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List of defunct college football conferences

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This is a list of defunct college football conferences in the United States and a defunct university football conference in Canada. Not all of the conferences listed here are truly defunct. Some simply stopped sponsoring football and continue under their current names, where others changed their names after changes in membership.

United States

[edit]
  • Conferences whose charter no longer functions, listed by year of dissolution.
  • Successor conferences in bold are still in existence:
Conference First
Season		 Final
Season		 Geographic Areas Predecessor(s) Successor(s)
Commonwealth Coast Football 2017 2022 New England NEFC CCC
Great Northwest Athletic Conference ‡
[a]		 2001 2021 Western States –
Central States Football League [b] 2000 2017 Arizona, Midwest, South Central States – Sooner
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference ‡
College Athletic Conference (1962–1991)		 1962 2016 South – SAA
New England Football Conference † 1965 2016 New England – CCC Football [c]
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 1924 2013 Pennsylvania, West Virginia – Mountain East [d]
Great West Conference
Great West Football Conference (2004–2008)		 2004 2013 California, Interior West, Upper Midwest – Big Sky
MVFC
Western Athletic Conference [e] ‡ 1962 2012 * Western States – Mountain West
Big East Conference † 1993 2012 Eastern States – American [f]
Dakota Athletic Conference 2000 2012 North Dakota, South Dakota NDCAC
SDIC		 North Star
Pacific-10 Conference †
Pacific-8 Conference (1964–1978)
Big Six Conference (1962–1964)
Big Five Conference (1959–1962)
Athletic Association of Western Universities (1959–1968)		 1959 2011 Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington – Pac-12
Great Lakes Football Conference 2006 2011 Midwest – GLVC
Atlantic Central Football Conference 1997 2010 Mid-Atlantic – Empire 8
NJAC
USA South
Gateway Football Conference [g]
Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (1985–1992) ‡		 1985 2008 Plains States, Midwest States – MVFC
Illini-Badger Football Conference
Illini-Badger-Hawkeye Football Conference (1989–1990)		 1976 2007 Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin – NACC
North Central Conference
North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1922–1929)		 1922 2008 Upper Midwest –
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference [h] ‡ 1993 2007 Mid-Atlantic States – –
Dixie Conference (1963–2003) † 1963 2003 Southern United States – USA South
Atlantic 10 Conference [i] ‡ 1997 2006 Mid-Atlantic States Yankee CAA Football
Upstate Collegiate Athletic Conference† 1995 2004 New York – Liberty League
Freedom Football Conference 1992 2003 New England, New York – Empire Eight
NEFC
NJAC
Liberty League
Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference †
Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1969–1992)		 1969 2000 Iowa, Nebraska – GPAC
Big West Conference [j] ‡
Pacific Coast Athletic Association (1969–1988)		 1969 2000 Western States – WAC
Columbia Football Association 1987 2000 Oregon, Washington CFL GNAC
Eastern Football Conference 1997 2000 Northeast – Northeast-10
North Dakota College Athletic Conference
North Dakota Intercollegiate Conference		 1931 1999 North Dakota – Dakota AC
Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference † 1987 1998 Ohio Valley – HCAC
Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference
Midwest Intercollegiate Conference (1990)		 1990 1999 Midwest Heartland
GLIAC		 GLIAC
South Dakota-Iowa Athletic Conference 1995 1999 Iowa, South Dakota SDIC DAC
Mid-Ohio Conference†
Mid-Ohio League (1949–1961)		 1949 1998 Ohio – American Mideast
Northern California Athletic Conference
Far Western Conference (1925 –1982)		 1925 1998 California, Nevada, Oregon California Coast –
Wisconsin State University Conference
Wisconsin State Normal Conference		 1913 1997 Wisconsin – WIAC
Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference 1974 1997 Oklahoma OCC Lone Star
Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1976 1997 Texas – ASC
Eastern Collegiate Football Conference 1990 1997 New England – CCC Football
Southwest Conference 1914 1996 Arkansas, Texas – Big 12
Conference USA
Big Eight Conference
Big Seven Conference (1947–1958)
Big Six Conference (1907–1946)		 1907 1996 Interior West, Plains States MVIAA Big 12
Yankee 1947 1996 Mid-Atlantic States, New England New England Atlantic 10
American West Conference 1993 1996 California, Utah Western Big Sky
Big West
South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference 1917 1995 South Dakota – SDIAC
Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference 1928 1995 Arkansas – Gulf South
Lone Star
SCAC
Sooner Athletic
TransSouth Athletic
Association of Mideast Colleges 1991 1995 Kentucky, Ohio – –
Northern Intercollegiate Conference†
State Teacher's College Conference of Minnesota (1942 –1961)
Northern Teachers Athletic Conference (1932–1941 )		 1932 1993 Upper Midwest – Northern Sun
Western Football Conference 1982 1993 California, Utah – Big Sky
Great West
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association † 1912 1992 Missouri – MIAA
Liberty Football Conference 1985 1992 New York Met-Intercollegiate MAAC
College Athletic Conference† 1962 1991 Southern United States – SCAC
Independent College Athletic Conference 1964 1991 New Jersey, New York – Empire 8
Atlantic Collegiate Football Conference 1988 1991 Mid-Atlantic – –
Heartland Collegiate Conference
Indiana Collegiate Conference (1951–1977)		 1951 1989 Indiana, Ohio – MIFC
Tri-State Athletic Conference 1988 1989 Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota – –
Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Conference 1965 1988 Maine Maine IAA NESCAC
Columbia Football League 1987 1988 Oregon, Washington Evergreen CFA
Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives †
Big Ten Conference (1917-1946, 1949–1987)
Big Nine Conference (1899–1906, 1912–1917, 1946–1948)
Western Conference		 1896 1987 Midwestern United States IAAN Big Ten
Gulf Star Conference 1984 1987 Louisiana, Texas – Southland
Central States Intercollegiate Conference 1976 1986 Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska Great Plains MIAA
Missouri Valley Conference [k] ‡ 1907 1985 Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma – Mountain West
Hoosier-Buckeye Conference
Hoosier Conference (1948–1970)		 1948 1985 Indiana, Ohio – HCAC
Pacific Northwest Conference 1926 1984 Idaho, Oregon, Washington – Northwest
Evergreen Conference
Washington Intercollegiate Conference (1938–1947)		 1948 1984 Oregon, Washington Tri-Normal Columbia FL
Met-Intercollegiate Conference 1979 1984 New York Metropolitan IC Liberty FC
Mid-Continent Athletic Association [l] ‡
Summit League		 1978 1981 Midwestern States – Gateway/MVFC
Ohio Valley
Tri-State Conference 1960 1980 Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota – GPAC
Twin River Collegiate Conference 1976 1978 Minnesota – –
Metropolitan Intercollegiate Conference 1972 1977 New York – Met-Intercollegiate
Nebraska College Athletic Conference
Nebraska Intercollegiate Conference (1916–1926)		 1916 1976 Nebraska – NIAC/GPAC
Great Plains Athletic Conference 1972 1976 Colorado, Plains States RMAC CSIC
North Central
RMAC
Middle Three Conference 1929 1975 New Jersey, Pennsylvania – Big Ten
MAC
Patriot
Virginia Collegiate Athletic Association 1972 1975 Virginia Virginia Little Eight ODAC
Mason-Dixon Conference 1936 1974 Mid-Atlantic States Chesapeake ODAC
Gateway Conference 1962 1974 Illinois, Wisconsin – –
Eastern Football Conference 1965 1974 Northeast – –
Maine Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1893 1973 Maine – Yankee
NESCAC
Oklahoma Collegiate Conference 1929 1973 Oklahoma Oklahoma IC (I) Oklahoma IC (II)
Carolinas Conference
Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1961–1972)
North State Conference (1930–1961)		 1930 1973 North Carolina, South Carolina – –
Mid-South Athletic Conference† 1971 1972 Mid-South – Gulf South
Missouri College Athletic Union 1924 1970 Missouri MIAA Heart of America
Gulf States Conference 1948 1970 Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi Louisiana IC –
Alabama Collegiate Conference 1960 1969 Alabama Alabama Intercollegiate Gulf South
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 1928 1968 Kansas, Missouri – KCAC
Great Plains
Prairie College Conference 1953 1988 Illinois, Indiana – –
Western Pennsylvania Conference 1958 1967 Pennsylvania – –
Midwestern Conference
Midwest Conference (1962–1963)
Midwest Athletic Association (1926–1961)		 1926 1966 Central States – –
Oregon Collegiate Conference 1950 1965 Oregon – Evergreen
South Carolina Little Three
South Carolina Little Four (1946–1951)		 1946 1964 South Carolina – –
Great Plains College Association 1963 1964 Nebraska – –
Mountain States Conference 1938 1963 Interior West RMAC
Border		 Big 8
WAC
Green Mountain Conference 1963 1963 Vermont – –
Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1931 1962 Arizona, New Mexico, Texas – WAC
Frontier Conference
New Mexico Intercollegiate Conference (1940–1954)		 1940 1962 Arizona, Colorado New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas – –
Volunteer State Athletic Conference 1949 1962 Tennessee Smoky Mountain –
Southeastern Athletic Conference
South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1929–1942)		 1929 1961 Florida, Georgia, South Carolina – –
South Central Athletic Conference 1942 1961 Southern United States – SWAC
Badger-Gopher Conference
Badger-Illini Conference (1948–1956 college football season )
Badger State Intercollegiate Conference (1940–1947)
Tri-State Conference (1932–1939 )		 1932 1961 Minnesota, Wisconsin – –
Gulf Coast Athletic Conference 1958 1961 Louisiana, Texas – –
Pacific Coast Conference 1915 1959 Pacific States, Interior West – Pac-12
Alabama Intercollegiate Conference 1938 1959 Alabama – Alabama Collegiate
Eastern Intercollegiate Conference 1953 1959 South Atlantic States – CIAA
Western New York Little Three Conference 1946 1958 Western New York – –
Virginia Little Eight Conference
Virginia Little Seven Conference (1954–1955)
Virginia Little Six Conference (1949–1953 )		 1949 1958 Virginia – Mason-Dixon
VCAA
Smoky Mountain Conference 1927 1957 Tennessee, Virginia – Volunteer State
Big Seven Conference 1947 1957 Colorado, Plains States Big Six
Skyline		 Big 8
Gulf Coast Conference 1949 1957 Texas Lone Star SIAC
Central Church College Conference 1951 1957 Missouri, Nebraska – –
Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference 1926 1956 New Mexico, Texas TIAA Southwest
Lone Star
New Mexico Intercollegiate Conference 1940 1954 New Mexico – –
Dixie Conference (1948–1954) 1948 1954 Southeastern United States – –
Midlands Conference 1947 1952 Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin – –
Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1908–1950)		 1908 1970 Illinois, Michigan – MAC
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference 1922 1950 Indiana – Indiana CC
Vermont State Conference 1948 1950 Vermont – –
Upper Peninsula Conference 1949 1949 Michigan – –
Pioneer Conference 1947 1949 Illinois – –
Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1928 1948 Nebraska – –
Dakota-Iowa Athletic Conference 1946 1948 Iowa, South Dakota – –
Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference 1939 1947 Louisiana – Gulf States
New England Conference 1923 1946 New England – Yankee
North Atlantic Conference 1946 1946 Mid-Atlantic States – –
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1894 1942 Southern United States – Southern
SAIAA
Dixie
Louisiana
Illinois Intercollege Conference 1938 1942 Illinois – –
Dixie Conference (1930–1941) 1930 1941 Southeastern United States – –
Michigan-Ontario Collegiate Conference 1930 1941 Michigan, Ontario – –
South Dakota College Conference 1933 1940 South Dakota – –
Alamo Conference 1936 1940 Texas – –
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference 1937 1940 Pennsylvania – –
Buckeye Athletic Association 1926 1939 Ohio Ohio Athletic Mid-American
Tri-Normal League 1920 1937 Washington – Evergreen
Chesapeake Conference 1933 1937 Virginia Virginia Mason-Dixon
Virginia Little Eight
Virginia Conference 1928 1935 Virginia – Chesapeake
Southern
New York State Conference 1925 1934 New York – –
Mississippi Valley Conference 1928 1934 Mid-South – –
Tri-State Conference (1923–1934) 1923 1934 Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia – –
Middle Atlantic Athletic Association 1934 1936 Mid-Atlantic – –
Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1909 1932 Texas – –
Northwest Ohio League
Little Ohio Conference		 1921 1932 Ohio – –
Big Four Conference of Wisconsin 1923 1932 Wisconsin – –
Michigan Collegiate Conference 1926 1932 Michigan – –
Big Four Conference 1929 1932 Oklahoma Oklahoma Intercollegiate –
Metropolitan Conference 1923 1931 New York – –
Arkansas Association 1927 1929 Arkansas – Arkansas Intercollegiate
Metropolitan Collegiate Conference 1928 1929 New York – –
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Association
Kansas College Athletic Conference (1902–1920)
Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1890–1901)		 1890 1928 Kansas – KCAC (II)
Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference 1914 1928 Oklahoma – OCC
Big Four Conference
Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1907 1927 Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma – Big Six
Missouri Valley
Western Interstate Conference 1923 1927 Illinois, Iowa – –
Louisiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1912 1925 Louisiana SIAA SIAA
Louisiana IC
California Coast Conference 1922 1924 California – Far Western
Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletics Association† 1913 1922 Mid-Atlantic States – MAC'
South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1911 1921 East Coast – Southern
Little Five Conference 1912 1917 Illinois – Illinois IAC
Hawkeye College Conference 1914 1917 Iowa – Iowa IAC
Western IC
Indiana College Athletic League 1916 1917 Indiana – –
Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1914 1916 Kentucky – KIAC
Colorado Football Association 1890 1908 Colorado – RMAC
Triangular Football League
Northeast Intercollegiate League (1891–1892)
Eastern Intercollegiate Football Association (1887–1890)
Northern Intercollegiate Football Association (1885–1886)		 1885 1901 Massachusetts, New Hampshire – –
Maryland Intercollegiate Football Association 1894 1899 Maryland – SAIAA
Western Interstate University Football Association 1892 1897 Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska – MVIAA
Illinois Intercollegiate Football League 1891 1895 Illinois – –
Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1890 1894 Indiana – –
Middle States Intercollegiate Football League 1893 1894 New Jersey, Pennsylvania – –
Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest 1892 1893 Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin – ICFR
Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Football Association 1891 1891 Pennsylvania – –

Notes

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  1. ^ The GNAC entered into a football scheduling agreement with the Lone Star Conference in 2019. The two leagues had planned to continue said agreement through at least 2023, but this arrangement was scrapped after the 2021 season, with the three remaining GNAC football members becoming LSC football-only members starting in 2022. One of these three schools, Simon Fraser, dropped football after the 2022 season.
  2. ^ The CSFL did not compete in the 2012 season. In 2017, the Sooner Athletic Conference, which served as the primary conference for the majority of the CSFL's membership decided to sponsor football beginning in 2018. As a result, most of the league's remaining members shifted to that conference.
  3. ^ After the 2016 football season, conference realignment left the NEFC with only five teams, all members of the all-sports Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC). If the CCC had brought the NEFC fully under its umbrella, the CCC football schools would have lost their opportunity for automatic qualification to the Division III tournament. Accordingly, the CCC instead maintained the NEFC as a technically separate league but took over its administration, rebranding the NEFC as Commonwealth Coast Football (CCC Football). CCC Football later restored its membership to the level then required to maintain NCAA tournament qualification. CCC Football was fully merged into the all-sports CCC in 2022, following changes in Division III rules regarding automatic qualification for the D-III tournament.[1]
  4. ^ Although the MEC was formed under a separate charter, there is considerable continuity between the MEC and WVIAC. Of the 12 original all-sports MEC members, eight had played WVIAC football in that conference's final season. (One of these inaugural MEC football members has since left the league.) As of the 2021 season, eight of the 12 current football members of the MEC had played in the final WVIAC football season, and a ninth was a non-football WVIAC member that later added the sport.
  5. ^ Dropped football as a conference sport after the 2012 season, following a near-complete membership turnover from 2011 to 2013. All but two of the WAC's football schools left the conference in that period. Both remaining football schools, Idaho and New Mexico State, played as independents in the 2013 season before returning to football-only membership in the Sun Belt Conference in 2014. The WAC reinstated football in 2021 at the FCS level, and after the 2022 season merged its football league with that of the ASUN Conference, creating the United Athletic Conference.[2] [3]
  6. ^ The American Athletic Conference operates under the same charter as the 1979–2013 version of the Big East Conference. After the 2013 split of the Big East, the schools that did not sponsor FBS football reorganized under a new charter as the current Big East Conference, having purchased that name from the remaining members. The remaining FBS members reorganized as the American Athletic Conference. However, The American does not recognize any of the football history of the Big East.
  7. ^ Before 1985, the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference was a women's athletic conference whose membership featured several schools now in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). When the MVC stopped sponsoring its hybrid Division I-A (now FBS) and Division I-AA (now FCS) football league in 1985, the Gateway Conference took on football as its only men's sport. The initial football membership included the two I-AA football programs then in the MVC, plus the four final members of the AMCU football league. When the women's portion of the Gateway Conference merged with the MVC in 1992, the football conference maintained the Gateway charter, with a name change to Gateway Football Conference. In 2008, the Gateway Conference, by now featuring five current MVC members, changed its name to the Missouri Valley Football Conference to better align itself with the MVC. The two conferences, however, remain legally separate, although they operate out of the same offices in St. Louis.
  8. ^ Initially formed as a non-football conference, began sponsoring football in 1993. Dropped football after the 2007 season, after most of its member schools discontinued their football programs.
  9. ^ In 2007, the Colonial Athletic Association began sponsorship of football. However, the football conference that now operates under CAA administration as the technically separate entity of CAA Football has been in existence since 1938, under different charters: the New England Conference (1938–1945), the Yankee Conference (1947–1996), and the Atlantic 10 Conference (1997–2006). In 1997, the Atlantic 10 Conference, initially formed as a non-football conference, absorbed the Yankee Conference football programs and began football sponsorship in 1997. After several membership changes in the CAA in the early 2000s, the CAA had six schools with FCS football teams, and eventually, it was agreed that the CAA would take over management of the A-10 football conference. The changeover occurred in 2007. Further illustrating the continuity between conferences, the Yankee's automatic berth in the FCS playoffs passed in succession to the A-10 and CAA.
  10. ^ The Big West Conference, originally the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, adopted its current name in 1988 as it admitted more schools located in the interior West. Dropped football as a conference sport after the 2000 season.
  11. ^ Dropped football as a conference sport after the 1985 season. As noted above, the Missouri Valley Football Conference is a separate entity from the MVC, although the football conference (which, as of the 2023 season, has six members in common with the MVC) has a licensing agreement with the MVC allowing it to use an adapted version of the MVC logo.
  12. ^ Founded in 1982, it absorbed the former Mid-Continent Athletic Association and sponsored Division I-AA football through the 1984 season. Of the four schools that participated in AMCU football in the 1982–84 period, three now compete at the Division I FCS level in the football-only Missouri Valley Football Conference, and the other is an all-sports member of the FCS Ohio Valley Conference. After dropping football, the AMCU (informally known as the "Mid-Continent") became the Mid-Continent Conference in 1989, and adopted its current name of The Summit League in 2007. Currently, six Summit League members sponsor football; five are MVFC members and the other plays in the Pioneer Football League.

Canada

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  • Ontario-Québec Intercollegiate Football Conference (1975-2000) – This conference existed with varying membership with many Ontario teams leaving for the current Ontario University Athletics in 1980. The remaining Ontario teams departed after the 2000 season and the remaining Quebec teams ultimately became the Quebec University Football League in 2004.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About the CCC". Commonwealth Coast Conference. June 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  2. ^ "WAC Announces Expansion, Plans to Reinstate Football" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  3. ^ "ASUN-WAC Football Partnership Formally Rebrands as the United Athletic Conference" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
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