Frontier Conference

This article is about the current NAIA conference in the American West. For the previous conference with the same name that existed between 1940 and 1962, see Frontier Conference (1940–1962).

Frontier Conference

Formerly	Montana Small College Conference (1934–1936) Montana Collegiate Conference (1936–1966)
Association	NAIA
Founded	1934
Commissioner	Dr. Scott Crawford
Sports fielded	16 men's: 8 women's: 8
No. of teams	6 (11 in 2025-26)
Headquarters	Whitefish, Montana
Region	Western United States
Official website	frontierconference.com
Locations

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.

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. ^[1] 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 re-joined 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 re-joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) in 2015. Lewis–Clark State left for the Cascade Collegiate Conference as a full member in 2020. ^[2]

Chronological timeline

Frontier Conference

200km
125miles

Montana Tech

Bellevue

Dakota State

Mayville State

Valley City State

Dickinson State

Providence

Rocky Mountain

MSU Northern

Carroll

Montana Western

  

Location of Frontier members: current, future

• 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 has been renamed 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 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 academic 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 re-joined the Frontier after 15 years without an athletics program in the 1999-2000 academic year.
• 2008 - Eastern Oregon University joined the Frontier as an associate 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 associate 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 associate 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 re-join 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.
• 2022 - Arizona Christian University joined the Frontier as an associate member for football in the 2023 fall season (2023-24 academic year). ^[3]
• 2025 - Bellevue University, Dakota State University, Mayville State University, and Valley City State University will all join the Frontier in the 2025-26 academic year, with Dickinson State re-joining the Frontier at the same time. ^{[4] [5]}
• 2025 - Simpson University will join the Frontier as an associate member for football in the 2025 fall season (2025-26 academic year). ^[6]

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. ^[7]

Current members

The Frontier currently has six full members, half are private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined [lower-alpha 1]
Carroll College	Helena, Montana	1909	Catholic (Diocese of Helena)	1,502	Fighting Saints	1935
Montana State University–Northern	Havre, Montana	1929	Public [lower-alpha 2]	1,207	Lights & Skylights	1935
Montana Technological University	Butte, Montana	1889	Public [lower-alpha 2]	2,694	Orediggers	1934
University of Montana Western	Dillon, Montana	1893	Public [lower-alpha 2]	1,336	Bulldogs	1934
University of Providence [lower-alpha 3]	Great Falls, Montana	1932	Catholic (Ursulines)	800	Argonauts	1974; 1999 [lower-alpha 4]
Rocky Mountain College [lower-alpha 5]	Billings, Montana	1878	various [lower-alpha 6]	894	Battlin' Bears	1947

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Part of the Montana University System.
3. Formerly known as the University of Great Falls until 2017.
4. Providence (then known as Great Falls) did not have an athletics program from 1984–85 to 1998–99.
5. Rocky Mountain was formed by a merger of Intermountain Union College and Billings Polytechnic Institute since late 1935. But their athletic programs continued until the end of the 1935–36 school year.
6. Rocky Mountain has various affiliations: The Mainline Protestant, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the United Church of Christ.

Future members

The Frontier will have five new members, four public schools and one private school:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joining [lower-alpha 1]	Current conference
Bellevue University	Bellevue, Nebraska	1966	Nonsectarian	8,300	Bruins	2025	North Star (NSAA)
Dakota State University	Madison, South Dakota	1881	Public	3,307	Trojans
Dickinson State University	Dickinson, North Dakota	1918	Public	1,800	Blue Hawks
Mayville State University	Mayville, North Dakota	1889	Public	1,130	Comets
Valley City State University	Valley City, North Dakota	1890	Public	1,623	Vikings

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.

Affiliate members

The Frontier currently has four affiliate members, two of them are private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined [lower-alpha 1]	Frontier sport	Primary conference
Arizona Christian University	Glendale, Arizona	1960	Nondenominational	1,050	Firestorm	2023	football	Golden State (GSAC)
College of Idaho	Caldwell, Idaho	1891	Presbyterian (PCUSA)	1,010	Coyotes	2014		Cascade (CCC)
Eastern Oregon University	La Grande, Oregon	1929	Public	3,743	Mountaineers	2008
Southern Oregon University	Ashland, Oregon	1872		5,696	Raiders	2012

Future affiliate members

The Frontier will have one new affiliate member, a private school:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joining [lower-alpha 2]	Frontier sport	Primary conference
Simpson University	Redding, California	1921	Christian & Missionary Alliance	1,280	Red Hawks	2025	Football	CalPac

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.

Former members

The Frontier had four former full members, only one was a private school:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined [lower-alpha 1]	Left [lower-alpha 2]	Subsequent conference(s)	Current conference
Dickinson State University [lower-alpha 3]	Dickinson, North Dakota	1918	Public	2,572	Blue Hawks	2012	2014	North Star (NSAA) (2014–2025)
Lewis–Clark State College	Lewiston, Idaho	1893	Public	4,500	Warriors & Lady Warriors	1998	2020	Cascade (CCC) (2020–present)
Eastern Montana College [lower-alpha 4]	Billings, Montana	1927		4,600	Yellowjackets	1933	1980	various [lower-alpha 6]	Great Northwest (GNAC) [lower-alpha 5] (2007–present)
Westminster College [lower-alpha 7]	Salt Lake City, Utah	1875	Nonsectarian	3,108	Griffins	1998	2015	Rocky Mountain (RMAC) [lower-alpha 5] (2015–present)

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
3. Dickinson State will be returning to the Frontier for the 2025–26 academic year.
4. Currently known as Montana State University–Billings since 1994. Eastern Montana was the school name that reflected its use during conference membership.
5. Currently an NCAA Division II athletic conference.
6. Eastern Montana (now Montana State–Billings) had joined the following subsequent conferences: as an NCAA D-II Independent from 1980–81 to 1981–82; the Pacific West Conference ^{[lower-alpha 5]} (PacWest) from 1982–83 to 2004–05 (originally known as the Great Northwest Conference from 1982–83 to 1991–92); and the Heartland Conference ^{[lower-alpha 5]} from 2005–06 to 2006–07.
7. Currently known as Westminster University since 2023.

Membership timeline

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

Sports

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 women's volleyball.

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.

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.

See also

• 2012 Frontier Conference football season

References

1. "Montana Collegiate League Changes Name". Daily Herald . Provo, Utah. United Press International. November 13, 1966. p. 20. Retrieved October 25, 2019– via Newspapers.com .
2. "Lewis-Clark State leaving Frontier Conference to join Cascade Collegiate Conference". MontanaSports.com. May 20, 2019. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
3. "Arizona Christian Firestorm Football to Join the Frontier Conference in 2023". Victory Sports Network. September 8, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
4. "Frontier Adding Dickinson State as Newest Conference Member". Frontier Conference (Press release). December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
5. "Frontier Conference Expands to 11 Full-time Members". Frontier Conference (Press release). May 21, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
6. "Simpson University Football Joins Frontier Conference, Ushering in a New Era of Simpson Athletics" (Press release). Simpson University Athletics. May 30, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
7. "College of Idaho football to join Frontier Conference". Idaho Press. June 27, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2013.

External links

• Official website