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. states of Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, 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, it extended additional invitations to Bellevue University, Dakota State University, Mayville State University and Valley City State University. All five schools would come from the North Star Athletic Association, which announced it would be disbanding that year. This was followed up with an invitation to Bismarck State College, an institution transitioning to the NAIA from the junior college ranks, on October 24, 2024. All of these invitations were 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 (later the Pacific West Conference or PacWest), beginning 1982–83) 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.
- 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.
- 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 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 all joined the Frontier (with Dickinson State rejoining at the same time) in the 2025–26 academic year. Everyone (except Bismarck State) would join from the NSAA, which would cease operations after spring 2025.
- Simpson University joined the Frontier as an affiliate member for football in the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year)
Member schools
The Frontier Conference has 12 full members with football, 3 full members without football, and 5 football-only affiliate members. Bellevue, Bismarck State, and the University of Providence do not field football teams. Arizona Christian, College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon, Simpson, and Southern Oregon are the football-only affiliates.
Current members
The Frontier currently has twelve full members, four are private schools:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Institution
! Location
! Founded
! Affiliation
! Enrollment
! Nickname
! Joined
|-
| Bellevue University
| Bellevue, Nebraska
| 1966
| Nonsectarian
| 14,476
| Bruins
| 2025
|-
| Bismarck State College
| Bismarck, North Dakota
| 1939
| Public
| 4,065
| Mystics
| 2025
|-
| Carroll College
| Helena, Montana
| 1909
| Catholic<br>
| 1,103
| Fighting Saints
| 1935
|-
| Dakota State University
| Madison, South Dakota
| 1881
| Public
| 3,842
| Trojans
| 2025
|-
| Dickinson State University
| Dickinson, North Dakota
| 1918
| Public
| 1,453
| Blue Hawks
| 2012;<br>2025
|-
| Mayville State University
| Mayville, North Dakota
| 1889
| Public
| 1,025
| Comets
| 2025
|-
| Montana State University–Northern
| Havre, Montana
| 1929
| Public
| 1,021
| Lights &<br>Skylights
| 1935
|-
| Montana Technological University
| Butte, Montana
| 1889
| Public
| 1,622
| Orediggers
| 1934
|-
|
| Dillon, Montana
| 1893
| Public
| 1,458
| Bulldogs
| 1934
|-
|
| Great Falls, Montana
| 1932
| Catholic<br>
| 677
| Argonauts
| 1974;<br>1999
|-
| Rocky Mountain College
| Billings, Montana
| 1878
| various
| 991
| Battlin' Bears
| 1947
|-
| Valley City State University
| Valley City, North Dakota
| 1890
| Public
| 1,754
| Vikings
| 2025
|}
;Notes:
Affiliate members
The Frontier currently has five affiliate members, three of them are private schools:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Institution
! Location
! Founded
! Affiliation
! Enrollment
! Nickname
! Joined
! Frontier<br>sport
! Primary<br>conference
|-
| Arizona Christian University
| Glendale, Arizona
| 1960
| Nondenominational
| 1,233
| Firestorm
| 2023
| rowspan="5" | Football
| Great Southwest (GSAC)
|-
|
| Caldwell, Idaho
| 1891
| Presbyterian<br>
| 1,076
| Coyotes
| 2014
| rowspan="2" | Cascade (CCC)
|-
| Eastern Oregon University
| La Grande, Oregon
| 1929
| Public
| 2,798
| Mountaineers
| 2008
|-
| Simpson University
| Redding, California
| 1921
| Christian &<br>Missionary Alliance
| 907
| Red Hawks
| 2025
| California Pacific (CalPac)
|-
| Southern Oregon University
| Ashland, Oregon
| 1872
| Public
| 5,371
| Raiders
| 2012
| Cascade (CCC)
|}
;Notes:
;Notes:
Former members
The Frontier had three former full members, only one was a private school:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Institution
! Location
! Founded
! Affiliation
! Enrollment
! Nickname
! Joined
! Left
! Subsequent<br>conference(s)
! Current<br>conference
|-
| Lewis–Clark State College
| Lewiston, Idaho
| 1893
| rowspan="2" | Public
| 3,706
| Warriors &<br>Lady Warriors
| 1998
| 2020
| colspan="2" | Cascade (CCC)<br>(2020–present)
|-
| Eastern Montana College
| Billings, Montana
| 1927
| 4,092
| Yellowjackets
| 1933
| 1980
| various
| Great Northwest (GNAC)<br>(2007–present)
|-
| Westminster College
| Salt Lake City, Utah
| 1875
| Nonsectarian
| 1,214
| Griffins
| 1998
| 2015
| colspan="2" | Rocky Mountain (RMAC)<br>(2015–present)
|}
;Notes:
Membership timeline
<timeline>
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1933 till:2043
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only
id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used
PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1933 till:1934 text:Billings Poly (1933–47)
bar:1 color:Full from:1934 till:1947
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1933 till:1934 text:Intemountain Union (1933–47)
bar:2 color:Full from:1934 till:1947
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1933 till:1934 text:Eastern Montana (1933–80)
bar:3 color:Full from:1934 till:1979
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1980
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1933 till:1934 text:Montana Mines (1933–65)
bar:4 color:Full from:1934 till:1965
bar:4 color:Full from:1965 till:end text:Montana Tech (1965–present)
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1933 till:1934 text:Montana Normal (1933–49)
bar:5 color:Full from:1934 till:1949
bar:5 color:Full from:1949 till:2001 text:Western Montana (1949–2001)
bar:5 color:Full from:2001 till:end text:Montana–Western (2001–present)
bar:6 color:Full from:1935 till:end text:Carroll (MT) (1935–present)
bar:7 color:Full from:1935 till:1972 text:Northern Montana (1935–94)
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1972 till:1994
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1994 till:1999 text:Montana State–Northern (1994–present)
bar:7 color:Full from:1999 till:end
bar:8 color:Full from:1947 till:end text:Rocky Mountain (1947–present)
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1974 till:1984 text:Great Falls (1974–84, 1999–2017)
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2017
bar:9 color:FullxF from:2017 till:end text:Univ. of Providence (2017–present)
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2020 text:Lewis–Clark State (1998–2020)
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2015 text:Westminster (UT) (1998–2015)
bar:12 color:AssocF from:2008 till:end text:Eastern Oregon (2008–present)
bar:13 color:Full from:2012 till:2014 text:Dickinson State (2012–14, 2025–present)
bar:13 color:Full from:2025 till:end
bar:14 color:AssocF from:2012 till:end text:Southern Oregon (2012–present)
bar:15 color:AssocF from:2014 till:end text:College of Idaho (2014–present)
bar:16 color:AssocF from:2023 till:end text:Arizona Christian (2023–present)
bar:17 color:FullxF from:2025 till:end text:Bellevue (2025–present)
bar:18 color:FullxF from:2025 till:2027 text:Bismarck State (2025–present)
bar:18 color:Full from:2027 till:end
bar:19 color:Full from:2025 till:end text:Dakota State (2025–present)
bar:20 color:Full from:2025 till:end text:Mayville State (2025–present)
bar:21 color:Full from:2025 till:end text:Valley City State (2025–present)
bar:22 color:AssocF from:2025 till:end text:Simpson (2025–present)
bar:N color:powderblue from:1933 till:1936 text:MSCC
bar:N shift:(20) color:red from:1936 till:1966 text:Montana Collegiate Conference
bar:N color:powderblue from:1966 till:end text:Frontier Conference
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1935
TextData =
fontsize:M
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pos:(0,20) tabs:(400-center)
text:^"Frontier Conference membership history"
- > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space.
<#
</timeline>
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
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan=2|Team
!colspan=2|Conference
!colspan=2|Division
|-
!Titles
!Last<br/>title
!Titles
!Last<br/>title
|-
|Carroll
|39
|2022
|0
|N/A
|-
|Montana Western
|21
|2024
|0
|N/A
|-
|Montana Tech
|13
|2016
|1
|2025
|-
|Rocky Mountain
|11
|2021
|0
|N/A
|-
|MSU Billings
|11
|1975
|0
|N/A
|-
|College of Idaho
|4
|2022
|1
|2025
|-
|Southern Oregon
|2
|2017
|0
|N/A
|-
|Eastern Oregon
|1
|2020
|0
|N/A
|}
;By year
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Year
!Team
|-
|1935
|Montana Western
|-
|1936
|Montana Tech<br />Montana Western
|-
|1937
|Rocky Mountain
|-
|1938
|Rocky Mountain
|-
|1939
|Montana Tech
|-
|1940
|Caroll
|-
|1941
|Caroll
|-
|1942
|No games, WWII
|-
|1943
|No games, WWII
|-
|1944
|No games, WWII
|-
|1945
|No games, WWII
|-
|1946
|Montana Western
|-
|1947
|Montana Western
|-
|1948
|MSU Billings
|-
|1949
|Montana Western
|-
|1950
|Carroll
|-
|1951
|Carroll
|-
|1952
|Carroll
|-
|1953
|Carroll
|-
|1954
|Carroll
|-
|1955
|Rocky Mountain
|-
|1956
|Rocky Mountain
|-
|1957
|MSU Billings
|-
|1958
|MSU Billings
|-
|1959
|Carroll<br />MSU Billings
|-
|1960
|MSU Billings<br />Rocky Mountain
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Year
!Team
|-
|1961
|Montana Western
|-
|1962
|Montana Western
|-
|1963
|Montana Western
|-
|1964
|MSU Billings
|-
|1965
|MSU Billings
|-
|1966
|MSU Billings
|-
|1967
|Montana Western
|-
|1968
|MSU Billings
|-
|1969
|Montana Western
|-
|1970
|Montana Tech
|-
|1971
|MSU Billings
|-
|1972
|Carroll<br />Montana Tech
|-
|1973
|Carroll
|-
|1974
|Carroll
|-
|1975
|MSU Billings
|-
|1976
|Carroll
|-
|1977
|Montana Western
|-
|1978
|Carroll
|-
|1979
|Montana Tech
|-
|1980
|Carroll<br />Montana Western
|-
|1981
|Carroll
|-
|1982
|Carroll<br />Montana Western
|-
|1983
|Montana Tech
|-
|1984
|Rocky Mountain
|-
|1985
|Carroll
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Year
!Team
|-
|1986
|Carroll
|-
|1987
|Carroll
|-
|1988
|Carroll
|-
|1989
|Carroll
|-
|1990
|Carroll
|-
|1991
|Rocky Mountain
|-
|1992
|Montana Tech
|-
|1993
|Carroll<br />Montana Western
|-
|1994
|Montana Western
|-
|1995
|Montana Western
|-
|1996
|Montana Tech
|-
|1997
|Montana Tech
|-
|1998
|Rocky Mountain
|-
|1999
|Rocky Mountain
|-
|2000
|Carroll
|-
|2001
|Carroll
|-
|2002
|Carroll<br />Montana Western
|-
|2003
|Carroll
|-
|2004
|Carroll<br />Montana Tech<br />Montana Western
|-
|2005
|Carroll
|-
|2006
|Carroll
|-
|2007
|Carroll
|-
|2008
|Carroll
|-
|2009
|Carroll
|-
|2010
|Carroll
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Year
!Team
|-
|2011
|Carroll
|-
|2012
|Montana Tech<br />Southern Oregon
|-
|2013
|Carroll
|-
|2014
|Carroll
|-
|2015
|Montana Tech
|-
|2016
|Montana Tech
|-
|2017
|Southern Oregon
|-
|2018
|Rocky Mountain
|-
|2019
|College of Idaho
|-
|2020
|Carroll<br />College of Idaho<br />Eastern Oregon
|-
|2021
|College of Idaho<br />Montana Western<br />Rocky Mountain
|-
|2022
|Carroll<br />College of Idaho
|-
|2023
|Montana Western
|-
|2024
|Montana Western
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!
!colspan=2|West Division
!colspan=2|East Division
|-
!Year
!School
!Record
!School
!Record
|-
|2025
|College of Idaho
|6–0
|Montana Tech
|6–0
|}
Men's basketball
;Frontier championships won per school
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan=2|School
!colspan=2|Conference
!colspan=2|Tournament
|-
!Titles
!Last<br/>Title
!Titles
!Last<br/>Title
|-
|Montana Western
|22
|2017–18
|3
|1991
|-
|Carroll
|20
|2021–22
|8
|2018
|-
|MSU Billings
|15
|1979–80
|3
|1980
|-
|Rocky Mountain
|15
|2025–26
|8
|2026
|-
|Montana Tech
|10
|2024–25
|11
|2025
|-
|Lewis–Clark State
|8
|2019–20
|9
|2020
|-
|Westminster
|7
|2009–10
|2
|2010
|-
|Montana State–Northern
|5
|2011–12
|4
|2012
|-
|Providence
|4
|2020–21
|3
|2021
|}
Women's basketball
;Frontier championships won per school
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan=2|School
!colspan=2|Conference
!colspan=2|Tournament
|-
!Titles
!Last<br/>Title
!Titles
!Last<br/>Title
|-
|Montana State–Northern
|15
|1998–99
|14
|1999
|-
|Carroll
|8
|2023–24
|6
|2023
|-
|Lewis–Clark State
|7
|2016–17
|8
|2017
|-
|Westminster
|7
|2014–15
|3
|2015
|-
|Montana Western
|4
|2018–19
|5
|2006
|-
|Rocky Mountain
|4
|2024–25
|3
|2022
|-
|Providence
|3
|2021–22
|4
|2025
|-
|Montana Tech
|2
|1982–83
|2
|2026
|-
|MSU Billings
|2
|1977–78
|0
|N/A
|-
|Dakota State
|1
|2025–26
|0
|N/A
|}
Volleyball
;Frontier championships won per school
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan=2|School
!colspan=2|Conference
!colspan=2|Tournament
|-
!Titles
!Last<br/>Title
!Titles
!Last<br/>Title
|-
|Carroll
|15
|2016
|13
|2016
|-
|Montana Tech
|12
|2023
|6
|2017
|-
|Lewis–Clark State
|9
|2012
|6
|2010
|-
|Providence
|6
|2025
|6
|2025
|-
|Rocky Mountain
|5
|2018
|7
|2022
|-
|Montana State–Northern
|5
|2013
|3
|1991
|-
|Montana Western
|3
|2002
|2
|2023
|-
|Westminster
|1
|2005
|1
|2005
|-
|MSU Billings
|1
|1977
|1
|1977
|}
See also
- 2012 Frontier Conference football season