Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference

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.

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

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.[1] This situation was finally resolved in 1959 when a compromise was reached and Southern Arkansas and Tech were "restored" to the conference.[2]

In 1983 the conference sanctioned women's sports for the first time.[3] 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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

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	Bisons	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	1993	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 to 1972 and then again from 1985 to 1987.
2. Hendrix College disbanded its football program in 1960 but continued to compete in the AIC in other sports.
3. Lyon College (Arkansas College) joined the AIC before 1980.
4. Williams Baptist College joined the AIC about 1990.

Commissioners

• Heber Lowery McAlister (1948–1956)
• Cliff Shaw (1956–1971)
• Charles Mabern Adcock (1971–1974)
• Leroy Nix Jr. (1974–1978)
• Sid Simpson (1978–1979)
• Harry T. Hall (1979–1993)[7]
• Don Cleek (1994–1995)

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. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. http://web.saumag.edu/archives/archives/history/illustrated/ssc/other-sports/
3. http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=6372
4. https://issuu.com/hendersonstate/docs/rrfall-2004
5. http://newsok.com/expansion-hits-the-sac-john-brown-university-will-join-league/article/2480966
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1665&dat=19940103&id=2oRPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RSUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4815,961153