River States Conference

History

Recent changes

Chronological timeline

• 1916 – The River States Conference was founded as the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Charter members included Berea College, Centre College, Georgetown College, Kentucky Wesleyan College, the University of Louisville, Ogden College, Transylvania University, and Western Kentucky State Teachers College beginning with the 1916–17 academic year.
• 1927
• * Ogden left the KIAC as the school announced that it would merge with Western Kentucky after the 1926–27 academic year.
• * Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College joined the KIAC in the 1927–28 academic year.
• 1931 – Morehead State Teachers College joined the KIAC in the 1931–32 academic year.
• 1933 – Murray State Teachers College and Union College joined the KIAC in the 1933–34 academic year.
• 1948 – Eastern Kentucky, Louisville, Morehead State, Murray State, and Western Kentucky left the KIAC to join the National Collegiate Athletic Association's major-college ranks and to form most of the charter members of the Ohio Valley Conference after the 1947–48 academic year.
• 1951 – Bellarmine College joined the KIAC in the 1951–52 academic year.
• 1955
• * Kentucky Wesleyan left the KIAC after the 1954–55 academic year.
• * Thomas More College joined the KIAC in the 1955–56 academic year.
• 1958 – Pikeville College joined the KIAC in the 1958–59 academic year.
• 1962 – Centre left the KIAC to join the College Athletic Conference after the 1961–62 academic year.
• 1964
• * Bellarmine left the KIAC after the 1963–64 academic year.
• * Campbellsville College and Rio Grande College joined the KIAC in the 1964–65 academic year.
• 1968 – Oakland City College joined the KIAC in the 1968–69 academic year.
• 1971
• * Rio Grande left the KIAC to join the Mid-Ohio Conference after the 1970–71 academic year.
• * Asbury College and Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia joined the KIAC in the 1971–72 academic year.
• 1975 – Oakland City left the KIAC after the 1974–75 academic year.
• 1983 – Alice Lloyd College joined the KIAC in the 1983–84 academic year.
• 1984 – Brescia College and Lindsey Wilson College joined the KIAC in the 1984–85 academic year.
• 1991
• * Thomas More left the KIAC to join the NCAA Division III ranks as an independent after the 1990–91 academic year.
• * Midway College joined the KIAC in the 1991–92 academic year.
• 1992
• * Alice Lloyd left the KIAC to join the Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference after the 1991–92 academic year.
• * Spalding University joined the KIAC in the 1992–93 academic year.
• 1994
• * UVA Wise left the KIAC to become an independent within the NAIA after the 1993–94 academic year.
• * Indiana University Southeast joined the KIAC in the 1994–95 academic year.
• 1995 – Campbellsville, Georgetown, and Union left the KIAC to form part as charter members of the Mid-South Conference after the 1994–95 academic year.
• 1999 – Bethel College of Tennessee joined the KIAC in the 1999–2000 academic year.
• 2000
• * Lindsey Wilson and Pikeville left the KIAC to join the Mid-South after the 1999–2000 academic year.
• * Mid-Continent University joined the KIAC in the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2001 – Transylvania left the KIAC to join the NCAA Division III ranks and the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference after the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2003 – The St. Louis College of Pharmacy joined the KIAC in the 2003–04 academic year.
• 2005 – Alice Lloyd re-joined the KIAC in the 2005–06 academic year.
• 2006 – Bethel and Mid-Continent left the KIAC after the 2005–06 academic year.
• 2007
• * Spalding left the KIAC to join the NCAA Division III ranks and the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after the 2006–07 academic year.
• * Indiana University East and Mountain State University joined the KIAC in the 2007–08 academic year.
• 2008 – Cincinnati Christian University joined the KIAC in the 2008–09 academic year.
• 2012
• * Mountain State left the KIAC as the school announced that it would close after the 2011–12 academic year.
• * Carlow University and Point Park University joined the KIAC in the 2012–13 academic year.
• 2013 – Indiana University Kokomo joined the KIAC in the 2013–14 academic year.
• 2014
• * Two institutions left the KIAC to join their respective new home primary conferences: Berea left the NAIA to join the NCAA Division III ranks as an independent, and UHSP St. Louis to join the American Midwest Conference, both effective after the 2013–14 academic year.
• * Rio Grande rejoined the KIAC in the 2014–15 academic year.
• 2015 – Ohio Christian University and West Virginia University Institute of Technology joined the KIAC in the 2015–16 academic year.
• 2016 – The KIAC was rebranded as the River States Conference in the 2016–17 academic year.
• 2019 – Cincinnati Christian left the RSC as the school announced that it would close at the end of the fall 2019 semester during the 2019–20 academic year.
• 2020 – Oakland City rejoined the RSC in the 2020–21 academic year.
• 2021:
• * Asbury left the RSC and the NAIA to join the NCAA Division III ranks as an independent as well as the Division I ranks of the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association after the 2020–21 academic year.
• * Ohio Valley University and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College joined the RSC in the 2021–22 academic year.
• * Ohio Valley left the RSC as the school announced that it would close at the end of the fall 2021 semester, during the 2021–22 academic year.
• 2023:
• * Carlow left the RSC and the NAIA to join the NCAA Division III ranks and the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference after the 2022–23 academic year.
• * Indiana University–Purdue University Columbus and Shawnee State University joined the RSC in of the 2023–24 academic year.
• 2024 – Two institutions left the RSC and the NAIA to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective after the 2023–24 academic year:
• * Ohio Christian to fully align with the Division I ranks of the NCCAA
• * Point Park to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the Mountain East Conference
• * Campbellsville University, Cumberland University and Georgetown College joined the RSC as affiliate members for men's volleyball in the 2025 spring season.
• 2025:
• * Alice Lloyd left the RSC to become an NAIA Independent and compete within the Continental Athletic Conference after the 2024–25 academic year.
• * Kentucky Christian University joined the RSC in the 2025–26 academic year.
• 2026 – Shawnee State will leave the RSC and the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the Mountain East after the 2025–26 academic year

Member schools

Current members

Affiliate members

Former members

Membership timeline

Conference sports