Southwest Athletic Conference
| Southwest Conference (SWC) |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Established | 1914 |
| Dissolved | 1996 |
| Association | NCAA |
| Division | Division I NCAA Division I-A |
| Members | 8 (final), 13 (total) |
| Region | South Central United States |
| Former names | Southwest Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas |
| Locations | |
-USA-states.PNG) |
|
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma and Arkansas as well.
For most of its history, the core members of the conference were Texas-based schools plus one in Arkansas, Rice University, Southern Methodist University, Texas A&M University, Texas Christian University, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Texas. After a long period of stability, Arkansas left in 1991 to join the Southeastern Conference. Five years later, the conference precipitously broke up as Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech (which had entered in 1956) combined with the members of the former Big Eight Conference to form a new powerhouse, the Big 12 Conference, while Rice, SMU, TCU, and Houston found homes in less prominent conferences.
L. Theo Bellmont, the University of Texas athletic director sent out questionnaires to schools in Texas and neighboring states to gauge their interest as to if they would be willing to be part of and organize an athletic conference. By March 1, 1914 a number of schools had responded favorably to the idea.
The first organizational meeting of the conference was set to be held on April 30, 1914. The date was changed because representatives from every school could not make it then. It was ultimately held on May 5 and 7, 1914 at the Oriental Hotel in Dallas, Texas. It was chaired by L. Theo Bellmont. Originally, Bellmont wanted Louisiana State University and the University of Mississippi to join the conference as well, but they declined to do so. The Southwest Intercollegiate Athletic Conference became an official body on December 8, 1914, at a formal meeting at the Rice Hotel in Houston.
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