The Heartland Conference is an NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 Division II college athletic conference founded in 1999. The majority of members are in Texas, with additional members in Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Member schools

The Heartland Conference includes the following schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Year Joined	Nickname
University of Arkansas – Fort Smith	Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...	1928	Public	7,000	2009	Lions
Dallas Baptist University Dallas Baptist University Dallas Baptist University , formerly known as Dallas Baptist College, is a Christian liberal arts university located in Dallas, Texas. The main campus is located approximately fifteen miles southwest of downtown Dallas overlooking Mountain Creek Lake...	Dallas, Texas Dallas, Texas Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...	1898	Private	5,500	2002	Patriots
Newman University Newman University Newman University is a coeducational Catholic liberal arts university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. The university offers both undergraduate and masters level programs.-History:...	Wichita, Kansas Wichita, Kansas Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...	1933	Private	2,200	2006	Jets
Oklahoma Panhandle State University Oklahoma Panhandle State University Oklahoma Panhandle State University is a university in Goodwell, Oklahoma. OPSU is a baccalaureate degree granting institution. General governance of the institution is provided by the Board of Regents of the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges...	Goodwell, Oklahoma Goodwell, Oklahoma As of the census of 2000, there were 1,192 people, 407 households, and 221 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,003.8 people per square mile . There were 478 housing units at an average density of 402.5 per square mile...	1909	Public	1,200	2002	Aggies
St. Edward's University St. Edward's University St. Edward's University is a private Roman Catholic institution of higher learning located south of Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. The university offers a liberal arts education and its campus is located on a hill overlooking the city of Austin. The campus's most notable landmark is Main...	Austin, Texas Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...	1885	Private	5,500	1999	Hilltoppers
St. Mary’s University St. Mary's University, Texas St. Mary's University is a Catholic and Marianist liberal arts institution located on northwest of downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States. St. Mary’s is a nationally recognized master’s level school ranked among the top colleges in the west for best value and academic reputation by U.S. News...	San Antonio, Texas San Antonio, Texas San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...	1852	Private	4,500	1999	Rattlers
Texas A&M International University Texas A&M International University Texas A&M International University, often referred to as TAMIU, is a public, co-educational, state-supported university located in Laredo, Texas...	Laredo, Texas Laredo, Texas Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...	1969	Public	4,298	2006	Dustdevils
University of Texas of the Permian Basin University of Texas of the Permian Basin The University of Texas of the Permian Basin is located in Odessa, Texas. It was authorized by the Texas Legislature in 1969 and founded in 1973...	Odessa, Texas Odessa, Texas Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...	1973	Public	3,600	2006	Falcons

History

The conference was formed in 1999 by founding members Drury University

Drury University

Drury University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Missouri.The university enrolls about 1,550 undergraduates, over 2,000 adult part-time undergraduates and around 400 graduate students in six master's programs...

, University of the Incarnate Word

University of the Incarnate Word

The University of the Incarnate Word is a private Catholic university located within the cities of San Antonio and Alamo Heights in Texas, United States....

, Lincoln University, Rockhurst University

Rockhurst University

Rockhurst University is a private, coeducational Jesuit university located in Kansas City, Missouri, founded in 1910 as Rockhurst College. The school adheres to the motto etched into the stone of the campus bell tower: "Learning, Leadership, and Service in the Jesuit Tradition." It is one of 28...

, St. Edwards University, and St. Mary’s University. Oklahoma Panhandle State and Dallas Baptist University joined in 2002. Founding members Drury and Rockhurst left the Heartland Conference to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference

Great Lakes Valley Conference

The Great Lakes Valley Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes at the NCAA's Division II level. Member institutions are located in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Wisconsin....

 in 2005. Western New Mexico University

Western New Mexico University

Western New Mexico University, a public university located in Silver City, New Mexico, has served the people of the state of New Mexico and its surrounding areas as a comprehensive, regional, rural, public coeducational university since 1893 and caters to a student body diverse in age, culture,...

 and Montana State University - Billings

Montana State University - Billings

Montana State University Billings is a state university. Its main campus is located in downtown Billings, Montana, United States. Formerly Eastern Montana Normal School when it was founded, it was then renamed to Eastern Montana College before being renamed to its present name in 1994...

 joined in 2005. However, WNMU transferred to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the western United States, mostly in Colorado with some members in Nebraska and New Mexico...

 in 2006 and MSUB joined the Great Northwest Athletic Conference

Great Northwest Athletic Conference

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference which has historically operated in the Northwestern United States, but also currently includes four schools in areas not usually considered part of that region—two in Alaska , one in eastern Montana The Great Northwest...

 in 2007. Newman University

Newman University

Newman University is a coeducational Catholic liberal arts university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. The university offers both undergraduate and masters level programs.-History:...

, Texas A&M International University

Texas A&M International University

Texas A&M International University, often referred to as TAMIU, is a public, co-educational, state-supported university located in Laredo, Texas...

 and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin

University of Texas of the Permian Basin

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin is located in Odessa, Texas. It was authorized by the Texas Legislature in 1969 and founded in 1973...

 joined the conference in 2006, making the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. The University of Arkansas - Fort Smith

University of Arkansas - Fort Smith

The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, known also as UAFS, is a public, co-educational, four-year university. It is one of 11 campuses that make up the University of Arkansas System and is located in Fort Smith, Arkansas...

 joined the conference in the Fall of 2009 after transitioning from the NJCAA. In the fall of 2010, Lincoln left for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association

The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association is a college athletic conference which operates in the states of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and effective in 2012 in Oklahoma in the Midwestern United States. The conference was formerly known as the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic...

 and Incarnate Word left for the Lone Star Conference

Lone Star Conference

The Lone Star Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico...

. In July 2011, McMurry University

McMurry University

McMurry University, founded in 1923, is a private co-educational university in Abilene, Texas. It is a liberal arts school offering forty-one majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural sciences, education, business, and religion, and nine pre-professional programs, including...

 announced that it had been accepted as candidate for D-II membership and would join the Heartland Conference in the fall of 2012.

Sports

The Heartland Conference sponsors 13 sports, 7 for women and 6 for men. Both men and women compete in basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, cross country

Cross country running

Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, soccer, and tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

. Men compete in baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 and women compete in softball

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

 and volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

.

Dallas Baptist's baseball team competes as a D-I independent. OPSU sponsors non-conference football and rodeo

National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association

The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, based in Walla Walla, WA, was established in 1949. NIRA sanctions more than 100 college rodeos every year in the United States, and represents over 3,500 student athletes attending more than 135 member colleges and universities...

 squads. Incoming member McMurry has football, men's & women's indoor and outdoor track, and men's and women's swimming teams that will compete as independents.

National championships

Sport	School	Year(s)
Baseball	St. Mary’s Univ.	2001
Softball	St. Mary’s Univ.	2002
Men’s Golf (Individual champion)	Jamie Amoretti, St. Mary’s Univ.	2006

• St. Mary's won NAIA
  National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
  The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
  
   national championships in Softball (1986) and Men's Basketball (1989) prior to joining the Heartland Conference.
• The St. Mary's Men's Golf team were named the Golf Coaches Association of America 2008-2009 Academic National Champions, which St. Mary's treats as a fifth team national championship.
• Dallas Baptist won the 2003 National Christian College Athletic Association
  National Christian College Athletic Association
  The National Christian College Athletic Association is an association of approximately 100 Christian universities, colleges, and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada which see collegiate sports primarily as an opportunity for Christian fellowship and ministry. The national headquarters...
  
  Baseball national championship; DBU is a non-baseball member of the Heartland Conference.