BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Ohio Valley Conference has announced that The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) has joined the Conference as an affiliate member for men's soccer beginning with the 2026 season.
 
The addition of Vaqueros gives the OVC its third men's soccer institution in the state of Texas, joining Houston Christian (HCU) and Incarnate Word (UIW).
 
"We are excited to welcome The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to the OVC as an affiliate member for men's soccer," said OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche. "Adding UTRGV strengthens our conference's sustainability in men's soccer and allows us to create a more balanced competitive schedule with divisional play opportunities. This addition enables us to play a robust conference schedule while remaining attentive to the geographic considerations of multisport and affiliate members alike. Men's soccer has been a wonderful addition to our sports sponsorship menu and it continues to strengthen our conference. We look forward to the Vaqueros joining our men's soccer competition in 2026."
 
The OVC started the sport of men's soccer prior to the 2023 season. For the 2025 season the OVC men's soccer membership will include Eastern Illinois, HCU, Liberty, Lindenwood, SIUE, Southern Indiana, Western Illinois and UIW.
 
UTRGV boasts an enrollment of over 34,000 across main campuses in Edinburg and Brownsville, Texas, in additional to several other sites across the Rio Grande Valley.
 
"It's an exciting day for our men's soccer program," UTRGV Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque said. "We are grateful for the leadership of commissioner Beth DeBauche and the opportunity to compete in the OVC starting in 2026 and for the opportunity to spread the UTRGV brand to another part of the country. The move to the OVC gives our men's soccer program a chance to compete for a conference championship while enhancing the student-athlete experience."
 
UTRGV men's soccer competes at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex in Edinburg, which was built in 2014 and expanded in 2023 to include brand new locker rooms, team areas, coaches offices, and a state of the art training room. Not only does the facility have a grass pitch as the main competition field, but there is also a separate area for goalkeepers to work out right next to the field. The renovations also included the installation of a new sound system to improve the fan experience in a facility that can seat 1,250. UTRGV added a press box with four rooms and a camera deck prior to the 2023 season.
 
On the field, UTRGV men's soccer spent the last 10 seasons in the Western Athletic Conference, taking home 32 All-Conference honors in that span, including William Akio being named Offensive Player of the Year in 2021. 
 
The Vaqueros cracked the top 25 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll twice, most recently in 2021, when they ranked 25^th while also ranking as high as 24^th in 2019. 
 
UTRGV has also been represented in the MLS Draft, having three players selected since 2020, including Bryant Farkarlun (Austin FC, second round) in 2024, Reshaun Walkes (Toronto FC, third round) in 2022, and Kyle Edwards (Houston Dynamo, fourth round) in 2020.
 
"I am really excited not just for us but more importantly, for our student-athletes," UTRGV head coach Bryheem Hancock said. "We are very thankful to be accepted into the OVC. I know our Athletic Director, Chasse Conque, and our Deputy AD, Molly Castner, have done a great job of being hands on with aggressively trying to make sure these student-athletes have a great experience moving forward. I am very excited just like they are as well."
 
Academically, UTRGV is the No. 1 ranked university in Texas (No. 58 nationally) in Washington Monthly's overall rankings, in addition to being No. 1 in Texas in performance of pell grant students (No. 2 nationally), net price of attendance (No. 5 nationally), and social mobility (No. 9 nationally). UTRGV is also certified with the Seal of Excelencia, an honor first earned in 2021. UTRGV was then one of just nine institutions in the country to earn recertification in 2024. 
 
UTRGV's academic offerings including a school of medicine, which launched in 2016, and a school of podiatric medicine, which launched in 2022 and is the only school of podiatric medicine in Texas and one of just 10 in the nation. Since 2015, UTRGV has expanded its academic offerings with 16 new bachelor programs, 15 new master programs, five new doctoral programs, and four new professional programs.

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