Abilene Christian Wildcats (variously ACU or ACU Wildcats) refers to the sports teams of

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a private Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Southwestern United States and has one of th ...

located in

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan st ...

. The Wildcats joined the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to most of t ...

(WAC) on July 1, 2021 after having spent the previous eight years in the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it ...

. The nickname "

Wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

" is derived from the mascot of the team.

History

A member of the

, Abilene Christian sponsors teams in seven men's and eight women's NCAA sanctioned sports. 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 The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in T ...

(LSC) of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

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 The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

and

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is s ...

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."Wildcats lead way as LSC honors all-time top performers,"
''ACU Today'', Summer 2007, p.32. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 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

(WAC), alongside three other Southland members from Texas ( Lamar,

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

) plus

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

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.

Conference affiliation history

* 1963–64 to 1972–73 – Southland Conference * 1973–74 to 2012–13 – Lone Star Conference * 2013–14 to 2020–21 – Southland Conference * 2021–22 to Present – Western Athletic Conference

Championships

National championships

Conference championships

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in T ...

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

College Football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

– Wilbert Montgomery (1996).

Drake Relays The Drake Relays (officially the Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom) is an outdoor track and field event held in Des Moines, Iowa, in Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University. Billed as ''America's Athletic Classic'', i ...

– Bobby Morrow, (1959).

– Wilbert Montgomery, football (1996);

Billy Olson Billy Richard Olson (born July 19, 1958) is a retired American Olympic pole vaulter who held several world records, including the first 19-foot indoor pole vault.Al Pickett"Abilene has produced more than its share of stars," ''Abilene Reporter-Ne ...

, men's track and field (1997);

Wally Bullington Wallace "Coach Bully" Bullington (May 17, 1931 – July 20, 2018) was a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas for 39 years as football player, assista ...

, football (1999); Wes Kittley, track and field (2006). U.S. Olympic – Bobby Morrow, men's track and field (1989). Texas Sports – Bobby Morrow (1960),

Tonto Coleman Arthur Marvin "Tonto" Coleman (July 7, 1907 – October 18, 1973) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Abilene Christian University from 1942 to 1949, compiling a record of 2 ...

(1983),

Eck Curtis Eck Curtis (August 8, 1902 – June 28, 1978) was an American football coach. After a 20-year coaching career he became an assistant at the University of Texas at Austin, and is credited for introducing the T formation to Texas Longhorns football, ...

(1985). U.S. Track and Field – Bobby Morrow (1975) WWE –

John Layfield John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966), better known by the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield (abbreviated to JBL), is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and Gridiron football, football player. He is curre ...

(2020; played football at ACU)

Media

All Abilene Christian athletics are broadcast on

ESPN+ ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The c ...

and KHXS.

References

External links

* {{Authority control