The original name of Colorado Faculty Athletic Conference was changed to Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference (RMFAC) on May 7, 1910. The presidents assumed control of the league from the faculty in 1967 and changed the name to Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Colorado Athletic Conference dissolved in 1996, with the RMAC absorbing the remaining CAC teams. The RMAC became an NCAA member in 1992 after competing in the NAIA through 1991.[1][2]
Chronological timeline
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Member Locations
1910: After its debut season, the league changed its name to the Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference (RMFAC). The University of Denver and the University of Utah joined the league, but Colorado College dropped out after a falling out with Colorado Mines. Membership was at five schools.
1914: Colorado College re-joined the RMFAC. Utah State University also joins the league to bring membership up to seven.
1937: Colorado, Colorado State, Brigham Young, Utah, Utah State, Wyoming, and Denver left the conference to form the Skyline Conference. The five remaining members of the RMFAC were Colorado College, Colorado Mines, Montana State, Northern Colorado, and Western State.
1969: New Mexico Highlands left the RMAC due to financial aid restrictions.
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. Northern Colorado ended up leaving the association to become independent.
1974: New Mexico Highlands re-joined the RMAC as the ninth member.
1976: The MPIAA was dissolved for economic reasons, and the two conferences went their separate ways. CSU–Pueblo switched conferences and joined the RMAC as its 11th member.
1978: The RMAC began sponsoring women's championships.
1979: Westminster dropped athletics and, as a result, left the RMAC, leaving the league with ten members.
1983: Regis left the RMAC to become independent, leaving the league with nine teams.
1986: Southern Utah left the RMAC, dropping membership to eight.
1988: New Mexico Highlands withdrew from the conference to shrink the membership to seven schools.
1990: Wayne State and Nebraska–Kearney withdrew their interest in joining the RMAC after staying for one season. Western New Mexico and CSU–Pueblo also announced that they were leaving the RMAC. Fort Lewis announced its intention to leave, however, it stayed on as an associate member of the conference. New Mexico Highlands re-joined the RMAC again.
1997: Denver left to move up to Division I. Colorado-Colorado Springs became a full member. San Francisco State University joined the RMAC as an associate member in wrestling only.
2006: Fort Hays State left the RMAC for the MIAA, although it did remain in the RMAC as an associate member in wrestling. Western New Mexico re-joined the conference, keeping membership at 14 schools.
2012: Nebraska–Kearney left the RMAC to join the MIAA. Black Hills State University moved from the NAIA to NCAA Division II and joined the RMAC to keep the number of full members at 14. Fort Hays State wrestling left once the MIAA began sponsoring that sport. Minnesota State–Moorhead and Northern State women's swimming left when their full-time home of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference began sponsoring the sport.
2015: Westminster (Utah) re-joined the RMAC.[4][5] Rockhurst added men's lacrosse to its RMAC membership. Oklahoma Baptist University joined in women's lacrosse, plus men's and women's swimming.
2016: Western New Mexico left for the Lone Star Conference, dropping the RMAC's full-time membership to 15. Two schools joined as associate members: Dixie State University (now Utah Tech University) in football and Maryville University in men's lacrosse.
2018: Dixie State became an all-sports RMAC member. California Baptist ended its RMAC associate memberships to move to Division I; both swimming teams joined CBU's new home of the WAC, while wrestling became an independent (that sport would later be accepted by the Big 12 Conference effective in 2022). After Rockhurst's affiliation contract with the RMAC in men's lacrosse expired, that team joined the school's other sports in the GLVC; women's lacrosse remained in the RMAC, as the GLVC then sponsored lacrosse only for men. The RMAC dropped men's tennis as a conference sport.
2019: Dixie State announced it would leave the RMAC to join Division I and the WAC in 2020. Lindenwood and Rockhurst women's lacrosse left the RMAC once the GLVC began sponsoring that sport. The RMAC dropped women's tennis as a conference sport.
Member schools
Current members
The RMAC currently has 15 full members, all but three are public schools:
^Colorado–Colorado Springs (UCCS) was an associate member of the RMAC only during the 1996–97 school year for some sports before accepting full membership, effective in the 1997–98 school year.
^Colorado State–Pueblo left the RMAC after the 1971–72 school year then re-joined from 1976–77 to 1989–90 before re-joining effective in the 1996–97 school year.
^Fort Lewis was an affiliate member of the RMAC from 1990–91 to 1993–94 before re-joining as a full member, effective in the 1994–95 school year.
^New Mexico Highlands left the RMAC after the 1968–69 school year then re-joined from 1974–75 to 1987–88 before re-joining effective in the 1990–91 school year.
^Regis left the RMAC after the 1982–83 school year before re-joining effective in the 1996–97 school year.
^The South Dakota Mines men's and women's basketball and men's soccer teams joined the RMAC a year after becoming a full member for other sports (2015–16); while its football team joined the RMAC two years after (2016–17).
^Westminster left the RMAC after the 1978–79 school year before re-joining effective in the 2015–16 school year.
Affiliate members
The RMAC currently has six affiliate members; two are private schools, while the other four are public schools:
A total of 49 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-only) Associate member (sport)