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SAC History... |
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The Sooner Athletic Conference began in 1977-78 with Bethany Nazarene College (now Southern Nazarene University), Oklahoma Baptist University, Oklahoma Christian University, Phillips University and the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma. Only one of those charter members is no longer with the conference, which has since added to its strength.
John Brown University has twice been an expansion team in the conference, joining the league in 1980 and then re-joining the SAC in 1995 after a 12-year absence.
Oklahoma City University dropped out of the ranks of NCAA Division I in 1985 and took up residence in the SAC, beginning in the 1985-86 season.
Lubbock Christian University and Wayland Baptist University left their independent status behind and were admitted as the first Texas members of the SAC in 1994, replacing USAO, which opted to leave the league that year.
St. Gregory's University, applied for membership and was granted associate member status and competed for the conference crown for the first time in 1998-99.
Charter member Phillips University was closed in the summer of 1998 due to financial instability.
USAO, which had dropped out and joined the Red River Athletic Conference, applied for and was granted membership in the SAC during the 1999-2000 school year.
Northwestern Oklahoma State University was added the to the conference as a full member in the 2001-02 academic year.
Each year the national championships bear out what the member institutions believe: the Sooner Athletic Conference is the premiere small college conference in America.
SAC QUICK FACTS
* The Sooner Athletic Conference began in 1978 with Bethany Nazarene College (now Southern Nazarene University), Oklahoma Baptist University, Oklahoma Christian University, Phillips University and the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma.
* SAC members have played for the NAIA national men's basketball championship 10 times in 24 years, including nine times in the last 11 years, winning five times. Oklahoma City University has won four titles - more than any other NAIA team. USAO defeated Oklahoma Baptist for the 2002 championship.
* SAC member Southern Nazarene University won four consecutive NAIA women's basketball titles from 1995-98 and Oklahoma City has won the past four titles (1999-2002). The SAC commonly makes up half of the NAIA Women's Semifinals.
* Lubbock Christian University's cross country program won seven consecutive NAIA titles in the 1990s.
* Oklahoma City University won four consecutive NAIA softball championships in the 1990s and has won the last three titles, giving them seven of the last nine titles.
* Oklahoma Baptist University and Lubbock Christian University both won NAIA track championships in the 1990s.
* Wayland Baptist University's women's basketball program has the most win of any college women's program with more than 1,300.
* Oklahoma City University has won the last four NAIA men's tennis championships and is the only college in Oklahoma to have ever won a national tennis title.
* Oklahoma City University won the 2001 NAIA men's golf championship, becoming the first SAC school to win that event.
* Southern Nazarene University won the 200w NAIA women's golf championship.
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