The Abilene Christian Wildcats football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Abilene Christian University located in the U.S. state of Texas. The team was a member of the Southland Conference through the 2020–21 season, but joined the Western Athletic Conference in July 2021, coinciding with that league's reinstatement of football as an official conference sport. After the 2022 season, the WAC fully merged its football league with that of the Atlantic Sun Conference, creating what eventually became the United Athletic Conference, and ACU accordingly moved its football team to the new league. In July 2026, the football-only UAC was merged into the WAC, which adopted the United Athletic Conference name with Abilene Christian as a continuing member. The school's first football team was fielded in 1919. The team plays its home games at the on-campus Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.
Contents
History
Football classifications
1951–1972: College Division (small school)
1973–1982: NAIA Division I
1982–2012: NCAA Division II
2013–present: NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision
• Abilene Christian did not field a team in 1943–1945.
Conference affiliations
1919–1924: Independent
1925–1932: Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1931–1932: Independent
1933–1942, 1946–1953: Texas Conference
No team 1943–1945 due to World War II
1954: Independent
1955–1956: Gulf Coast Conference
1957–1963: Independent
1964–1972: Southland Conference
1973–2012: Lone Star Conference
2013: NCAA Division I FCS independent
2014–2020: Southland Conference
2021–2022: Western Athletic Conference
2023–2025: United Athletic Conference (football-only)
2026–present: United Athletic Conference (all-sports)
Notable former players
Notable alumni include:
Championships
Conference championships
† Co-champions
Division championships
† Co-champions
Playoff appearances
NCAA Division I FCS
The Wildcats have made two appearances in the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs. They have a combined record of 2–2.
NCAA Division II
The Wildcats have made six appearances in the Division II playoffs, with an combined record of 3–6.
NAIA
The Wildcats made two appearances in the NAIA playoffs with an overall record of 4–0. They were National Champions in 1973 and 1977.
Future non-conference opponents
Announced schedules as of September 7, 2026.