The following is a list of
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...
conferences as of the 2022–23 school year. Unless otherwise noted, changes in conference membership occur on July 1 of the given year.
Current conferences
Football
;Notes
Non-football
;Notes
Defunct conferences
Football
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Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference
The Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) was an athletic conference in existence from 1927 or 1928 to 1995 affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference membership consisted entirely of colleges ...
(1928–1995)
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Central States Intercollegiate Conference
The Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC) was an American intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1976 to 1989. It was known to be one of the toughest NAIA c ...
(1976–1989)
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Dakota Athletic Conference
The Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) was a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). As the name implies, member teams were located in the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. T ...
(2000–2012)
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Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was a conference of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) that participated in the NAIA's Division I, with member institutions in Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It was fo ...
(closed in 2003)
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Evergreen Conference The Evergreen Conference (EvCo), known as the Tri-Normal League from 1920 to 1938 and the Washington Intercollegiate Conference (WINCO) from 1938 to 1947, was an intercollegiate athletic conference composed of member schools located in the states o ...
(1948–1984)
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Great Plains Athletic Conference (1972–1976)
The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) was a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), operated in the western United States. It was aligned with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Co ...
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Hoosier–Buckeye Conference
The Hoosier College Conference (HCC) was a men's intercollegiate athletics conference founded in 1947 by eight members of the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference. After consisting solely of colleges in Indiana for 24 years, the conference changed i ...
(1948–1985)
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Missouri College Athletic Union The Missouri College Athletic Union (MCAU) was an intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1924 to 1971. It consisted primarily of private universities from the state of Missouri that departed the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Assoc ...
(1924–1970)
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Nebraska College Conference The Nebraska College Conference (NCC), known as the Nebraska Intercollegiate Conference from 1916 to 1926 and later as the Nebraska College Athletic Conference (NCAC), was an intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1916 to 1976. The l ...
(1916–1976)
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North Dakota College Athletic Conference The North Dakota College Athletic Conference (NDCAC) was a collegiate athletic conference that ceased operations following the 1999–00 academic school year when it merged with the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference to form the Dakota Athletic ...
(closed in 2000)
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Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference The Oklahoma Collegiate Conference (OCC), also known as the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference (OCAC), was an intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1929 to 1974. The conference's members were located in the state of Oklahoma.< ...
(1929–1973), formerly the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference
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Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference (1974–1997)
The Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference was an NAIA intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1974 to 1997 and the second of two conferences to share this name. The conference's members were located in the state of Oklahoma. If the ch ...
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Pacific Northwest Athletic Conference (1984–1998)
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South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference The South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC) was an NAIA-associated collegiate athletic conference that ceased operations following the 1999–2000 academic school year when it merged with the North Dakota College Athletic Conference to form ...
(closed in 2000)
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South East Atlantic Conference {{unsourced, date=July 2023
The South East Atlantic Conference (SEAC) was an NAIA football conference founded in 2004. The last commissioner of the SEAC was Henry Smith, Sports Information Director/Director of Football Operations at Edward Waters Co ...
(2004–2008), football only, members became NAIA football independents
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Southern States Conference
The Southern States Conference (SSC) was an affiliate of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics that included member institutions in the U.S. states of Alabama, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida. The league exi ...
(1938–1997), formerly the Alabama Intercollegiate Conference and the Alabama Collegiate Conference
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Tri-State Conference (1960–1981)
The Tri-State Conference was an College athletics, intercollegiate athletic conference associated with National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) the that existed from 1960 to 1981 and one of two conferences to share this name. The ...
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Volunteer State Athletic Conference
The Volunteer State Athletic Conference (VSAC) was a college athletic conference which was predominantly for smaller colleges in the U.S. state of Tennessee.[West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a collegiate athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but briefly had one Kentucky member in its early years, and expanded into Pe ...]
(1924–2013), transferred to the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
in 1994. Most of the final WVIAC members are now in the NCAA Division II
Mountain East Conference
The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 12 schools, mo ...
.
;Notes:
Non-football
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American Mideast Conference
The American Mideast Conference (AMC) was an affiliate of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics that included eight member institutions in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. Founded in 1949, it was known as the Mid-O ...
(1949–2012)
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Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference
The Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC) was an intercollegiate athletic conference that competed in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Members of the conference were located in the Midwest United States and were locate ...
(1994–2015)
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Midwest Collegiate Conference
The Midwest Collegiate Conference (MCC) was a college athletic conference, consisting of colleges and universities located in Iowa and Wisconsin. Founded in 1988, the conference's member schools competed on the NAIA level in 15 different sports. ...
(1988–2015)
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Northeastern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (2016–2019)
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Sunrise Athletic Conference
The Sunrise Athletic Conference was a college athletic conference founded in 2002 and affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Its member institutions were in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont.
Hist ...
(2002–2011)
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TranSouth Athletic Conference (1996–2013)
;Notes:
Former conferences
All transferred to the NCAA.
Football
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Lone Star Conference
The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Tex ...
(1931–1982)
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Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...
(1932–1995), known as Northern Intercollegiate Conference until 1962
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Northwest Conference
The Northwest Conference (NWC) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are located in the states of Oregon and Washington. It was known as the Pacific Northwest Conference from 1926 to 1984.
History
...
(1926–1996), Pacific Northwest Conference before 1984 and Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges until 1996
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Upper Midwest Athletic Conference
The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) is a college-level athletic conference. The UMAC is a conference of NCAA Division III since the 2008–09 season. Prior to that, it was a non scholarship conference affiliated with National Associatio ...
(1972–2008)
Non-football
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Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (or CACC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its fourteen member institutions are located in the northeastern ...
(1961–2002)
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Conference Carolinas
Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Divisio ...
(1930–1995), known as Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference until 1961, held dual membership with the NCAA for two years starting in 1993
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Dixie Conference
The Dixie Conference was the name of two List of college athletic conferences, collegiate athletic leagues in the United States The first operated from 1930 until the United States' entry into World War II in 1942. The second conference to use the ...
(1963–1973), became the
USA South Athletic Conference
The USA South Athletic Conference (formerly the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or the Dixie Conference) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member schools are located in North Carolina and Virginia.
H ...
in 2003
See also
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List of college athletic conferences in the United States
In college athletics in the United States, institutions typically join in conferences for regular play under different governing bodies.
Varsity sports
There are several national and regional associations governing the varsity teams of colleges ...
References
External links
NAIA Member Schools
{{NAIA conference navbox
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