| Gulf Star Conference | |
| Founded: | 1984 |
| Dissolved: | 1987 |
| Conference: | NCAA |
| Division: | Division II |
| Teams: | 6 |
| Region: | Southern United States |
| Map: | Gulf Star Conference-USA-states.png |
| Map Size: | 250 |
The Gulf Star Conference was an NCAA Division II[1] conference that existed for three academic years from 1984 - 85 to 1986 - 87. All of the schools subsequently joined the Southland Conference. Dave Waples was the only commissioner, with the conference office located in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Although the Southland eventually took in all of the former Gulf Star schools, only four (Northwestern State, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, and Southwest Texas State) joined the Southland immediately upon the Gulf Star's demise. The other two Gulf Star members, Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana, initially became independents. Nicholls State joined the SLC for the 1991–92 school year. SLU became a member of the Trans America Athletic Conference (now known as the Atlantic Sun Conference) in that same year, and moved to the Southland in 1997–98. To date, only Nicholls State, Northwestern State, and Southeastern Louisiana remain in the Southland Conference, as Southwest Texas State (now known as Texas State) joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2013 while Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin moved to the Western Athletic Conference in 2021.
| Institution | Nickname | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Joined | Left | Subsequent conference(s) | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [2] | Colonels | Thibodaux, Louisiana | 1948 | Public | 1984 | 1987 | D-I Independent (1987–91) | Southland (1991–present) |
| Demons | Natchitoches, Louisiana | 1884 | Southland (1987–present) | |||||
| Bearkats | Huntsville, Texas | 1879 | Southland (1987–2021) Western (WAC) (2021–2023) | C-USA (2023–present) | ||||
| Lions | Hammond, Louisiana | 1925 | D-I Independent (1987–91) Atlantic Sun (ASUN) (1991–97) | Southland (1997–present) | ||||
| Bobcats | San Marcos, Texas | 1899 | Southland (1987–2012) Western (WAC) (2012–13) | Sun Belt (2013–present) | ||||
| Lumberjacks &<br>Ladyjacks | Nacogdoches, Texas | 1921 | Southland (1987–2021) Western (WAC) (2021–2024) | Southland (2024–present) | ||||
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1984 till:1994
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors =
id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Nicholls State (1984–1987) bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:1991 text:D-I Ind. bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:1991 till:end text:Southland
bar:2 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Northwestern State (1984–1987) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:end text:Southland
bar:3 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Sam Houston State (1984–1987) bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:end text:Southland
bar:4 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Southeastern Louisiana (1984–1987) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:1991 text:D-I Ind. bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1991 till:end text:TAAC
bar:5 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Southwest Texas State (1984–1987) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:end text:Southland
bar:6 color:Full from:1984 till:1987 text:Stephen F. Austin State (1984–1987) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:end text:Southland
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:1984
| Season | Team | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 12–6 | ||
| 1986 | 16–4 | ||
| 1987 | 17–3 |
| Season | Team | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Nicholls State | 4–1 | |
| Northwestern State | |||
| 1985 | Sam Houston State | 4–1 | |
| Stephen F. Austin | |||
| 1986 | Sam Houston State | 3–1 |
See also: Gulf Star Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year.
| Season | Team | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984–85 | |||
| 1985–86 | |||
| 1986–87 |