Frontier Conference
The Frontier Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference was founded in 1934. Member institutions are located in the U.S. state of Montana, with associate members in the states of Arizona, Idaho, and Oregon.
The Frontier Conference sponsors athletic competition in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's football, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, and women's volleyball.
History
The Montana Small College Conference (MSCC) was established in 1934 by the five smaller schools (Montana Technological University, the University of Montana Western, Montana State University–Northern, Intermountain Union College and Billings Polytechnic Institute) in the state. The MSCC was renamed as the Montana Collegiate Conference (MCC) in 1936, with the additions of Montana State University Billings and Carroll College joining. The merger of Intermountain Union and Billings Poly to become Rocky Mountain College occurred in 1947. After nearly three decades, the conference reestablished itself under its current moniker in November 1966, containing the same six schools until 1974. The University of Providence (then the College of Great Falls) joined that year, however would only stay for a decade. MSU Billings left for the first incarnation of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 1988, leaving the Frontier at five members for another decade. The conference opened up outside of Montana for the first time in 1998, with schools from Idaho (Lewis–Clark State College) and Utah (Westminster College) joining. Great Falls rejoined in 1999. Dickinson State University joined in 2012, only to leave in 2014 to join the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA). Westminster (Utah) left for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II ranks and rejoined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) in 2015. Lewis–Clark State left for the Cascade Collegiate Conference as a full member in 2020.
Recent changes
On September 8, 2022, Arizona Christian University received an invitation to join the conference as an associate member for football, beginning the 2023 fall season of the 2023–24 academic year.
On December 12, 2023, the Frontier Conference had offered an invitation to former member Dickinson State University; while on May 21, 2024, Bellevue University, Dakota State University, Mayville State University and Valley City State University also received invitations to join the conference; and then on October 24, 2024, Bismarck State College, an institution coming from the junior college ranks, announced that it received an invitation to the conference, during its transition to the NAIA; all effective beginning the 2025–26 academic year.
On May 30, 2024, Simpson University accepted an invitation to join the conference as an associate member for football, beginning the 2025 fall season of the 2025–26 academic year.
Chronological timeline
- 1934 – The Frontier Conference was founded as the Montana Small College Conference (MSCC). Charter members included the Billings Polytechnic Institute, Intermountain Union College, Montana State Normal College (now the University of Montana Western), Montana State School of Mines (now Montana Technological University) and Northern Montana College (now Montana State University–Northern), beginning the 1934–35 academic year.
- 1936 – Carroll College of Montana and Eastern Montana Normal College (now Montana State University–Billings) joined the MSCC, which was rebranded as the Montana Collegiate Conference (MCC) in the 1936–37 academic year.
- 1947 – Billings Poly and Intermountain Union merge to form Rocky Mountain College.
- 1966 – The MCC was rebranded as the Frontier Conference, beginning the 1966–67 academic year.
- 1974 – The College of Great Falls (later the University of Great Falls, now the University of Providence) joined the Frontier in the 1974–75 academic year.
- 1980 – Montana State–Billings (MSU Billings) left the Frontier to join the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as an NCAA D-II Independent (which would later join the Great Northwest Conference, beginning the 1982–83 school year) after the 1979–80 academic year.
- 1984 – Great Falls left the Frontier as the school discontinued its athletic program after the 1983–84 academic year.
- 1998 – Lewis–Clark State College and Westminster College joined the Frontier in the 1998–99 academic year.
- 1999 – Great Falls rejoined the Frontier after 15 years without an athletics program in the 1999–2000 academic year.
- 2008 – Eastern Oregon University joined the Frontier as an affiliate member for football in the 2008 fall season (2008–09 academic year).
- 2012 – Dickinson State University joined the Frontier in the 2012–13 academic year.
- 2012 – Southern Oregon University joined the Frontier as an affiliate member for football in the 2012 fall season (2012–13 academic year).
- 2014 – Dickinson State left the Frontier to join the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) after the 2013–14 academic year.
- 2014 – The College of Idaho joined the Frontier as an affiliate member for football in the 2014 fall season (2014–15 academic year).
- 2015 – Westminster (Utah) left the Frontier to join the NCAA Division II ranks and rejoin back to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) after the 2014–15 academic year.
- 2020 – Lewis–Clark State left the Frontier to join the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) after the 2019–20 academic year.
- 2023 – Arizona Christian University joined the Frontier as an affiliate member for football in the 2023 fall season (2023–24 academic year)
- 2025 – Bellevue University, Bismarck State College, Dakota State University, Mayville State University and Valley City State University will all join the Frontier (with Dickinson State rejoining at the same time), beginning the 2025–26 academic year. Everyone (except Bismarck State) would join from the NSAA, which would cease operations after spring 2025.
- 2025 – Simpson University will join the Frontier as an affiliate member for football, beginning the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year)
Member schools
The Frontier Conference has 5 full members with football, 1 full member without football, and 4 football-only affiliate members. University of Providence does not field a football team. Arizona Christian, College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon and Southern Oregon are the football-only affiliates.
Current members
The Frontier currently has six full members, half are private schools:
- Notes
Future members
The Frontier will have six new members, five public schools and one private school:
- Notes
Affiliate members
The Frontier currently has four affiliate members, two of them are private schools:
- Notes
Future affiliate members
The Frontier will have one new affiliate member, a private school:
- Notes
Former members
The Frontier had four former full members, only one was a private school:
- Notes
Membership timeline
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football-only)
National championships
Basketball
Montana Western won the NAIA national title in Division I Women's basketball, in 2019.
Rocky Mountain won the national title in men's basketball, NAIA Division I, in 2009.
Montana State-Northern won the national title in women's basketball, NAIA Division II, in 1993.
Carroll reached the semi-finals in men's basketball in 2005, as did Lewis-Clark State in women's basketball in 2001.
University of Providence reached finals in women's basketball in 2024, Providence defeated Carroll College in the semi finals.This marked the first time two Frontier teams meet in the national tournament.
Football
Carroll has won the NAIA national championship six times: four straight, from 2002 to 2005, also in 2007 and 2010, and has been runner-up twice.
Southern Oregon won the NAIA national championship in the 2014 season.
Montana Tech was the national runner-up in 1996.
Wrestling
Montana State-Northern has won six wrestling titles: 1991, 1992, 1998-2000, 2004, and was runner-up in 1990, 1993, and 2002.
Montana Western was co-champion in 1994.
In 2014, the University of Great Falls was second and Montana State-Northern took third at the NAIA national wrestling championship.
Bowling
College of Great Falls (now University of Providence) was the 1973 Men's NAIA National Bowling Champion.
Conference champions
Football
- By team
- By year