13 Schools•Division II•Est. 2011
The Great American Conference was created in 2010 by nine universities in Arkansas and Oklahoma. On July 13, 2010, their chief executives announced plans to form a new NCAA Division II league, and the name was unveiled that November. The charter members were Arkansas Tech, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, East Central, Harding, Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Southern Arkansas, and Southwestern Oklahoma State.
The Arkansas schools came from the Gulf South Conference, whose footprint stretched across the Southeast, and the Oklahoma schools came from the Lone Star Conference. Leaders wanted a league of institutions with similar budgets and goals, schools that sponsor football, less time away from class for student athletes, and lower travel costs. The name was chosen to reflect a footprint stretching from the Mississippi Delta in southeast Arkansas to the plains of western Oklahoma.
On March 9, 2011, the NCAA accepted the GAC as its 23rd Division II conference, and the first games were played on September 1, 2011. Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene joined in 2012.
The conference sponsors championships for men and women in sports including football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, golf, cross country, and track and field. Its headquarters are in Russellville, Arkansas.
Official Website
The Great American Conference was created in 2010 by nine universities in Arkansas and Oklahoma. On July 13, 2010, their chief executives announced plans to form a new NCAA Division II league, and the name was unveiled that November. The charter members were Arkansas Tech, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, East Central, Harding, Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Southern Arkansas, and Southwestern Oklahoma State.
The Arkansas schools came from the Gulf South Conference, whose footprint stretched across the Southeast, and the Oklahoma schools came from the Lone Star Conference. Leaders wanted a league of institutions with similar budgets and goals, schools that sponsor football, less time away from class for student athletes, and lower travel costs. The name was chosen to reflect a footprint stretching from the Mississippi Delta in southeast Arkansas to the plains of western Oklahoma.
On March 9, 2011, the NCAA accepted the GAC as its 23rd Division II conference, and the first games were played on September 1, 2011. Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene joined in 2012.
The conference sponsors championships for men and women in sports including football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, golf, cross country, and track and field. Its headquarters are in Russellville, Arkansas.
Official Website
In GAC football, 12 schools compete in NCAA Division II. The conference was founded in 2011.
Arkansas Tech University, East Central University, Harding University, Henderson State University, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma Baptist University, Ouachita Baptist University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Southern Arkansas University, Southern Nazarene University, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, University of Arkansas at Monticello.
RallyFuel tracks 1,823 GAC football athletes across the conference, from 38 states and 7 other countries. The most common home states are Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.