As of August 2021, SAC member institutions have collected 109 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) team championships – the most among NAIA conferences – since the league formed in 1978.
The SAC crowns league champions in 18 intercollegiate sports – nine for women and nine for men. Women's sports are basketball, softball, golf, tennis, cross country, soccer, volleyball, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, and wrestling. Men's sports are football, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, cross country, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, soccer, and wrestling. The newest conference sport is women's wrestling, added for the 2019–20 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 14 NAIA national titles in men's golf, 13 in softball, 12 in women's indoor track and field, 10 in women's golf, 10 in men's cross country, 6 in men's tennis, 5 in women's outdoor track and field, 4 in men's outdoor track and field, 4 in men's indoor track and field, 2 in baseball, 2 in competitive cheer, and 1 in men's soccer for a total of 111.[1]
History
Throughout the league's 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 (now Southern 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 (1986), Wayland Baptist (1994), John Brown (1995), Mid-America Christian (2007), Southwestern Assemblies of God (2013), Texas Wesleyan (2013), Southwestern Christian (2013), Bacone (2014), Central Christian (2017), Oklahoma Panhandle State (2017), and North Texas–Dallas (2020).
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. Lyon College has been an associate member for women's wrestling since 2019.
Past members of the SAC include: Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma Christian, Southern Nazarene, Rogers State, Lubbock Christian, Northwestern Oklahoma State, Northwood, St. Gregory's and Bacone.
The league also includes associate members on a per-sport basis. Arizona Christian University, Lyon (Ark.) College, Ottawa University-Arizona and Texas College became SAC members for football in 2018-19 with Louisiana College joining for 2021–22.
2013 - Lubbock Christian and Rogers State left the Sooner and joined the NCAA Division II ranks and the Heartland, effective after the 2012-13 academic year.
2014 - Northwood–Texas left the Sooner as the school announced that it would close, effective after the 2013-14 academic year.
2015 - Oklahoma Baptist left the Sooner and the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the GAC, effective after the 2014-15 academic year.
2015 - Bacone College joined the Sooner, effective in the 2015-16 academic year.
2017 - St. Gregory's (Okla.) left the Sooner as the school announced that it would close at the end of the fall 2017 semester, effective during the 2017-18 academic year.
2019 - St. Thomas (Tex.) left the Sooner as an associate member for women's golf, as the school announced to move up to the NCAA Division III ranks and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), effective after the 2019 spring season (2018-19 academic year).
2019 - Cleary University joined the Sooner as an associate member for men's wrestling, while Lyon added women's wrestling to its Sooner associate membership, both effective in the 2019-20 academic year.
2020 - Cleary, Indiana Tech, Lourdes and Rochester left the Sooner as associate members for men's wrestling, effective after the 2019-20 academic year.
2020 - The University of North Texas at Dallas joined the Sooner as a provisional member for some sports, effective in the 2020-21 academic year.
2021 - North Texas–Dallas has upgraded to full membership within the Sooner, effective in the 2021-22 academic year.
2021 - Louisiana College (now Louisiana Christian University) joined the Sooner as an associate member for football, effective in the 2021 fall season (2021-22 academic year).
2022 - Lyon announced that it will leave the Sooner and the NAIA as an associate member for football to join the NCAA Division III ranks, effective after the 2022 fall season (2022-23 academic year).
2022 - Arizona Christian announced that it will leave the Sooner as an associate member for football to join the Frontier Conference for that sport, effective after the 2022 fall season (2022-23 academic year).
Member schools
Current members
The Sooner currently has 12 full members, all but four are private schools:
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^John Brown left the SAC after the 1982–83 school year; before re-joining back, effective in the 1995–96 school year.
^North Texas–Dallas joined the SAC as an associate during the 2020–21 school year (as of transitional); before becoming a full member in the SAC for all sports, effective in the 2021–22 school year.
^USAO left the SAC after the 1993–94 school year; before re-joining back, effective in the 2000–01 school year.
Associate members
The Sooner currently has seven associate members, all but one are private schools:
