The Lone Star Conference will expand to 16 member institutions as league officials announced that Incarnate Word has accepted an invitation to join the conference in July 2010.

The Lone Star Conference Council of Presidents agreed to extend the offer to Incarnate Word at the NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C.

“Our expansion committee’s recommendation was to invite Incarnate Word, both because they satisfy the primary needs of the conference and they present an opportunity for mutual gain,” said Commissioner Stan Wagnon. “For our presidents to approve that recommendation unanimously speaks to the value we believe Incarnate Word brings as a new member. Incarnate Word is a great fit for our membership on a number of levels, but most importantly because of the way they fit with regard to academic reputation, sports sponsorship, and geographic and economic viability.”

The expansion is the Lone Star’s first membership change since 2000, when Harding and Ouachita Baptist left the league. Incarnate Word, located in San Antonio, will be the 28th institution to compete as a member of the 78-year-old Lone Star Conference, and the second San Antonio school to play in the league. Trinity (Texas) was a member from 1931-34 and 1946-49.

Incarnate Word sponsors 19 sports (nine men’s and 10 women’s), including the recent addition of football. The Cardinals will play their first football game on August 29, 2009, and compete as an independent in 2009 with games scheduled against three current Lone Star members – Eastern New Mexico, Midwestern State and East Central.

“Incarnate Word currently sponsors all 16 sports in which the Lone Star conducts championships, something that none of our current members can claim,” Wagnon said. “Certainly, their location in San Antonio will tighten our league from a geographic standpoint, but it also provides our conference and all members with increased exposure in one of the largest markets of this region.”

A former NAIA program, Incarnate Word joined the NCAA Division II ranks as a member of the Heartland Conference in June 1999. The Cardinals have seen 27 teams advance to NCAA postseason play since then.

The Lone Star Conference, founded in April 1931, started as a five-team league of Texas-based schools and with Incarnate Word will become a 16-member league with nine members in Texas, six in Oklahoma and one in New Mexico

-Courtesy Lone Star Media Relations Director Melanie Robotham