Houston Baptist set to join Southland Conference

The world of college athletics continues to shift and shuffle amidst conference realignment.

Nicholls State University will now feel the movement’s tremors as a few new names are set to enter the Southland Conference.

The conference announced this week that Houston Baptist has been accepted into the league as its 11th member.

The Huskies will enter the league on July 1, 2013.

They join Oral Roberts, who was added to the conference last month and will begin play in 2012.

“The addition of Houston Baptist is the latest step in the effort of the Southland presidents to ensure future membership stability for the league,” Southland Conference Commissioner Tom Burnett said in a release this week. “As we’ve mentioned previously, the board has only shown interest in institutions that clearly bring added value to the league.”

For the Southland, Houston Baptist’s value is two-fold.

First, the Huskies will play football. Something Oral Roberts does not.

Houston Baptist’s administration announced last month that they have plans to adopt the sport for the first time in its history for the 2014 season.

The school’s arrival will give the Southland nine members who play football; an all-time high in the conference’s history.

“The group clearly sees the benefits of adding a football-playing institution in the biggest city within the Southland’s current footprint,” Burnett said.

The second half of the Commissioner’s statement is the second benefit. Market size.

The Huskies will now be the conference’s lone member among the country’s 10th largest media market and 4th largest city.

A press release issued by the Southland Conference estimates that approximately 20,000 Houston natives are enrolled at Southland universities and 90,000 Southland alumni live in the area, making it a win-win for all parties involved.

“We are looking forward to competing against, and building rivalries with, these great universities from our region that compete in the Southland,” HBU Athletics Director Steve Moniaci said. “Not only will this be fantastic for our student-athletes, who will soon have the opportunity to challenge for automatic bids to the NCAA Championships, but it will also give our fans the opportunity to travel to these schools, see us compete and support the Huskies.”

The Huskies’ push to DI comes after the school had a dominant run in NAIA competition, where they won 40 league titles.

The school has a diverse offering of programs and competes in 14 of the Southland’s 17 sanctioned sports, including basketball (men and women’s), baseball, soccer, softball and volleyball.

Houston Baptist is particularly potent in baseball and softball, having upset several top-tier programs in both sports during their move to DI.

Houston Baptist facilities will also be on par with their competiveness, as the school announced it will build a new basketball and volleyball facility to replace the 48-year-old Sharp Gymnasium where the team currently plays.

With Houston Baptist’s acceptance into the league, it doesn’t appear the Southland is finished growing.

Burnett maintained the league’s stance, saying that they will review all membership possibilities in the coming months and will not be shy to extend an offer if a fit is beneficial for both the university and conference.

The commissioner added that he believes the conference will continue to aggressively chase universities that could boost the league’s football numbers.

“The Southland’s membership review process remains open,” Burnett said. “And we expect that the Board of Directors will advance with a primary focus on possibly adding institutions that sponsor football.”