Quick Facts
Location: Odessa and Midland, Texas
Enrollment: 7,072
Established: 1969
Affiliation: NCAA Division II
Conference: Lone Star Conference (LSC) / Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC): associate member
Colors: Orange, Black and White
Nickname: Falcons
President: Dr. Sandra K. Woodley
VP for Athletics: Scott Larson
When UT Permian Basin opened its doors in 1973, it originally only offered upper-level courses until 1991 when the State Legislature authorized the University to offer courses at the freshman and sophomore level. The University first sponsored intercollegiate sport was tennis from 1979-1988. Under Coach Virginia Brown, the team was regularly among the top NAIA teams regionally and nationally, but the team was dropped in 1988.
For a brief period a club rugby team represented UTPB, calling themselves the Chargers despite the official school nickname being the Falcons. With the addition of underclassmen classes, a committee was formed by President Charles Sorber to assess the impact of an athletics program at UTPB. After the recommendation of the committee and a student vote, the creation of the UTPB Athletics department was authorized in the Fall of 1993.
In 1995, Dr. Steve Aicinena was named the first Director of Athletics in school history. Dr. Aicinena also served as the club volleyball coach starting in 1994. That year UTPB joined the NAIA. Volleyball was UTPB's first intercollegiate program in 1995 with men's soccer achieving intercollegiate status in the Fall of 1996. Softball became a sponsored sport in 1997, with Kelly McMahan serving as its first head coach.
UTPB became a charter member of the Red River Conference in 1996.
A budget increase brought about the addition of women's soccer, men's basketball and women's basketball in the early 2000’s. A limited number of athletic scholarships became available in the Fall of 2003. The Falcons continued to expand with additional budget increases over the next few years. Men's and women's cross country along with men's and women's swimming were added in 2004, and baseball followed in 2005.
After expanding the Falcons sought to jump to the NCAA. They were approved as a provisional member of the NCAA, joined the Heartland Conference in 2006 and became a full-fledged Division II member in the Fall of 2008. While in the Heartland Conference, the Falcons combined to win four conference regular season championships and two conference tournament championships.
The Falcons expanded once more, adding football along with men's and women's Golf for the 2016-17 year. With the addition of Football, the Falcons left the Heartland for the Lone Star Conference that same year.
The Falcons expanded once more, adding football along with men's and women's Golf for the 2016-17 year. With the addition of Football, the Falcons left the Heartland for the Lone Star Conference (LSC) that same year.
2024-25 Accolades
1 Honorable Mention All-American
4 LSC Player of the Year
44 LSC All-Conference Honors
6 RMAC All-Conference Honors
28 CSC Academic All-District student-athletes
6 LSC Academic All-Conference student-athletes
1 First Team RMAC All-Academic Team student-athlete
13 Honor Roll RMAC All-Academic student-athletes
Department GPA in Spring '25: 3.10
49 student-athletes posted 4.00 GPA in Spring '25 semester
Past / Current Head Coaches and Administrators of the UTPB Athletics
Historic Moments in UTPB athletics History
Affiliations
