teams16
stadiumAnthony Field at Wildcat Stadium
soccerstadiumElmer Gray Stadium
baseballfieldCrutcher Scott Field
softballstadiumPoly Wells Field
arenaMoody Coliseum
mascotWillie, the Wildcat
nicknameWildcats
fightsongACU Fight Song
pageurlhttps://acusports.com/
altlogo200px

Abilene Christian Wildcats (variously ACU or ACU Wildcats) refers to the sports teams of Abilene Christian University located in Abilene, Texas. The Wildcats joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) on July 1, 2021, after having spent the previous eight years in the Southland Conference. The nickname "Wildcat" is derived from the mascot of the team.

History

A member of the Western Athletic Conference, Abilene Christian sponsors teams in seven men's and eight women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

On December 6, 1923, Abilene Christian applied for admission to Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association during the conference annual meeting in Dallas. The Wildcats had been considering joining the conference for several years but funding for the athletic department preventing them to join the conference sooner.

On July 1, 2013, Abilene Christian returned to the Southland Conference as one of four new members. The university, a charter member of the Southland Conference, left the Southland in 1973 to join the Lone Star Conference (LSC) of NCAA Division II. The Wildcats remained members of the Lone Star Conference from 1973 until returning to the Southland Conference in 2013.

Overall, the Wildcats have won a combined 62 team national championships, including 57 as a member of the NCAA trailing behind UCLA, Stanford, USC and Kenyon College for the most NCAA team championships.

In 2007, the LSC included 33 ACU current and former student athletes in its 75-member all-sports team commemorating the conference's 75th anniversary.

On August 23, 2017, the NCAA Board of Directors voted to pass ACU through to full Division I status, thus making them eligible for postseason play.

On January 14, 2021, ACU was one of five institutions announced as future members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), alongside three other Southland members from Texas (Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin) plus Big Sky Conference member Southern Utah. Initially, all five schools were to join in July 2022, but the entry of ACU and the other Texas schools was moved to 2021 after the Southland expelled its departing members.

ACU football competed in a football-only partnership between the WAC and the ASUN Conference in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. After the 2022 season, the conferences fully merged their football leagues, creating what eventually became the United Athletic Conference.

Conference affiliation history

  • 1924–25 to 1932–33 – Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association
  • 1933–34 to 1952–53 – Texas Conference
  • 1953–54 – Independent
  • 1954–55 to 1956–57 – Gulf Coast Conference
  • 1957–58 to 1962–63 – Independent
  • 1963–64 to 1972–73 – Southland Conference
  • 1973–74 to 2012–13 – Lone Star Conference
  • 2013–14 to 2020–21 – Southland Conference
  • 2021 to Present – Western Athletic Conference

Sports sponsored

Abilene Christian Wildcats}}"† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor

The Wildcats sponsor 15 varsity sports - 7 men's and 8 women's. The men's teams include Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Tennis, and Track & Field. The women's teams include Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Track & Field, and Volleyball.

Athletics facilities

Abilene Christian Wildcatsborder=1color= white }}"VenueAbilene Christian Wildcatsborder=1color= white }}"SportAbilene Christian Wildcatsborder=1color= white }}"Opened
Wildcat StadiumFootball2017
Moody ColiseumBasketball
Volleyball1968
Poly Wells FieldSoftball1997
Crutcher Scott FieldBaseball1991
Elmer Gray StadiumSoccer2015

File:Abilene Christian University June 2019 31 (Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium).jpg|Wildcat Stadium File:Abilene_Christian_University_June_2019_26_(Moody_Coliseum).jpg|Moody Coliseum File:Abilene Christian University June 2019 37 (Crutcher Scott Field).jpg|Crutcher Scott Field File:Abilene Christian University June 2019 28 (Elmer Gray Stadium).jpg|Elmer Gray Stadium

Championships

National championships

Abilene Christian Wildcats}}"

Conference championships

[[Lone Star Conference]]

Abilene Christian Wildcats}}"

Notable non-varsity sports

ACU currently has club sports in Men's Lacrosse, Men's Rugby, Men's Soccer, and Co-Ed Golf. ACU Athletics took over all club sports on the ACU campus in January 2017 and named Todd Rogers as the Director of Club Sports, who oversees all 4 sports. Todd is an Abilene native and a December 2016 graduate of Texas Tech University. As the Director of Club Sports, Rogers will oversee the university's nationally competitive program with the hopes of driving enrollment and adding more club sports in the future.

ACU athletes in halls of fame

Abilene Christian Wildcatsborder=1color= white }}"AthleteAbilene Christian Wildcatsborder=1color= white }}"Sport HOFAbilene Christian Wildcatsborder=1color= white }}"Year
Bobby MorrowDrake Relays1959
Texas Sports1960
U.S. Track and Field1975
Track and field U.S. Olympic1989
Tonto ColemanTexas Sports1983
Eck CurtisTexas Sports1985
Wilbert MontgomeryCollege football1996
Billy OlsonTrack and field1997
Wally BullingtonFootball1999
Wes KittleyTrack and field2006
John LayfieldWWE2020

;Notes

Media

All Abilene Christian athletics are broadcast on ESPN+ and KHXS.

References

References

  1. (December 2, 1923). "To Join T.I.A.A.". Abilene Daily ReporterAbilene Daily ReporterAbilene Daily ReporterAbilene Daily ReporterAbilene Daily Reporter.
  2. [http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/champs_records_book/summaries/combined.pdf All divisions/collegiate total championships] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-05-31 ncaa.org, Chipionship History (through June 2, 2013), p.1. Retrieved 2013-06-24.)
  3. [http://www.acu.edu/acutoday/documents/2007summer/Sports_s07.pdf "Wildcats lead way as LSC honors all-time top performers,"] ''ACU Today'', Summer 2007, p.32. Retrieved 2008-09-22. {{webarchive. link. (October 29, 2008)
  4. (January 14, 2021). "WAC Announces Expansion, Plans to Reinstate Football". Western Athletic Conference.
  5. (January 21, 2021). "WAC Announces Expedited Entrance for Four Texas Institutions". Western Athletic Conference.
  6. (April 17, 2023). "ASUN-WAC Football Partnership Formally Rebrands as the United Athletic Conference". Western Athletic Conference.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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