The Border Conference, officially known as the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, was an

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 ...

-affiliated college athletic conference founded in 1931 that disbanded following the 1961–62 season. Centered in the

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...

, the conference included nine member institutions located in the states of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

History

Chronological timeline

* 1931 - The Border Conference (also known as the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association) was founded. Charter members included the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first ...

, Arizona State Teachers College at Flagstaff (now Northern Arizona University), Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe (now Arizona State University), the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

and New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (now New Mexico State University), effective beginning the 1931-32 academic year. * 1932 - Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) joined the Border, effective the 1932-33 academic year. * 1935 - The College of Mines and Metallurgy of the University of Texas (now the University of Texas at El Paso) joined the Border, effective the 1935-36 academic year. * 1941 -

Hardin–Simmons University Hardin–Simmons University (HSU) is a private Baptist university in Abilene, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). History Hardin–Simmons University was founded as Abilene Baptist ...

and West Texas State Teachers College (now West Texas A&M University) joined the Border, effective the 1941-42 academic year. * 1952 - New Mexico left the Border to join the Skyline Conference (a.k.a. the Mountain States Conference), effective after the 1951-52 academic year. * 1953 - Northern Arizona left the Border to join the New Mexico Conference, effective after the 1952-53 academic year. * 1957 - Texas Tech left the Border to join the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

, effective after the 1956-57 academic year. * 1962 - The Border ceased operations as an athletic conference, effective after the 1962-63 academic year; as many schools left to find new conference homes, effective beginning the 1963-64 academic year: Arizona and Arizona State to the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to most of t ...

(WAC); while Hardin–Simmons, New Mexico State, UTEP and West Texas A&M began to compete as Independents.

Member schools

Final members

;Notes:

Former members

;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1931 till:2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:1931 till:1962 text:

(1931–1962) bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1962 till:1978 text: WAC bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:1978 till:end text:

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Divisi ...

bar:2 color:Full from:1931 till:1953 text: Arizona State Teachers–Flagstaff (1931–1953) bar:2 shift:(20) color:OtherC1 from:1953 till:1962 text:

bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1962 till:1970 text: NAIA Indy bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1970 till:end text: Big Sky bar:3 color:Full from:1931 till:1962 text: Arizona State Teachers–Tempe (1931–1962) bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1962 till:1978 text: WAC bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:1978 till:end text:

bar:4 color:Full from:1931 till:1951 text:

(1931–1951) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1951 till:1962 text:

Skyline A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land. City skylin ...

bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1962 till:1999 text: WAC bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:end text: MWC bar:5 color:Full from:1931 till:1962 text: New Mexico A&M (1931–1962) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1962 till:1970 text: FBS Indy bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:1970 till:1983 text: MVC bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1983 till:2005 text:

Big West The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacifi ...

bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2005 till:2023 text: WAC bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text:

C-USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

bar:6 color:Full from:1932 till:1957 text: Texas Technological (1932–1957) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1957 till:1996 text:

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:1996 till:end text:

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

bar:7 color:Full from:1935 till:1962 text: Texas Mines (1935–1962) bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:1962 till:1967 text: FBS Indy bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:1967 till:2005 text: WAC bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:end text:

bar:8 color:Full from:1941 till:1962 text: Hardin-Simmons (1941–1962) bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1962 till:1990 text: D-III Indy bar:8 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:1996 text:

TIAA The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research ...

bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:end text:

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...

bar:9 color:Full from:1941 till:1962 text: West Texas Teachers' (1941–1962) bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1962 till:1972 text: FBS Indy bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:1972 till:1986 text: MVC bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1986 till:1991 text: Lone Star bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:1991 till:1993 text: D-II Indy bar:9 shift:(30) color:OtherC1 from:1993 till:end text: Lone Star bar:N color:red from:1931 till:1962 text:Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association bar:N color:blue from:1962 till:end text:Post-Border ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:6 start:1932 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(250,30) # tabs:(0-center) text:"Border Conference membership history"

Football champions

Texas Tech holds the most conference championships at seven. Arizona State won six conference championships followed by Arizona (three), Hardin–Simmons (two) and both West Texas State and the Texas State School of Mines hold one each. From 1932 to 1934 and 1943 to 1945 no champion was named. There were only two seasons where the title was split and two co-champions were named; 1938, New Mexico and New Mexico A&M and in 1942 Hardin–Simmons and Texas Tech. The winner of the conference title generally received an invitation to serve as the host team for the

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose ...

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

Current conference affiliations of former members

The nine former football-playing members of the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association are currently affiliated with the following nine conferences (all NCAA Division I FBS unless indicated): *

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

and

–

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Divisi ...

–

American Southwest Conference The American Southwest Conference (ASC) is a college athletic conference, founded in 1996, whose member schools compete in the NCAA's Division III. The schools are located in Texas and Arkansas. The conference competes in baseball, men's and w ...

(Division III) *

–

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's ...

– Independent (football),

(all other sports). Moving fully to

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

in 2023. *

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

–

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

(Division I FCS) *

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

(UTEP) –

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...

–

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

* West Texas A&M University –

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 T ...

(Division II)

References

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