Border Conference Explained

Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Founded:	1931
Folded:	1962
Association:	NCAA
Division:	University Division
Teams:	6 (final) 9 (total)
Region:	Southwestern United States
Map:	1950 Border Conference States.svg
Map Size:	250

The Border Conference, officially known as the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, was an NCAA-affiliated college athletic conference founded in 1931 that disbanded following the 1961–62 school year. Centered in the southwestern United States, the conference included nine member institutions located in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

History

Chronological timeline

1931 – The Border Conference (also known as the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association) was founded. Charter members included the University of Arizona, Arizona State Teachers College at Flagstaff (now Northern Arizona University), Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe (now Arizona State University), the University of New Mexico and New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (now New Mexico State University), beginning the 1931–32 academic year.
1932 – Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) joined the Border in the 1932–33 academic year.
1935 – The College of Mines and Metallurgy of the University of Texas (now the University of Texas at El Paso) joined the Border in the 1935–36 academic year.
1941 – Hardin–Simmons University and West Texas State Teachers College (now West Texas A&M University) joined the Border in the 1941–42 academic year.
1952 – New Mexico left the Border to join the Skyline Conference (a.k.a. the Mountain States Conference) after the 1951–52 academic year.
1953 – Northern Arizona left the Border to join the New Mexico Conference after the 1952–53 academic year.
1957 – Texas Tech left the Border to join the Southwest Conference after the 1956–57 academic year.
1957 - Border Conference considers expanding into California with Fresno State, University of the Pacific, San Diego State University, and San Jose State University considered.
1959 - Border Conference considers expanding by adding Abilene Christian University and Trinity University.
1960 - Border Conference considers expanding again by adding Abilene Christian University, University of New Mexico, University of North Texas, Trinity University, University of Tulsa, and Wichita State University.
1962 – The Border ceased operations as an athletic conference after the 1962–63 academic year; as many schools left to find new conference homes, beginning the 1963–64 academic year: Arizona and Arizona State to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC); while Hardin–Simmons, New Mexico State, UTEP and West Texas A&M began to compete as Independents.

Member schools

Final members

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Subsequent conference(s)	Current conference(s)
	Tucson, Arizona	1885	Public	43,625	Wildcats	1931	1962	Western (WAC) (1962–78)	Pacific-12 (Pac-12) (1978–present)
Arizona State University	Tempe, Arizona	1885	Public	71,946	Sun Devils	1931	1962	Western (WAC) (1962–78)	Pacific-12 (Pac-12) (1978–present)
Hardin–Simmons University	Abilene, Texas	1891	Baptist	2,333	Cowboys &<br>Cowgirls	1941	1962	various	American Southwest (1996–present)
New Mexico State University	Las Cruces, New Mexico	1888	Public	21,694	Aggies	1931	1962	various	Conf. USA (C-USA) (2023–present)
	El Paso, Texas	1914	Public	25,151	Miners	1935	1962	University Division Independent (1962–67) Western (WAC) (1967–2005)	Conf. USA (C-USA) (2005–present)
West Texas A&M University	Canyon, Texas	1910	Public	10,169	Buffaloes	1941	1962	various	Lone Star (LSC) (1986–91; 1993–present)

Notes:

Previous members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Subsequent conference(s)	Current conference
Northern Arizona University	Flagstaff, Arizona	1899	Public	22,791	Lumberjacks	1931	1953	New Mexico/Frontier (1953–62) NAIA Independent (1962–70)	Big Sky (1970–present)
	Albuquerque, New Mexico	1889	Public	25,441	Lobos	1931	1951	Skyline (1951–62) Western (WAC) (1962–99)	Mountain West (MWC) (1999–present)
Texas Tech University	Lubbock, Texas	1923	Public	40,666	Red Raiders	1932	1957	Southwest (SWC) (1957–96)	Big 12 (1996–present)

Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyyImageSize = width:925 height:auto barincrement:20Period = from:1931 till:2031TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalPlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 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(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two id:Big12 value:rgb(0.999,0.500,0.500) # id:Ind value:rgb(0.83,0.83,0.83) #

PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:Full from:1931 till:1962 text:Arizona (1931–1962) bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:1962 till:1978 text:WAC bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1978 till:2024 text:Pac-12 bar:1 color:Big12 from:2024 till:end text:Big 12

bar:2 color:Full from:1931 till:1962 text:Arizona State Teachers–Tempe (1931–1962) bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1962 till:1978 text:WAC bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1978 till:2024 text:Pac-12 bar:2 color:Big12 from:2024 till:end text:Big 12

bar:3 color:Full from:1931 till:1953 text:Arizona State Teachers–Flagstaff (1931–1953) bar:3 shift:(25) color:OtherC2 from:1953 till:1962 text:New Mexico bar:3 color:Ind from:1962 till:1970 text:NAIA Ind bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1970 till:end text:Big Sky

bar:4 color:Full from:1931 till:1951 text:New Mexico (1931–1951) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1951 till:1962 text:Skyline bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1962 till:1999 text:WAC bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:end text:MWC

bar:5 color:Full from:1931 till:1962 text:New Mexico A&M (1931–1962) bar:5 color:Ind from:1962 till:1970 text:UD Ind bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:1970 till:1983 text:MVC bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1983 till:2005 text:Big West bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2005 till:2023 text:WAC bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text:C-USA

bar:6 color:Full from:1932 till:1957 text:Texas Technological (1932–1957) bar:6 color:FullxF from:1957 till:1960 text:Southwest Conference bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1960 till:1996 bar:6 color:Big12 from:1996 till:end text:Big 12

bar:7 color:Full from:1935 till:1962 text:Texas Mines (1935–1962) bar:7 color:Ind from:1962 till:1967 text:UD Ind bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:1967 till:2005 text:WAC bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:end text:C-USA

bar:8 color:Full from:1941 till:1962 text:Hardin-Simmons (1941–1962) bar:8 color:Ind from:1962 till:1973 text:pre-DIII Ind bar:8 color:Ind from:1973 till:1990 text:DIII Ind bar:8 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:1996 text:TIAA bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:end text:American Southwest

bar:9 color:Full from:1941 till:1962 text:West Texas Teachers' (1941–1962) bar:9 color:Ind from:1962 till:1972 text:UD Ind bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:1972 till:1986 text:MVC bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1986 till:1991 text:LSC bar:9 color:Ind from:1991 till:1993 text:DII Ind bar:9 shift:(20) color:OtherC1 from:1993 till:end text:LSC

bar:N color:red from:1931 till:1962 text:Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association bar:N color:blue from:1962 till:end text:Post-Border

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1935

TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(250,30) # tabs:(0-center) text:"Border Conference membership history"

Current conference affiliations of former members

The nine former football-playing members of the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association are currently affiliated with the following nine conferences (all NCAA Division I FBS unless indicated):

Arizona State University and University of Arizona - Pac-12 Conference, Moving fully to Big 12 Conference in 2024
Hardin–Simmons University - American Southwest Conference (Division III)
University of New Mexico - Mountain West Conference
New Mexico State University - Conference USA
Northern Arizona University - Big Sky Conference (Division I FCS)
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) - Conference USA
Texas Tech University - Big 12 Conference
West Texas A&M University - Lone Star Conference (Division II)

Football champions

See main article: List of Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association football champions.

Texas Tech holds the most conference championships at seven. Arizona State won six conference championships followed by Arizona (three), Hardin–Simmons (two) and both West Texas State and the Texas State School of Mines hold one each. From 1932 to 1934 and 1943 to 1945 no champion was named. There were only two seasons where the title was split and two co-champions were named; 1938, New Mexico and New Mexico A&M and in 1942 Hardin–Simmons and Texas Tech. The winner of the conference title generally received an invitation to serve as the host team for the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.^[1]

Notes and References

Web site: Welcome cfbdatawarehouse.com - BlueHost.com. www.cfbdatawarehouse.com. 2009-09-11. 2010-02-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20100213163201/http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/conference_champs/champions.php?conid=24. dead.