List of NAIA conferences
The following is a list of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) conferences as of the 2024–25 school year. Unless otherwise noted, changes in conference membership occur on July 1 of the given year.
Current conferences
[edit]Football
[edit]| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sports | Headquarters | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian Athletic Conference | AAC | 1985 | 16 [FB 1] | 24 | Asheville, North Carolina | 
|
| Frontier Conference | Frontier | 1952 | 6 [FB 2] | 16 | Billings, Montana | 
|
| Great Plains Athletic Conference | GPAC | 1969 | 12 [FB 3] | 19 | Sioux City, Iowa | 
|
| Heart of America Athletic Conference | HAAC | 1971 | 13 [FB 4] | 23 | Overland Park, Kansas | 
|
| NAIA Independents | 1 [FB 5] | 1 | ||||
| Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference | KCAC | 1928 | 14 [FB 6] | 21 | Wichita, Kansas | 
|
| Mid-South Conference | MSC | 1995 | 7 [FB 7] | 21 | Bowling Green, Kentucky | 
|
| Mid-States Football Association | MSFA | 1993 | 13 | 1 [FB 8] | Findlay, Ohio | 
|
| North Star Athletic Association | NSAA | 2013 | 6 [FB 9] | 18 | Jamestown, North Dakota | 
|
| Sooner Athletic Conference | SAC | 1978 | 13 [FB 10] | 15 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | 
|
| Sun Conference | The Sun | 1990 | 10 [FB 11] | 17 | Daytona Beach, Florida | 
|
- Notes
- ^ 16 members; 7 football members.
- 16 full members and 7 football members in 2025 with the following changes:
- Addition of non-football Spartanburg Methodist.
- Loss of football-sponsoring Kentucky Christian.
- Addition of Rio Grande as a football affiliate.
- 16 full members and 7 football members in 2025 with the following changes:
- ^ 6 full members with Providence as a non-football member; 9 football members with Arizona Christian, College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Southern Oregon as football affiliates.
- 11 full members and 14 football members in 2025 with addition of Bellevue as non-football member, Dakota State, Dickinson State, Mayville State, and Valley City State in all sports, and Simpson as football-only affiliate.
- ^ 12 members; 11 football members.
- ^ 13 members; 14 football members.
- 15 members in 2025 with addition of Missouri Baptist and William Woods for all sports.
- ^ 1 member in 2024 with addition of Simpson.
- 0 members in 2025 with loss of Simpson.
- ^ 14 members; 12 football members.
- ^ 7 members; 7 football members with Freed–Hardeman as a non-football member, and with Faulkner as a football-only affiliate.
- ^ Football-only conference.
- ^ 6 members; 5 football members with Bellevue as non-football member.
- 5 members in 2025 with loss of Jamestown. Disbanding thereafter.
- ^ 13 members; 10 football members with Central Christian, John Brown, Mid-America Christian, North Texas at Dallas, Oklahoma City, College of the Ozarks, USAO, and Southwestern Christian as non-football members, and with Arkansas Baptist, Louisiana Christian, North American, Ottawa (AZ), and Texas College as football affiliates.
- ^ 10 members; 8 football members with Thomas as a football-only affiliate.
Non-football
[edit]| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sports | Headquarters | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Midwest Conference | AMC | 1998 | 12 [NF 1] | 17 | St. Louis, Missouri | 
|
| California Pacific Conference | CalPac | 1996 | 8 [NF 2] | 10 | Oakland, California | 
|
| Cascade Collegiate Conference | CCC | 1988 | 12 | 13 | Clackamas, Oregon | 
|
| Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference | CCAC | 1949 | 12 | 16 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 
|
| Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) | CAC | 2008 | 12 | 21 | 
| |
| Crossroads League | CL | 1959 | 10 | 15 | Hartford City, Indiana | 
|
| Great Southwest Athletic Conference | GSAC | 1986 | 8 | 13 | Irvine, California | 
|
| HBCU Athletic Conference | HBCUAC | 1981 | 13 | 16 | New Orleans, Louisiana | 
|
| Red River Athletic Conference | RRAC | 1998 | 14 | 15 | Dallas, Texas | 
|
| River States Conference | RSC | 1916 | 12 | 15 | Middletown, Ohio | 
|
| Southern States Athletic Conference | SSAC | 1999 | 13 [NF 3] | 15 | Atlanta, Georgia | 
|
| Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference | WHAC | 1992 | 13 | 21 | Livonia, Michigan | 
|
- Notes
- ^ 10 members in 2025 with loss of Missouri Baptist and William Woods.
- ^ 7 members in 2025 with loss of UC Merced.
- ^ 12 members in 2025 with loss of Middle Georgia State.
Defunct conferences
[edit]Football
[edit]- Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (1928–1995)
- Central States Intercollegiate Conference (1976–1989)
- Dakota Athletic Conference (2000–2012)
- Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (closed in 2003)
- Evergreen Conference (1948–1984)
- Great Plains Athletic Conference (1972–1976)
- Hoosier–Buckeye Conference (1948–1985)
- Missouri College Athletic Union (1924–1970)
- Nebraska College Conference (1916–1976)
- North Dakota College Athletic Conference[a] (closed in 2000)
- Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference (1929–1973), formerly the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference
- Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference (1974–1997)
- Pacific Northwest Athletic Conference (1984–1998)
- South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference[a] (closed in 2000)
- South East Atlantic Conference (2004–2008), football only, members became NAIA football independents
- Southern States Conference (1938–1997), formerly the Alabama Intercollegiate Conference and the Alabama Collegiate Conference
- Tri-State Conference (1960–1981)
- Volunteer State Athletic Conference (1940s–early 1980s)
- West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1924–2013), transferred to the NCAA in 1995 after a two-year dual membership. Most of the final WVIAC members are now in the NCAA Division II Mountain East Conference.
- Notes
- ^ a b Both the NDCAC and the SDIC merged to form the Dakota Athletic Conference.
Non-football
[edit]- American Mideast Conference (1949–2012)
- Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference (1994–2015)
- Midwest Collegiate Conference (1988–2015)
- Northeastern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (2016–2019)[a]
- Sunrise Athletic Conference (2002–2011)
- TranSouth Athletic Conference (1996–2013)
- Notes
- ^ Also formerly a United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) athletic conference.
Former conferences
[edit]All transferred to the NCAA.
Football
[edit]- Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1973–1988)
- Lone Star Conference (1931–1982)
- Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1920–1982)
- Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (1932–1995), known as Northern Intercollegiate Conference until 1992
- Northwest Conference (1926–1996), Pacific Northwest Conference before 1984 and Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges until 1996
- Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (1909–1992), Colorado Faculty Athletic Conference until 1910 and Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference until 1967
- Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (1972–2008), Twin Rivers Conference until 1983
Non-football
[edit]- Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (1961–2002)
- Conference Carolinas (1930–1995), known as Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference until 1961, held dual membership with the NCAA for two years starting in 1993
- Dixie Conference (1963–1973), became the USA South Athletic Conference in 2003
See also
[edit]References
[edit]External links
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