The Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA) was a college sports association that operated from 1909 to 1932. All of its members were located in the US state of Texas.
This battle between the large and small schools led to the first big change in 1914, when Texas, A&M, Baylor and Southwestern left to form the Southwest Conference, with some considering themselves to be members of both. After two seasons, Southwestern left the Southwest conference and returned to the TIAA. The conferences became completely separate in 1917. In 1922, TIAA expanded by including North Texas.[2] In 1923, TCU left to join the Southwest Conference and in 1924, Rice followed suit.
In 1925, the TIAA was split between members who wanted to allow freshmen and transfers to play and schools that did not. This fault line also separated the teachers colleges that had joined over the years and the church-sponsored schools that had been founders. In May 1925, those that wanted to allow them to play—Trinity, Simmons University (now Hardin–Simmons University), Austin College, Howard Payne, and Southwestern—left to form the Texas Conference, but they agreed to play out the fall 1925 football season within the TIAA. Play within the Texas Conference began with the 1926 basketball season. The five departing schools were all church supported and agreed to ally themselves "along denominational lines."[2][3]
^ abcRogers, James Lloyd (2002). The Story of North Texas: From Texas Normal College, 1890, to the University of North Texas System, 2001. University of North Texas Press. pp. 197–200. ISBN1574411284.