Tarleton is located just over an hour southwest of DFW. It pulls a large percentage of its students from the Metroplex and the alumni move there after graduation. It has offered classes in Fort Worth for more than a decade and recently established a new campus just outside of Fort Worth.

The university has been considering this for more than a decade.

2003- Tries to join Southland, but A&M-Corpus and Central Arkansas were supposedly chosen because Corpus was already D1 with good facilities and a promised to consider football. UCA offered a new market to expand the brand. Most damning for Tarleton was that the facilities were supposedly not up to snuff.

2007- Tarleton announces master plan with D1 as stated goal and facility renovations
2009- Students vote to increase athletic fee from $6 to $10 per credit hour to finance enhancements
2012- Southland loses 3 schools (TXST,UTSA,UTA) and starts looking for replacements. Adds UIW to keep San Antonio market, ACU because of money and athletic success, and three other members for markets (Houston Baptist, New Orleans, Oral Roberts).
2013- Tarleton students increase athletic fee from $10 to $22 to again enhance facilities.
2013- Tarleton plays game against ACU in Frisco, TX (same city as Southland headquarters)

2015- Tarleton President and AD hold open forum to gauge campus interest in D1. Mentions conversation with SLC leadership. Thinks proximity to DFW is a selling point to the conference. However, at that point the league had some transitioning teams (ACU and UIW) and the AD thought they would want them fully transitioned before they looked at more teams. They speculated that Tarleton would be looked at again once the transition is complete.

2015- Tarleton Mens Basketball advances to the D2 Final 4 for the second time. Alumni come out of the woodwork and talks of d1 gets louder.
2016- Plan for Football Stadium expansion are reviewed
2017- Football stadium renovation is started. ACU and UIW now full members.

October 2017 - President makes announcement that he want to convene a committee to discuss a potential move.

Fees are in place and enrollment is now above 12,000. Facility enhancements are happening all over campus and especially around athletics. Tennis courts redone. Rec fields for intramural soccer have been made NCAA soccer ready. Football improvements underway and President talks about new swim/dive complex.


Just my 2 cents- Tarleton wasn't ready when ACU moved up. They learned from being left behind and started pushing full force to get things in place when the next offer would come. SLC wasnt ready to expand while ACU and UIW were in their 5 year transition window. That has come to a close and they are now full D1 members. At this point, the SLC can explore taking on another transition team.