UTRGV officially joins the Southland Conference

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley started a new chapter officially joining the Southland Conference.

The University previously made the announcement of its departure from the Western Athletic Conference in March to join the Southland, a conference with teams regionally located.

The Southland is comprised of seven teams in Texas and five teams in Louisiana.

For UTRGV Vice President and Director of Athletics, Chasse Conque, the move not only benefited the university, but more importantly, its student athletes.

Conque said, “They’re [student athletes] gonna be able to stay at home more. They’re gonna be able to be in class more, be able to train, rehab, and I think ultimately, we’ll get healthier and more competitive student athletes.”

Many coaches at UTRGV are familiar with its future Southland opponents, such as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Incarnate Word. Another familiar foe joining UTRGV’s move to the Southland is Stephen F. Austin.

However, Men’s Head Basketball Coach Kahil Fennell enters his first year with the program. For him, all of this is new territory, from the teams to the entire South Texas region.

“For me, I don’t have precedent anywhere else,” Fennell said. “I wasn’t a coach in the WAC or anything like that, so to come here in the Southland is something I’m really excited about.”

UTRGV Football Coach Travis Bush is familiar with the conference. As a player and coach at Texas State, Bush knows all about the tradition and history that comes with the move.

He said, "The tradition of the Southland Conference and the teams, the football, the brand of football, the location, we’re fired up to be a part of it. It’s a great league, and we're excited to watch it this last year before we jump in in 2025."