The Red River Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference's 14 member institutions are located in Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico.
The Red River Athletic Conference began competition in fall 1998 with 16 charter members.[1] The conference at present counts 14 members, one of the most recent additions being Texas A&M University–Texarkana in 2016.[2] In 2019, St. Thomas Houston announced its departure from the conference to join the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) of the NCAA Division III as a provisional member.[3] In March 2020, Texas A&M University–San Antonio was approved for membership into the NAIA and it was simultaneously announced that the Jaguars would begin competition in the conference starting in the 2020–21 academic year,[4] followed by Xavier University of Louisiana and Louisiana Christian University (formerly Louisiana College) in September and October respectively.[5][6] Xavier and Louisiana Christian officially joined the RRAC for the 2021–22 academic year.
On January 20, 2022, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) invited founding Red River member Wiley College (now Wiley University) to become the GCAC's first Texas institution, effective later in July.[7]
On July 6, 2023, North American University was accepted as the RRAC's 14th conference member for the 2023–24 school year.[8]
The RRAC currently has 14 full members, all but five are private schools:
The RRAC had 14 former full members, all but five were private schools:
The RRAC had five former affiliate members, three are public schools and two are private schools:
Full member (non-football) Associate member (sport)
The Red River Athletic Conference sponsors championships in seven men's and eight women's sports.