Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference

Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference
(AIC)
Established 1928
Dissolved 1995
Association NAIA
Members 14
Former names Arkansas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Headquarters North Little Rock, Arkansas

The Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) was an athletic conference in existence from 1928 to 1995 affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference membership consisted entirely of colleges and universities in the state of Arkansas.

History

Some references indicate that the league started competition in 1927 while others list a 1928 date. The league seems to have competed in baseball and basketball in 1927-28 and started football competition in 1929. Some references list football championships for 1927 and 1928 while others do not so these may have been unofficial titles that anticipated the start of the league's football competition.

In 1941, with many member institutions suffering from reduced male student populations, the AIC suspended competition in order to save gasoline and other resources necessary for the war effort. Competition was not resumed until the 1945 season.[1]

In December 1952 the AIC schools implemented new "amateurism" rules that no scholarships or subsidies would be offered to athletes beyond those that were available to regular students. Southern Arkansas and Arkansas Tech were opposed to the new rules and did not strictly enforce them. In December 1955 several AIC schools declared that they would no longer play SAU or Tech due to unspecified violations of the rule and neither school was able to compete for titles in any sport during the 1956 and 1957 school years.[2] This situation was finally resolved in 1959 when a compromise was reached and Southern Arkansas and Tech were "restored" to the conference.[3]

In 1983 the conference sanctioned women's sports for the first time.[4] Prior to this most women's teams competed in the Arkansas Women's Extramural Sports Association (AWESA) which was founded in 1965 and later renamed as the Arkansas Women's Intercollegiate Sports Association (AWISA) in 1973.[5]

In 1993 Central Arkansas and Henderson State elected to move to the NCAA Division II Gulf South Conference and were followed by the remaining public schools in 1995 which marked the end of the conference. Two of the remaining private schools, Ouachita Baptist and Harding, were accepted into the Lone Star Conference. The other private school, John Brown University, joined the Sooner Athletic Conference as the AIC dissolved.[6]

The New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference was formed after the dissolution to provide several of the old AIC school's swimming programs a chance to compete for championships.[7]

Membership

Institution Nickname Location
(Arkansas) 		Founded Type Joined Left Subsequent
Conference 		Current
Conference
Arkansas State University Red Wolves Jonesboro 1909 Public 1930 1950 Independent Sun Belt
Arkansas Tech University Wonder Boys
&
Golden Suns		 Russellville 1909 Public 1928 1995 Gulf South Great American
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans Little Rock 1927 Public 1961 1977 Independent Sun Belt
University of Arkansas at Monticello Boll Weevils
&
Cotton Blossoms		 Monticello 1909 Public 1928 1995 Gulf South Great American
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions Pine Bluff 1873 Public 1970 1987 Independent SWAC
University of Central Arkansas Bears
&
Sugar Bears		 Conway 1907 Public 1928 1993 Gulf South Southland
Harding University Bison Searcy 1924 Private 1960 1995 Lone Star Great American
Henderson State University Reddies Arkadelphia 1890 Public 1930 1993 Gulf South Great American
Hendrix College Warriors Conway 1876 Private 1929 1992 SCAC SAA
John Brown University Golden Eagles Siloam Springs 1919 Private 1995 Sooner Sooner
Lyon College Scots Batesville 1872 Private 1995 TSAC American Midwest
Ouachita Baptist University Tigers Arkadelphia 1886 Private 1931 1995 Lone Star Great American
University of the Ozarks Eagles Clarksville 1834 Private 1947 1995 American Southwest
Southern Arkansas University Muleriders Magnolia 1909 Public 1929 1995 Gulf South Great American
Williams Baptist College Eagles Walnut Ridge 1941 Private 1995 TSAC American Midwest
Notes
  1. Arkansas–Pine Bluff appears to have been a member of the AIC from 1970–72 and then again from 1985-1987.
  2. Hendrix College disbanded its football program in 1960 but continued to compete in the AIC in other sports.
  3. John Brown appears to have been a member of the AIC in the 1960s but was a member of the Sooner Athletic Conference from 1980-1983 before returning to the AIC.
  4. Lyon College (Arkansas College) joined the AIC before 1980.
  5. Williams Baptist College joined the AIC about 1990.

Commissioners

Football

Football champions

Shared championships are shown in italics:

Football conference championships (1927–1995)
School Total titles Outright titles Years
Central Arkansas 22 16 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1940 • 1959 • 1962 • 1965 • 1966 • 1976 • 1978 • 1980 • 1981 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992
Arkansas Tech 18 15 1928 • 1931 • 1935 • 1939 • 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949 • 1954 • 1958 • 1960 • 1961 • 1964 • 1968 • 1970 • 1971 • 1994
Henderson State 13 9 1930 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1950 • 1959 • 1963 • 1969 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1977 • 1985
Arkansas–Monticello 11 7 1953 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1963 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1979 • 1993
Ouachita Baptist 6 3 1934 • 1941 • 1966 • 1970 • 1975 • 1982
Southern Arkansas 5 3 1929 • 1948 • 1951 • 1952 • 1972
Harding 3 0 1972 • 1976 • 1989

Basketball

Men's Basketball champions

Following are the AIC regular-season conference champions from 1928 to 1995 (showing shared championships in italics)
NOTE: Information is incomplete.

Men's basketball regular-season championships (1928–1995)
School Total titles Outright titles Years
Central Arkansas 16 16 1927 • 1928 • 1929 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1956 • 1958 • 1964 • 1985 • 1986 • 1991
Arkansas Tech 16 16 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1958 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1985 • 1988 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995
Henderson State 10 10 1957 • 1968 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1981
Hendrix 7 7 1932 • 1979 • 1984 • 1990
Southern Arkansas 6 6 1934 • 1935 • 1966 • 1967 • 1971 • 1989
Ozarks 2 1 1983 • 1992
Arkansas–Monticello 1 1 1956
Ouachita Baptist 1 1 1976

Baseball

Baseball champions

NOTE: Information is incomplete

Baseball conference championships (1927–1995)
School Total titles Outright titles Years
Central Arkansas 20 19 1928 • 1929 • 1930 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1948 • 1949 • 1951 • 1959 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1967 • 1970 • 1978 • 1980 • 1981
Southern Arkansas 17 14 1953 • 1954 • 1956 • 1968 • 1974 • 1975 • 1977 • 1983 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1994 • 1995
Arkansas Tech 7 7 1950 • 1964 • 1976 • 1981 • 1985 • 1988 • 1992
Henderson State 7 5 1953 • 1958 • 1965 • 1973 • 1974 • 1979 • 1982
Harding 6 6 1932 • 1933 • 1938 • 1972 • 1976 • 1984
Ozarks 2 1 1949 • 1956

References

  1. ↑ http://www.southark.edu/organizations/south-arkansas-historical-society/93-8/2520-henderson-the-war-years
  2. ↑ http://www.couriernews.com/view/full_story/23133465/article-Wonder-Boys-1-1-in-Rice-Bowl
  3. ↑ http://web.saumag.edu/archives/archives/history/illustrated/ssc/other-sports/
  4. ↑ http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=6372
  5. ↑ http://issuu.com/hendersonstate/docs/rrfall-2004
  6. ↑ http://newsok.com/expansion-hits-the-sac-john-brown-university-will-join-league/article/2480966
  7. ↑ http://thecabin.net/stories/021199/spo_0211990032.shtml
  8. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1665&dat=19940103&id=2oRPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RSUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4815,961153

External links

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