List of NAIA conferences

The following is a list of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics 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

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members	Sports	Headquarters
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	14 ^{[FB 4]}	23	Overland Park, Kansas
NAIA Independents			1	1
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference	KCAC	1928	13 ^{[FB 5]}	21	Wichita, Kansas
Mid-South Conference	MSC	1995	12 ^{[FB 6]}	21	Louisville, Kentucky
Mid-States Football Association	MSFA	1993	16	1	Findlay, Ohio
North Star Athletic Association	NSAA	2013	8 ^{[FB 7]}	18	Jamestown, North Dakota
Sooner Athletic Conference	SAC	1978	12 ^{[FB 8]}	15 ^{[FB 9]}	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Sun Conference	The Sun	1990	11 ^{[FB 10]}	17	Daytona Beach, Florida

Notes

^
16 members; 6 football members.
- 15 members and 6 football members in 2023 with Point as a football-only affiliate.
^ 6 full members with Providence as a non-football member; 8 football members with College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Southern Oregon as football affiliates.
^ 12 members; 11 football members.
^
14 members; 12 football members.
- 13 members and 11 football members in 2023 with loss of Evangel.
^
13 members; 11 football members.
- 14 members and 12 football members in 2023 with addition of Evangel.
^
12 members; 9 football members with Freed–Hardeman, Shawnee State, UT Southern, and Wilberforce as non-football members, and with Faulkner as a football affiliate.
- 10 members and 8 football members in 2023 with loss of Thomas More and non-football UT Southern.
^ 8 members; 7 football members with Bellevue and Viterbo as non-football members and Iowa Wesleyan as a football affiliate.
^
12 members; 10 football members with Central Christian, John Brown, Mid-America Christian, North Texas at Dallas, Oklahoma City, USAO, and Southwestern Christian as non-football members, and with Arizona Christian, Louisiana Christian, Ottawa (AZ), Texas College, and Lyon as football affiliates.
- 12 members and 9 football members in 2023 with loss of Lyon.
^ The conference began sponsoring football in 2018.
^
11 members; 8 football members.
- 10 members and 8 football members in 2023 with Thomas as a football-only affiliate.

Non-football

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members	Sports	Headquarters
American Midwest Conference	AMC	1998	11 ^{[NF 1]}	17	St. Louis, Missouri
California Pacific Conference	CalPac	1996	13	10	Oakland, California
Cascade Collegiate Conference	CCC	1988	12	13	Clackamas, Oregon
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference	CCAC	1949	14	16	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Continental Athletic Conference	CAC	2008	19 ^{[NF 2]}	21
Crossroads League	CL	1959	10	15	Hartford City, Indiana
Golden State Athletic Conference	GSAC	1986	10 ^{[NF 3]}	13	Irvine, California
Gulf Coast Athletic Conference	GCAC	1981	8	16	New Orleans, Louisiana
Red River Athletic Conference	RRAC	1998	13	15	Dallas, Texas
River States Conference	RSC	1916	13 ^{[NF 4]}	15	Florence, Kentucky
Southern States Athletic Conference	SSAC	1999	11 ^{[NF 5]}	15	Atlanta, Georgia
Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference	WHAC	1992	12	21	Livonia, Michigan

Notes

^ 10 members in 2023 with loss of Lyon.
^ 18 members in 2023 with loss of South Carolina at Beaufort.
^ 9 members in 2023 with loss of Westmont.
^ 12 members in 2023 with loss of Carlow.
^ 14 members in 2023 with addition of Thomas, UT Southern and Point.

Defunct conferences

Football

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 1994. 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

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 an United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) athletic conference.

Former conferences

All transferred to the NCAA.

Football

Lone Star Conference (1931–1982)
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (1932–1995), known as Northern Intercollegiate Conference until 1962
Northwest Conference (1926–1996), Pacific Northwest Conference before 1984 and Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges until 1996
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (1972–2008)

Non-football

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

References

External links

NAIA Member Schools

[AAC-1] 16 members; 6 football members.
15 members and 6 football members in 2023 with Point as a football-only affiliate.

[2] 15 members and 6 football members in 2023 with Point as a football-only affiliate.

[Frontier-2] 6 full members with Providence as a non-football member; 8 football members with College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Southern Oregon as football affiliates.

[GPAC-3] 12 members; 11 football members.

[HAAC-4] 14 members; 12 football members.
13 members and 11 football members in 2023 with loss of Evangel.

[6] 13 members and 11 football members in 2023 with loss of Evangel.

[KCAC-5] 13 members; 11 football members.
14 members and 12 football members in 2023 with addition of Evangel.

[8] 14 members and 12 football members in 2023 with addition of Evangel.

[MSC-6] 12 members; 9 football members with Freed–Hardeman, Shawnee State, UT Southern, and Wilberforce as non-football members, and with Faulkner as a football affiliate.
10 members and 8 football members in 2023 with loss of Thomas More and non-football UT Southern.

[10] 10 members and 8 football members in 2023 with loss of Thomas More and non-football UT Southern.

[NSAA-7] 8 members; 7 football members with Bellevue and Viterbo as non-football members and Iowa Wesleyan as a football affiliate.

[SAC1-8] 12 members; 10 football members with Central Christian, John Brown, Mid-America Christian, North Texas at Dallas, Oklahoma City, USAO, and Southwestern Christian as non-football members, and with Arizona Christian, Louisiana Christian, Ottawa (AZ), Texas College, and Lyon as football affiliates.
12 members and 9 football members in 2023 with loss of Lyon.

[13] 12 members and 9 football members in 2023 with loss of Lyon.

[SAC2-9] The conference began sponsoring football in 2018.

[10] 11 members; 8 football members.
10 members and 8 football members in 2023 with Thomas as a football-only affiliate.

[16] 10 members and 8 football members in 2023 with Thomas as a football-only affiliate.

[11] 10 members in 2023 with loss of Lyon.

[12] 18 members in 2023 with loss of South Carolina at Beaufort.

[13] 9 members in 2023 with loss of Westmont.

[14] 12 members in 2023 with loss of Carlow.

[15] 14 members in 2023 with addition of Thomas, UT Southern and Point.

[DAC-16] Both the NDCAC and the SDIC merged to form the Dakota Athletic Conference.

[17] Also formerly an United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) athletic conference.

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[FB 3]

[FB 4]

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[FB 7]

[FB 8]

[FB 9]

[FB 10]

[NF 1]

[NF 2]

[NF 3]

[NF 4]

[NF 5]

[a]

[a]

v t e NAIA conferences
Single Division	American Midwest Conference Appalachian Athletic Conference^† California Pacific Conference Cascade Collegiate Conference Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Continental Athletic Conference (Independent schools) Crossroads League Frontier Conference^† Great Plains Athletic Conference^† Great Southwest Athletic Conference HBCU Athletic Conference Heart of America Athletic Conference^† Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference^† Mid-South Conference^† North Star Athletic Association^† Red River Athletic Conference River States Conference Sooner Athletic Conference^† Southern States Athletic Conference Sun Conference^† Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference
Football-only	Mid-States Football Association^† NAIA independent football schools^†
^†Conference sponsors football

Current conferences

Football

Non-football

Defunct conferences

Football

Non-football

Former conferences

Football

Non-football

See also

References

External links