Dakota Athletic Conference

The Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) was a college athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA. As the name implies, member teams were located in the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. The conference folded in 2012.

Dakota Athletic Conference
DAC
Established	2000
Dissolved	2012
Association	NAIA
Members	4 (final) 10 (all-time)
Sports fielded	15 men's: 8 women's: 7
Region	The Dakotas Region III of the NAIA
Headquarters	Dickinson, North Dakota
Website	dakotaac.org
Locations

History

The Dakota Athletic Conference was formed from a merger between the North Dakota College Athletic Conference and the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference. Ten schools were a part of the conference in its history, consisting of the following:

• Formerly from the NDCAC: Jamestown College, Mayville State University, Valley City State University, Dickinson State University, Minot State University and the University of Mary
• Formerly from the SDIC: Si Tanka University-Huron, Black Hills State University, Dakota State University and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

The DAC was one of the only NAIA conferences to have a television contract; America One owned the broadcast rights to the conference, although most of the games were only carried through the network's subscription service, B2 Networks.

Timeline

• Si Tanka-Huron closed in 2005.
• Mary left the DAC to join the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2006.
• Dakota State announced they were leaving the DAC on July 1, 2011 to become an NAIA Independent.[1]

Additionally, member schools Black Hills State, Minot State and South Dakota Tech also left the conference while in the process of transitioning to NCAA Division II.

• This left the conference with four schools for 2011-12, after which Dickinson State left for the Frontier Conference and Jamestown, Mayville State and Valley City State became NAIA independent schools.

Past members

Institution	Nickname	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Current Conference
Black Hills State University	Yellow Jackets	Spearfish, South Dakota	1881	Public	4,739	2000–01	2010–11	RMAC (NCAA Division II)
Dakota State University	Trojans	Madison, South Dakota	1881	Public	2,282	2000-01	2010-11	North Star
Dickinson State University	Blue Hawks	Dickinson, North Dakota	1916	Public	2,572	2000–01	2011–12	Frontier
Jamestown College	Jimmies	Jamestown, North Dakota	1883	Private	900	2000-01	2011-12	GPAC
Mayville State University	Comets	Mayville, North Dakota	1889	Public	780	2000–01	2011–12	North Star
Minot State University	Beavers	Minot, North Dakota	1913	Public	3,851	2000-01	2010-11	NSIC (NCAA Division II)
Si Tanka University at Huron	Screaming Eagles	Huron, South Dakota	1883	Private	n/a	2000–01	2004–05	school closed in 2005
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology	Hardrockers	Rapid City, South Dakota	1885	Public	2,345	2000–01	2010–11	RMAC (NCAA Division II)
University of Mary	Marauders	Bismarck, North Dakota	1959	Private	2,758	2000-01	2005-06	NSIC (NCAA Division II)
Valley City State University	Vikings	Valley City, North Dakota	1890	Public	1,220	2000–01	2011–12	North Star

Membership timeline

Sports

Member schools fielded men's and women's teams in cross country, basketball, track and field and golf. Men's-only sports were baseball, football and wrestling, while soccer, softball and volleyball were only offered for women.

References

1. "DSU Athletics announces move to independent status". Dakota State University. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2011-01-01.