Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

Chronological timeline

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Member Locations

110km
68miles

MSU Denver

Westminster

New Mexico
Highlands

Black Hills State

South Dakota Mines

Chadron State

Colorado Mines

CSU Pueblo

UCCS

Adams State

Fort Lewis

Colorado Mesa

Western Colorado

Regis

Colorado Christian

   

Location of RMAC members:
full member

• 1909: On 6 March 1909, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMFC) was founded as the Colorado Faculty Athletic Conference (CFAC). Charter members included the University of Colorado, Colorado Agricultural College (now Colorado State University), Colorado College and the Colorado School of Mines, beginning the
• 1910:
  • The CFAC was rebranded as the Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference (RMFAC).
  • Colorado College dropped out after a falling out with Colorado Mines.
  • The University of Denver and the University of Utah joined the RMFAC. Membership was at five schools.
• 1914: The Agricultural College of Utah (now Utah State University) joined the RMFAC, with Colorado College rejoining. Membership was brought up to seven schools.
• 1917: The Montana College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now Montana State University) joined the RMFAC as the eighth member.
• 1918: Brigham Young University (BYU) joined the RMFAC as the ninth member.
• 1921: The University of Wyoming joined the RMFAC. Membership was brought up to ten schools.
• 1924: Western State College of Colorado (now Western Colorado University) and the State Normal School of Colorado (now the University of Northern Colorado) joined the RMFAC. Membership was brought up to 12 schools.
• 1937: Colorado, Colorado State, Brigham Young, Utah, Utah State, Wyoming and Denver left the RMFAC to form the Skyline Conference (also known as the Mountain States Conference). The five remaining members of the RMFAC were Colorado College, Colorado Mines, Montana State, Northern Colorado and Western State.
• 1948: Idaho State College (now Idaho State University) joined the RMFAC as the sixth member.
• 1956: Adams State College (now Adams State University) joined the RMFAC as the seventh member.
• 1958: Idaho State left the RMFAC. Membership was brought back down to six.
• 1959: Montana State left the RMFAC. Membership was brought back down to five.
• 1967:
  • The RMFAC was rebranded as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC).
  • Colorado College left the RMAC. Membership was brought back down to five.
  • Kansas State Teachers College at Emporia (now Emporia State University, Fort Hays State College (now Fort Hays State University), Fort Lewis College, the University of Omaha (now the University of Nebraska at Omaha, but athletically branded as "Omaha"), Kansas State College at Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University), Southern Colorado State College (now Colorado State University Pueblo), the College of Southern Utah (now Southern Utah University), Regis College (now Regis University), Washburn University, Western New Mexico University and Westminster College of Utah (now Westminster University) joined the RMFAC. Membership was brought up to fifteen schools.
  • The new league was divided into two divisions: Mountains (consisting of Adams State, Colorado Mines, Fort Lewis, Regis, Southern Utah State, Western New Mexico, Western State and Westminster) and Plains (consisting of Fort Hays State, Emporia State, Pittsburg State, Nebraska-Omaha, Northern Colorado, Southern Colorado and Washburn).
• 1968: New Mexico Highlands University joined the RMAC as its 16th member.
• 1969: New Mexico Highlands left the RMAC due to financial aid restrictions. Membership was brought back down to 15.
• 1972: For economic reasons, the two divisions were split into two separate conferences. The Mountain Division kept the RMAC name while the Plains Division became known as the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The two allied conferences worked under the name of the Mountain and Plains Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MPIAA). RMAC membership stood at eight with Adams State, Colorado Mines, Fort Lewis, Regis, Southern Utah State, Western New Mexico, Western State and Westminster (Utah). Northern Colorado ended up leaving the association to become independent (who would later join the GPAC back).
• 1974: New Mexico Highlands rejoined the RMAC as the ninth member.
• 1975: Mesa College (now Colorado Mesa University) joined the RMAC as its tenth member.
• 1976:
  • The MPIAA was dissolved for economic reasons, and the two conferences went their separate ways.
  • Colorado State–Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) joined the RMAC as its 11th member, coming from the GPAC.
• 1978: The RMAC began sponsoring women's championships.
• 1979: Westminster left the RMAC when the school dropped its athletics program as a result. Membership was brought back down to ten members.
• 1983: Regis left the RMAC to become an Independent. Membership was brought back down to nine members.
• 1986: Southern Utah left the RMAC. Membership was brought back down to eight members.
• 1988: New Mexico Highlands left the RMAC. Membership was brought back down to seven members.
• 1989: Chadron State College, Kearney State College (now the University of Nebraska at Kearney), and Wayne State College joined the RMAC (with Fort Hays State rejoining). Membership was brought up to 11 members. All of them were with provisional member status.
• 1990:
  • Colorado State–Pueblo, Fort Lewis, Nebraska–Kearney, Wayne State and Western New Mexico left the RMAC. Membership was brought back down to six members. Reasons: Wayne State and Nebraska–Kearney did it after staying for one season; Western New Mexico and Colorado State–Pueblo would later decide to follow suit; and Fort Lewis did the same, while it stayed on as an associate member of the conference for football, softball and wrestling.
  • New Mexico Highlands rejoined the RMAC again. Membership was brought back down to seven members.
• 1992: The RMAC became affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II ranks, after spending years in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
• 1994: Fort Lewis and Nebraska–Kearney both rejoined the RMAC as full members. Membership was brought back down to nine members.
• 1996:
  • Colorado Christian University and Metropolitan State College of Denver (now athletically branded as MSU Denver) joined the RMAC for the first time, and Colorado State–Pueblo and Regis rejoined the conference.
  • Also, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (now athletically branded as UCCS) and the University of Denver joined the RMAC as an affiliate and associate members, respectively. The RMAC, at that time comprising 13 member schools.
• 1997:
  • Denver left to move up to the Division I ranks.
  • Colorado–Colorado Springs (UCCS) upgraded for all sports. Membership was brought up to 14 members, thus it was split into two seven-team divisions.
  • San Francisco State University joined the RMAC as an associate member for wrestling only.
• 2006:
  • Fort Hays State left the RMAC to join the MIAA; although it did remain in the RMAC as an associate member for wrestling.
  • Western New Mexico rejoined the RMAC. Membership was kept at 14 members.
• 2007:
  • Grand Canyon University joined the RMAC as an associate member only for wrestling.
  • Montana State University Billings joined the RMAC as an associate member for women's golf and men's and women's tennis.
• 2008:
  • The University of Texas–Permian Basin (UTPB) and the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) joined the RMAC as associate members for swimming only.
  • Grand Canyon added men's and women's swimming to its RMAC associate membership.
• 2009: Northern State University and Minnesota State University Moorhead joined the RMAC as associate members for swimming.
• 2012:
  • Nebraska–Kearney left the RMAC to join the MIAA.
  • Black Hills State University joined the RMAC. Membership was kept at 14 members.
  • Fort Hays State left the RMAC as an associate member for wrestling; once its primary home conference (the MIAA) began sponsoring that sport.
  • Minnesota State–Moorhead and Northern State left the RMAC as associate members for women's swimming; once their primary home conference (the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, a.k.a. the NSIC) began sponsoring the sport.
• 2013:
  • California Baptist University joined the RMAC as an associate member for three sports: men's and women's swimming, plus wrestling.
  • Two schools joined for women's lacrosse only: Lindenwood University and Rockhurst University.
  • Grand Canyon and Incarnate Word ended their RMAC associate memberships and started transitions to NCAA Division I and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) & the Southland Conference (SLC), respectively.
  • UT Permian Basin moved its swimming teams to the single-sport New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference (NSISC).
• 2014: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T or South Dakota Mines) joined the RMAC. Membership was brought up to 15 members.
• 2015:
  • Westminster (Utah) rejoined the RMAC. Membership was brought up to 16 members.
  • Rockhurst added men's lacrosse to its RMAC associate membership.
  • Oklahoma Baptist University joined the RMAC as an associate member for women's lacrosse, plus men's and women's swimming.
  • Montana State Billings dropped men's and women's tennis, which ended their affiliate membership.
• 2016:
  • Western New Mexico left the RMAC to join the Lone Star Conference (LSC). Membership was brought back down to 15 members.
  • Two schools joined the RMAC as associate members:
    • Dixie State University (now Utah Tech University) in football
    • and Maryville University in men's lacrosse.
• 2017:
  • Maryville left the RMAC as an associate member for men's lacrosse; once its primary home conference (the Great Lakes Valley Conference, a.k.a. the GLVC) began sponsoring the sport.
  • Oklahoma Christian University joined the RMAC as an associate member for men's and women's swimming.
• 2018:
  • Dixie State upgraded for all sports. Membership was brought up to 16 members.
  • California Baptist ended its RMAC associate memberships to move to Division I; both swimming teams joined Cal Baptist's new primary home conference in the WAC, while wrestling became an independent (that sport would later be accepted by the Big 12 Conference effective in 2022).
  • Rockhurst left the RMAC as an associate member for men's lacrosse to join the school's other sports in its primary home conference (the GLVC).
  • The RMAC dropped men's tennis as a conference sport.
• 2019:
  • Lindenwood and Rockhurst left the RMAC as associate members for women's lacrosse left the RMAC to join the school's other sports in its primary home conference (the GLVC).
  • The RMAC dropped women's tennis as a conference sport.
• 2020:
  • Dixie State (Utah Tech) left the RMAC to join the NCAA Division I ranks and the WAC.
• 2022: UT Permian Basin rejoined the RMAC as an associate member for men's and women's swimming and diving.
• 2023:
  • The RMAC added women's wrestling as a conference sport, and added Simon Fraser University and Texas Woman's University as inaugural associate members for the sport. Simon Fraser also joined as an associate member for men's wrestling, as well as swimming & diving for both sexes.
  • Concordia University Irvine joined as an associate member for men's lacrosse.
• 2024:
  • Dominican University of California joined as an associate member for men's lacrosse.
  • San Francisco State left the RMAC as an associate member for men's wrestling to join the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF).
• 2025:
  • Northwest Nazarene University joined as an associate member for men's lacrosse.

Current members

The RMAC currently has 15 full members, all but three are public schools:

Notes

Affiliate members

The RMAC currently has eight affiliate members; half are private schools, while the other half are public schools:

Notes

Former members

The RMAC had 21 former full members, all but three were public schools:

Notes

Former affiliate members

The RMAC had 11 former affiliate members, with all but four being private schools.

Notes

Membership timeline

A total of 54 different schools have been associated with the RMAC, either through full or associate membership. Of those schools, only Colorado Mines has been with the conference every year since it was founded in 1909.

 Full member (all sports)   Full member (non-football)   Associate member (football)   Associate member (sport) 

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	Wrestling	Total RMAC Sports
Adams State	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Black Hills State		Y	Y	Y					Y	Y		5
Chadron State		Y	Y	Y					Y	Y	Y	6
Colorado Christian	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y		Y	Y		6
Colorado Mesa	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Colorado Mines	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
CSU Pueblo	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	Y	Y	9
Fort Lewis		Y	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	Y		5
MSU Denver	Y	Y	Y				Y		Y	Y		7
New Mexico Highlands	Y	Y	Y	Y							Y	5
Regis	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y					5
South Dakota Mines		Y	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	Y		7
UCCS	Y	Y	Y				Y		Y	Y		6
Western Colorado		Y	Y	Y					Y	Y	Y	6
Westminster		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		Y	Y		7
Totals	9	15	15	10	9	3+3	11	3+3	13	13	7	105
Affiliate Members
Concordia–Irvine						Y						1
Dominican						Y						1
Northwest Nazarene						Y						1
Oklahoma Christian								Y				1
Simon Fraser								Y				1
UT Permian Basin								Y				1

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	Volleyball	Wrestling ‡	Total RMAC Sports
Adams State	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Black Hills State	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		8
Chadron State	Y	Y	Y			Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Colorado Christian	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		7
Colorado Mesa	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Colorado Mines	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		8
CSU Pueblo	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		10
Fort Lewis	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		9
MSU Denver	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		8
New Mexico Highlands	Y	Y			Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		7
Regis	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y				Y		7
South Dakota Mines	Y	Y	Y					Y	Y	Y		6
UCCS	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		8
Western Colorado	Y	Y			Y		Y	Y	Y	Y		7
Westminster	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y		8
Totals	15	15	12	6	13	12	5+4	14	14	15	3+2	121
Affiliate Members
Nebraska–Kearney							Y					1
Oklahoma Christian							Y					1
Simon Fraser							Y				Y	2
Texas Woman's											Y	1
UT Permian Basin							Y					1

Other sponsored sports by school

• ^‡ — De facto D-I sport