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Frontier Conference

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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
FormerlyMontana Small College Conference (1934–1936)
Montana Collegiate Conference (1936–1966)
AssociationNAIA
Founded1934
CommissionerDr. Scott Crawford
Sports fielded
  • 16
    • men's: 8
    • women's: 8
No. of teams6 (12 in 2025-26)
HeadquartersWhitefish, Montana
RegionWestern United States
Official websitefrontierconference.com
Locations
Location of teams in {{{title}}}

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

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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

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Frontier Conference
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
200km
125miles
Montana Tech
Bismarck State
Bellevue
Dakota State
Mayville State
Valley City State
Dickinson State
Providence
Rocky Mountain
MSU Northern
Carroll
.
Montana Western
Location of Frontier members: current, future

Member schools

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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.[8]

Current members

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

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Joined[a]
Carroll College Helena, Montana 1909 Catholic
(Diocese of Helena) 		1,502 Fighting Saints 1935
Montana State University–Northern Havre, Montana 1929 Public[b] 1,207 Lights &
Skylights 		1935
Montana Technological University Butte, Montana 1889 Public[b] 2,694 Orediggers 1934
University of Montana Western Dillon, Montana 1893 Public[b] 1,336 Bulldogs 1934
University of Providence[c] Great Falls, Montana 1932 Catholic
(Ursulines) 		800 Argonauts 1974;
1999[d]
Rocky Mountain College[e] Billings, Montana 1878 various[f] 894 Battlin' Bears 1947
Notes
  1. ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
  2. ^ a b c 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

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

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Joining[a] Current
conference
Bellevue University Bellevue, Nebraska 1966 Nonsectarian 8,300 Bruins 2025 North Star (NSAA)
Bismarck State College Bismarck, North Dakota 1939 Public 3,781 Mystics Mon-Dak[b]
Dakota State University Madison, South Dakota 1881 Public 3,307 Trojans North Star (NSAA)
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.
  2. ^ Currently an NJCAA conference.

Affiliate members

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

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Joined[a] Frontier
sport 		Primary
conference
Arizona Christian University Glendale, Arizona 1960 Nondenominational 1,050 Firestorm 2023 football Great Southwest (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

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

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Joining[b] Frontier
sport 		Primary
conference
Simpson University Redding, California 1921 Christian &
Missionary Alliance 		1,280 Red Hawks 2025 football California Pacific (CalPac)
Notes
  1. ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
  2. ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.

Former members

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

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Joined[a] Left[b] Subsequent
conference(s) 		Current
conference
Dickinson State University[c] 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[d] Billings, Montana 1927 4,600 Yellowjackets 1933 1980 various[f] Great Northwest (GNAC)[e]
(2007–present)
Westminster College[g] Salt Lake City, Utah 1875 Nonsectarian 3,108 Griffins 1998 2015 Rocky Mountain (RMAC)[e]
(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. ^ a b c d 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[e] (PacWest) from 1982–83 to 2004–05 (originally known as the Great Northwest Conference from 1982–83 to 1991–92); and the Heartland Conference[e] from 2005–06 to 2006–07.
  7. ^ Currently known as Westminster University since 2023.

Membership timeline

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Simpson UniversityValley City State UniversityMayville State UniversityDakota State UniversityBismarck State CollegeBellevue UniversityArizona Christian UniversityCollege of IdahoSouthern Oregon UniversityDickinson State UniversityEastern Oregon UniversityWestminster University (Utah)Lewis–Clark State CollegeUniversity of ProvidenceUniversity of ProvidenceRocky Mountain CollegeMontana State University–NorthernMontana State University–NorthernCarroll CollegeUniversity of Montana WesternUniversity of Montana WesternUniversity of Montana WesternMontana Technological UniversityMontana Technological UniversityMontana State University BillingsRocky Mountain CollegeRocky Mountain College

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

National championships

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Basketball

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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

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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

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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

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College of Great Falls (now University of Providence) was the 1973 Men's NAIA National Bowling Champion.

Conference champions

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Football

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Frontier Championships Won or Shared Per School
School Conference
Titles Last
Title
Carroll 39 2022
Montana Western 21 2024
Montana Tech 15 2016
Rocky Mountain 11 2021
MSU Billings 11 1975
College of Idaho 4 2022
Southern Oregon 2 2017
Eastern Oregon 1 2020
Frontier Champions By Year

[9]

See also

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References

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  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 Open access icon.
  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. ^ "Bismarck State College announces transition to NAIA and the Frontier Conference". Frontier Conference (Press release). October 24, 2024. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "College of Idaho football to join Frontier Conference". Idaho Press. June 27, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  9. ^ "Frontier Football History". fcsports.org. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
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