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.
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 - Dickinson State will re-join the Frontier in the 2025-26 academic year.[4]
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.[5]
Current members
The Frontier currently has six full members, half are private schools:
^Formerly known as the University of Great Falls until 2017.
^Providence (then known as Great Falls) did not have an athletics program from 1984–85 to 1998–99.
^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.
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
^Dickinson State will be returning to the Frontier for the 2025–26 academic year.
^Currently known as Montana State University–Billings since 1994. Eastern Montana was the school name that reflected its use during conference membership.
^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.
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.
