List of NAIA conferences
The following is a list of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) conferences as of the 2026–27 school year.[1] Unless otherwise noted, changes in conference membership occur on July 1 of the given year.
Current conferences
Football
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sports | Headquarters | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian Athletic Conference | AAC | 1985 | 14 [FB 1] | 24 | Asheville, North Carolina |  |
| Frontier Conference | Frontier | 1952 | 12 [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 | 15 [FB 4] | 23 | Overland Park, Kansas |  |
| NAIA Independents | 2 [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 | 12 [FB 8] | 1 [FB 9] | Findlay, Ohio |  |
| Sooner Athletic Conference | SAC | 1978 | 12 [FB 10] | 15 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |  |
| Sun Conference | The Sun | 1990 | 10 [FB 11] | 17 | Daytona Beach, Florida |  |
- Notes
- ↑ 15 members; 7 football members.
- ↑ 12 full members with Bellevue, Bismarck State, and Providence as non-football members; 14 football members with Arizona Christian, College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon, Simpson, and Southern Oregon as football affiliates.
- 15 football members in 2027 with full member Bismarck State adding football.
- ↑ 12 members; 11 football members.
- ↑ 16 members; 15 football members with Park as a non-football member.
- ↑ 0 members in 2027 with loss of Andrew and Faulkner.
- ↑ 14 members; 12 football members.
- ↑ 7 members; 6 football members.
- ↑ 14 members in 2027 with addition of Calumet (CCSJ) and Midway.
- ↑ Football-only conference.
- ↑ 12 members; 9 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, Ottawa (AZ), and Texas College as football affiliates.
- ↑ 10 members; 8 football members with Thomas as a football-only affiliate.
- 11 members possibly in 2027 with addition of Florida Poly.
Non-football
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sports | Headquarters | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Midwest Conference | AMC | 1998 | 10 [NF 1] | 17 | St. Louis, Missouri |  |
| California Pacific Conference | CalPac | 1996 | 6 | 10 | Oakland, California |  |
| Cascade Collegiate Conference | CCC | 1988 | 11 | 13 | Clackamas, Oregon |  |
| Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference | CCAC | 1949 | 11 | 16 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |  |
| Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) | CAC | 2008 | 15 [NF 2] | 21 |  | |
| Crossroads League | CL | 1959 | 10 | 15 | Hartford City, Indiana |  |
| Great Southwest Athletic Conference | GSAC | 1986 | 11 | 13 | Irvine, California |  |
| HBCU Athletic Conference | HBCUAC | 1981 | 16 | 16 | New Orleans, Louisiana |  |
| Red River Athletic Conference | RRAC | 1998 | 10 | 15 | Dallas, Texas |  |
| River States Conference | RSC | 1916 | 10 | 18 | Middletown, Ohio |  |
| Southern States Athletic Conference | SSAC | 1999 | 15 [NF 3] | 15 | Atlanta, Georgia |  |
| Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference | WHAC | 1992 | 10 | 21 | Livonia, Michigan |  |
- Notes
- ↑ 10 members in 2027 with merger of UHSP with Washington University in St. Louis and addition of Champion Christian.
- ↑ 11 members in 2027 with loss of Carolina, Champion Christian, Georgia Southern–East Georgia, and U.S. Sports.
- ↑ 16 members in 2027 with addition of Georgia Southern–East Georgia and U.S. Sports and loss of Loyola New Orleans.
Defunct conferences
Football
- Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (1928–1995)
- Central States Intercollegiate Conference (1976–1989)
- Dakota Athletic Conference (2000–2012)
- Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1983–2005)
- 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] (1931–2000)
- North Star Athletic Association (2013–2025)
- 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] (1917–2000)
- 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
- Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1976–1996), also an NCAA Division III 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
- 1 2 Both the NDCAC and the SDIC merged to form the Dakota Athletic Conference.
Non-football
- American Mideast Conference (1949–2012)
- Georgia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1971–1999)
- 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
All transferred to the NCAA.
Football
- Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference[a] (1973–1988)
- Lone Star Conference[a] (1931–1982)
- Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference[b] (1920–1982)
- Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference[a] (1932–1995), known as Northern Intercollegiate Conference until 1992
- Northwest Conference[b] (1926–1996), Pacific Northwest Conference before 1984 and Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges until 1996
- Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference[a] (1951–1980), State Teachers Conference of Pennsylvania until 1956 and Pennsylvania State Teachers College Conference before 1964
- Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference[a] (1909–1992), Colorado Faculty Athletic Conference until 1910 and Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference until 1967
- Upper Midwest Athletic Conference[b] (1972–2008), Twin Rivers Conference until 1983
Non-football
- Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference[a] (1961–2002)
- Conference Carolinas[a] (1930–1995), known as the North State Intercollegiate Athletic Conference until 1961, later as the Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference until 1995 (which held dual membership with the NCAA for two years starting in 1993), became the Carolinas–Virginia Athletic Conference until 2007
- Dixie Conference[b] (1963–1973), became the USA South Athletic Conference in 2003
- Notes
See also
References
- ↑ "2026-2027 Member Institutions by Conferences" (PDF). naia.org. NAIA.
External links
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