Southwest Conference
Data
Classification	NCAA Division I FBS
Established	1914
Dissolved	1996
Members (1919)	8
Members (1991)	9
Region	South Central United States
States	3 - Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas
Headquarters	Dallas, Texas
Locations

The Southwest Conference (SWC) was a college athletic conference in the United States that became defunct in May of 1996. The National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA, often pronounced "N-C-Double-A" is a voluntary association of about 1200 institutions conferences organizations Division I (or D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States The South Central United States or South Central states is a region of the United States located in the south central part of the country The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Arkansas ( is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Oklahoma ( is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. This is a List of Athletic Conferences of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA The United States of America —commonly referred to as the It consisted of schools in the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Arkansas ( is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Oklahoma ( is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State.

Established in 1914, its charter members were the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Baylor University, the University of Arkansas, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma A&M University (currently Oklahoma State), Southwestern University (in Georgetown, Texas), and Rice University. Texas A&M University, often called A&M or TAMU, is a Coeducational public Research University located in College Station Baylor University is a private, Baptist -affiliated Research University located in Waco Texas. The University of Arkansas, often shortened to U of A or just UA, is a public Co-educational Land-grant university University of Oklahoma, abbreviated OU, is a Coeducational public Research university located in the U This is about the university in Georgetown Texas USA for the university in the Philippines see Southwestern University (Philippines. Georgetown is a suburban community in Williamson County, Texas, United States. William Marsh Rice University (commonly called Rice University and opened in 1912 as The William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Letters Science and Art

History

Early years

The first organizational meeting of the conference was held in May, 1914 at the Oriental Hotel in Dallas, Texas. It was chaired by L. Theo Bellmont, who originated the idea for the athletic conference and was at the time athletic director at the University of Texas. L Theo Bellmont ( –) was an Athletics Director, Professor and Director of Physical Training and men's Basketball coach at The University of Texas at Austin Originally, Bellmont wanted Louisiana State University and the University of Mississippi to join the conference as well, but they declined to do so. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, generally known as Louisiana State University or LSU, is a public, Coeducational The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational Research University located in Oxford The Southwest Conference became an official body on December 8, 1914 at a formal meeting at the Rice Hotel in Houston. Events 1609 - Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room the second public library of Europe.

Its early years saw fluctuation in membership; Southwestern (a comparatively smaller school) dropped out of the conference in 1916, and Southern Methodist University joined it in 1918; Texas Christian University became a member in 1923. Southern Methodist University ("SMU" is a private, Coeducational University in University Park, Texas (an enclave Texas Christian University is a private, Coeducational University located in Fort Worth, Texas. Rice University left the conference in 1916, only to re-join in 1918.

Phillips University (Enid, Oklahoma) was a conference member for one year (1920). Phillips University was a private coeducational institution of Higher education located in Enid Oklahoma, United States from 1906 to 1998 Enid is a city in Garfield County, Oklahoma, United States. The Population was 47045 at the 2000 census. Oklahoma left in 1919 to join the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and was followed by Oklahoma A&M in 1925. The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA -affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, was formed in January 1907 as the (However, the intense football rivalry between the universities of Texas and Oklahoma would continue in an annual matchup between the two teams held in Dallas. )

After its organizational years, the conference settled into regularly scheduled meets among its members, and began to gain stature nationwide. The SWC would be guided by seven commissioners, the first of whom, P. W. St. Clair, was appointed in 1938. In 1940, an agreement was reached that the winner of the conference football title would play in the Cotton Bowl, which further established the prestige of both the bowl and the conference. The Cotton Bowl Classic is a United States College football Bowl game played annually since 1937 at the self-named stadium in Dallas Texas Texas Tech University joined the SWC in 1958, followed by the University of Houston for the 1976 season (UH won the SWC football championship in that 1976 season). Texas Tech University is a public, coeducational research university in Lubbock Texas. The University of Houston (often referred to as " U of H," " UH," or " Houston " is a public doctoral/research

Southwest Conference, 1915

The conference's primary weakness was its geographic focus on the state of Texas. Eight of the conference's nine universities were located within Texas. This narrow focus limited the conference's national appeal even though the quality of athletic competition usually was very high.

The conference celebrated its glory football years in the 1960s. Texas won the 1963 National Championship, Arkansas won the 1964 National Championship, then Texas took another National Championship in 1969, beating #2 ranked Arkansas (15 to 14) in the regular season's final game (dubbed the "Big Shootout"). The 1969 Arkansas-Texas game (attended in Fayetteville by President Richard Nixon) is considered by most to rank as the SWC's most significant game.

Beginning in the late 1930's and lasting until 1995, the Southwest Conference Champion automatically received an invitation as the "host" team in the Cotton Bowl game on New Year's Day in Dallas, Texas. Opponents usually were the runners-up from the Big 8 or SEC conference, although Independents Penn State and Notre Dame were also often featured. The bowl featured many outstanding and memorable games and often had national championship implications. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, the game declined in importance, largely because of the decline of SWC prominence. Notre Dame in 1977 was the last team to win their national championship in the Cotton Bowl. The University of Notre Dame du Lac (or simply Notre Dame) (ˌnoʊtɚˈdeɪm is a private Roman Catholic Research university located in

The SWC had many legendary players and coaches over the years. In football, Dana X. Bible, Jess Neely, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Darrell Royal, James "Buddy" Parker, Hayden Fry, Frank Broyles, Lou Holtz, Gene Stallings, Spike Dykes, Bill Yeoman and Grant Teaff all served as head coaches in the conference. Dana Xenophon Bible ( October 8, 1891 to January 19, 1980) was a highly successful College football Head coach. Jess C Neely (January 4 1898 - April 9 1983 was a Hall of Fame college football coach at Clemson and Rice. Darrell K Royal (born July 6, 1924 in Hollis Oklahoma) is a College Football Hall of Fame member and is the winningest football John Hayden Fry (born February 28, 1929) was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-A College football coach from 1962 to John Franklin "Frank" Broyles (born December 26, 1924 in Decatur Georgia) is a former NCAA football player coach broadcaster Louis Leo Holtz (born on January 6 1937 in Follansbee West Virginia) is an author television commentator motivational speaker and former NCAA Eugene Clifton Stallings Jr (born March 2, 1935 in Paris Texas) is a former college and professional football coach. William Taylor "Spike" Dykes (born in Lubbock Texas) was the coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team from 1987 to 1999 Bill Yeoman (born December 26, 1927 in Elnora Indiana) was the head football coach at the University of Houston Grant Garland Teaff (born November 12, 1933 in Hermleigh Texas) is a retired American Football coach most well-known for his time as the greatest Some notable SWC players included Davey O'Brien, Sammy Baugh, Bobby Layne, Doak Walker, Tom Landry, Dickey Moegle, Jack Pardee, John David Crow, Jim Swink, Bob Lilly, Tommy Nobis, Jerry LeVias, James Street, Roosevelt Leaks, Donnie Trull, Donnie Anderson, Steve McMichael, Earl Campbell, Dan Hampton, Rick Fenlaw, Mike Singletary, Eric Dickerson, Andre Ware, Quentin Coryatt, Zach Thomas, Richmond Webb, James Francis, Ray Childress, Forrest Gregg, Ricky Williams, and Priest Holmes. Robert David O'Brien ( June 22, 1917 – November 18, 1977) was a Heisman Trophy winning football player who played Samuel Adrian Baugh (born March 17, 1914 in Temple, Texas) is a former American football player Robert Lawrence Layne ( December 19 1926 &ndash December 1 1986) was born in Santa Anna Texas, USA Ewell Doak Walker Jr ( January 1 1927 &ndash September 27 1998) was an American football player who is a member of the Thomas Wade Landry ( September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American football player and coach Richard Lee "Dickey" Maegle (born Moegle) (born September 14, 1934 in Taylor Texas) is a former professional American football John Perry Pardee (born in Exira, Iowa) is a former American football Linebacker and the only head coach to join a team in the National John David Crow (born July 8, 1935, in Marion in Union Parish, Louisiana) was the Heisman Trophy winner and Running Jim Swink (born March 14, 1936 in Sacul Texas) is a former All-American Running back at Texas Christian University Bob Lilly (born July 26, 1939) is a former American football player in the NFL and Photographer. Thomas Henry Nobis Jr (born September 20, 1943 in San Antonio Texas) is a former American football player Jerry LeVias was the first African-American scholarship athlete and football player in the Southwest Conference. James Street (born April 9, 1948 in Longview Texas) was an American football Quarterback. Roosevelt Leaks Jr (born January 31, 1953 in Brenham, Texas) was an American football Running back in the NFL Don Trull (born October 20, 1941 in Oklahoma City Oklahoma) is a former Professional American football Quarterback in Garry Don "Donny" Anderson (born May 16, 1943, in Borger Texas) is a former professional American football player who played Steven Douglas McMichael (born October 17, 1957 in Houston Texas) is an American former Football Defensive tackle who played for Earl Christian Campbell (born March 29 1955 is a former professional American Football Running back and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Daniel Oliver Hampton (born September 19, 1957) is a retired Hall of Fame American football Defensive tackle who played twelve seasons Michael Singletary (born October 9, 1958 in Houston Texas) is a former American football Linebacker who played his entire career Eric Demetric Dickerson (born September 2 1960) is a former professional running back in the National Football League (NFL who in his career played for Andre Ware (born July 31, 1968 in Dickinson Texas) won the Heisman Trophy as a Quarterback for the University of Houston Quentin John Coryatt (born August 1, 1970 in Saint Croix US Virgin Islands) is a former American football Linebacker in the Zachary Michael Thomas (born September 1, 1973 in Pampa Texas) is an American football Linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys Richmond Jewel Webb (born January 11, 1967) is a former National Football League Offensive tackle with the Miami Dolphins and the James Goodall Francis ( 9 January 1819 &ndash 25 January 1884) Australian colonial politician was the 9th Premier Raymond Clay Childress Jr (born October 20, 1962 in Memphis, Tennessee) is a former American football Defensive lineman Alvis Forrest Gregg (born October 18, 1933 in Birthright Texas) is a former American football player and coach in the NFL. Errick Lynne Williams Jr (born May 21, 1977 in San Diego, California) is an American football Running back for the Priest Anthony Holmes (born October 7, 1973 in Fort Smith Arkansas) is a former American football Running back of the National

The early 1980s were the glory years of SWC basketball, especially the Phi Slama Jama teams at the University of Houston. Phi Slama Jama was the Nickname of the University of Houston Cougars men's basketball teams from 1982 to 1984. Outstanding basketball coaches included Eddie Sutton, Guy V. Lewis, Nolan Richardson, Tom Penders, Abe Lemons, Shelby Metcalf and Gerald Myers. Eddie Sutton (born March 12, 1936 in Bucklin Kansas. Sutton is the former college head coach with 36-year of Division I coaching experience with stints Guy Vernon Lewis II (born in Arp Texas, United States of America, March 19, 1922) is a former NCAA Basketball coach Nolan Richardson (born December 27, 1941) is an American Basketball Head coach, most recently with the Mexican National Team. Tom Penders is a College basketball Head coach, currently in his fourth season at the University of Houston. Abe Lemons (November 21 1922 - September 2 2002 was one of the most successful head Basketball coaches in Oklahoma history Shelby Metcalf (December 23 1930 – February 8 2007 was the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team for 27 seasons from 1963 to 1990 Gerald Myers was a Head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders men's basketball team Great SWC hoops players included Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Vinnie Johnson, Jon Koncak, Joe Kleine, B.J. Tyler, Elvin Hayes and Todd Day. Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (born on January 21 1963 is a retired Nigerian American professional Basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA Clyde Austin Drexler (born June 22 1962 in New Orleans Louisiana) is a former 6 foot 7 inch National Basketball Association Shooting guard. Vincent "Vinnie" Johnson (born September 1 1956 in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired American professional Basketball Jon Francis Koncak (born May 17, 1963 in Cedar Rapids Iowa) is an American former professional Basketball player Joseph William Kleine (born January 4 1962, in Colorado Springs Colorado) is a retired American professional Basketball player in Brandon Joel (BJ Tyler (born April 30 1971 in Galveston Texas) is an American former professional Basketball player Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17 1945 in Rayville Louisiana) is a retired American Basketball player Todd Fitzgerald Day (born January 7, 1970 in Decatur Illinois) is a retired American professional Basketball player

SWC Baseball was dominated year-in-year-out by the Texas Longhorns, who under legendary coach Cliff Gustafson won national titles in 1975 and 1983. Cliff Gustafson is a former Texas high school & College baseball coach who was for twenty-nine seasons the head coach of The University of Texas at Austin Roger Clemens is the most prominent SWC baseball alum. William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962 in Dayton, Ohio) is an American Right-handed Pitcher in Major

Final years

Southwest Conference, 1991

The 1980s saw most of the conference's athletic programs hit by recruiting scandals and NCAA probations. The National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA, often pronounced "N-C-Double-A" is a voluntary association of about 1200 institutions conferences organizations The only programs to escape probation in the 1980s were Arkansas, Baylor, and Rice. Because of repeated major violations, the Southern Methodist University football program in 1987 became only the second program in NCAA history to receive the so-called "Death Penalty" (after Kentucky basketball in 1952-53). Southern Methodist University ("SMU" is a private, Coeducational University in University Park, Texas (an enclave Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) The death penalty refers to the National Collegiate Athletic Association 's (NCAA power to force United States academic institutions not to compete in certain sports The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest team in the history of College basketball, The NCAA forced SMU to disband its football program for the 1987 season, and limited it to seven road games for 1988; SMU chose not to play at all in 1988. At that time, NCAA rules prohibited schools on probation from appearing in televised games. As a result, the conference's market share in television coverage dwindled. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic The performance in the "money" sport of football declined also. The final 8 SWC Champions lost in their bowl game. The beginning of the end was when Arkansas announced it would leave for the Southeastern Conference in 1990, and the death blow came in 1993 when Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor accepted invitations to join the Big Eight Conference, creating the Big 12 Conference. The Southeastern Conference (SEC is a College Athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which operates in the southeastern The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA -affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, was formed in January 1907 as the The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of twelve schools located mostly in the central United States. In May of 1996, after the completions of championship matches in baseball and track & field, the Southwest Conference was officially dissolved. Baseball is a Bat-and-ball Sport played between two teams of nine players each

Over the course of its 81-year history, teams of the Southwest Conference garnered sixty-four recognized national championships in collegiate sports (nine in football).

In 1997 the official records of the conference from 1914 to 1996 were moved from Dallas to the campus of Texas Tech University, becoming part of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. The archive also contains an extensive assortment of images and memorabilia from each member university.

Members

• Arkansas (1915-1991)
• Baylor (1915-1996)
• Houston (1971-1975 played but not eligible for football title, 1976-1996)
• Oklahoma (1915-1919)
• Oklahoma A&M (1915-1925)
• Phillips (1920-1920)
• Rice (1915-1917 provisional, 1918-1996)
• Southern Methodist (1918-1996)
• Southwestern (1915-1916)
• Texas (1915-1996)
• Texas A&M (1915-1996)
• TCU (1923-1996)
• Texas Tech (1956-1957 played but not eligible for football title, 1958-1996)

Where are they now?

* TCU left the WAC to join C-USA, then joined MWC. The University of Arkansas, often shortened to U of A or just UA, is a public Co-educational Land-grant university Baylor University is a private, Baptist -affiliated Research University located in Waco Texas. The University of Houston (often referred to as " U of H," " UH," or " Houston " is a public doctoral/research University of Oklahoma, abbreviated OU, is a Coeducational public Research university located in the U Phillips University was a private coeducational institution of Higher education located in Enid Oklahoma, United States from 1906 to 1998 William Marsh Rice University (commonly called Rice University and opened in 1912 as The William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Letters Science and Art Southern Methodist University ("SMU" is a private, Coeducational University in University Park, Texas (an enclave This is about the university in Georgetown Texas USA for the university in the Philippines see Southwestern University (Philippines. Texas A&M University, often called A&M or TAMU, is a Coeducational public Research University located in College Station Texas Christian University is a private, Coeducational University located in Fort Worth, Texas. Texas Tech University is a public, coeducational research university in Lubbock Texas. The Southeastern Conference (SEC is a College Athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which operates in the southeastern The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of twelve schools located mostly in the central United States. Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The Western Athletic Conference (commonly referred to as the WAC, pronounced "wack" was formed on July 27 1962 making it the sixth oldest of the 11 College The Mountain West Conference (or MWC) the youngest of the College athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA ’s Division I FBS (I-A officially

Conference commissioners

• P. W. St. Clair (1938-45)
• James H. Stewart (1945-50)
• Howard Grubbs (1950-73)
• Cliff Speegle (1973-82)
• Fred Jacoby (1982-93)
• Steve Hatchell (1993-95)
• Kyle Kallander (1995-96)

Conference football champions

• Texas (27 titles, 21 outright): 1916, 1918, 1920, 1928, 1930, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1950, 1952, 1953*, 1959*, 1961*, 1962, 1963, 1968*, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975*, 1977, 1983, 1990, 1994*, 1995
• Texas A&M (17, 15): 1917, 1919, 1921, 1925, 1927, 1939, 1940*, 1941, 1956, 1967, 1975*, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993
• Arkansas (13, 7): 1936, 1946*, 1954, 1959*, 1960, 1961*, 1964, 1965, 1968*, 1975*, 1979*, 1988, 1989
• SMU (11, 9): 1923, 1926, 1931, 1935, 1940*, 1947, 1948, 1966, 1981, 1982, 1984*
• TCU (9, 7): 1929, 1932, 1938, 1944, 1951, 1955, 1958, 1959*, 1994*
• Rice (7, 4): 1934, 1937, 1946*, 1949, 1953*, 1957, 1994*
• Baylor (5, 4): 1922, 1924, 1974, 1980, 1994*
• Houston (4, 1): 1976*, 1978, 1979*, 1984*
• Texas Tech (2, 0): 1976*, 1994*
• Oklahoma (1, 1): 1915

"*" -- Denotes shared title

Conference men's basketball regular-season champions

• Arkansas (22 titles, 14 outright): 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1935*, 1936, 1938, 1941, 1942*, 1944*, 1949*, 1950*, 1958*, 1977, 1978*, 1979*, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1991
• Texas (22, 12): 1915, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1924, 1933, 1939, 1943*, 1947, 1951*, 1954*, 1960, 1963, 1965*, 1972*, 1974, 1978*, 1979*, 1986*, 1992*, 1994, 1995*
• SMU (13, 8): 1935*, 1937, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958*, 1962*, 1965*, 1966, 1967, 1972*, 1988, 1993
• Texas A&M (11, 9): 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1951*, 1964, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1986*
• TCU (10, 2): 1931, 1934, 1951*, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1968, 1971, 1986*, 1987
• Rice (10, 4): 1918, 1935*, 1940, 1942*, 1943*, 1944*, 1945, 1949*, 1954*, 1970
• Texas Tech (6, 4): 1961, 1962*, 1973, 1985, 1995*, 1996
• Baylor (5, 2): 1932, 1946, 1948, 1949*, 1950*
• Houston (3, 2): 1983, 1984, 1992*
• Oklahoma A&M (1): 1925

"*" -- Denotes shared title

Quote

President John F. Kennedy referenced Southwest Conference with the question, "Why does Rice play Texas?" in his September 12, 1962 "Moon Speech" delivered at Rice Stadium. John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29 1917&ndashNovember 22 1963 often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of Events 1213 - Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Rice Stadium is a football Stadium located on the Rice University campus in Houston Texas. ^[1]

See also

• List of defunct college football conferences

Further reading

• Tips, Kern (1964). This is a list of defunct College football conferences in the United States. Football, Texas Style: An Illustrated History of the Southwest Conference. Garden City, N. Y. : Doubleday & Co.  
• Pennington, Richard (1987). Breaking the Ice: The Racial Integration of Southwest Conference Football. Jefferson, N. C. : MacFarland & Co. ISBN 0899502954.  

References

External links

• A Look Back at the Southwest Conference
• Southwest Conference Records, 1914-1996 and undated, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library
• Southwest Conference football helmets