Texas A&M Commerce Lions

The Lions of Texas A&M-Commerce (now East Texas A&M) built one of Division II's most decorated modern programs before jumping to the FCS ranks in 2022. A charter member of the Lone Star Conference, the Lions combined a century of tradition with recent national title success, giving the small East Texas school an outsized football reputation.

The program traces to East Texas Normal College, founded in 1889, and has fielded football since 1915. The Lions won the NAIA national championship in 1972 and, decades later, captured the school's first NCAA Division II national title in 2017 with a win over West Florida. Commerce has claimed 24 Lone Star Conference championships, including three straight from 2014-2016, before moving up to Division I FCS as an independent and later Southland Conference member.