Dakota Athletic Conference

The Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) was a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). As the name implies, member teams were located in the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. The conference folded after the 2011–12 academic year.

History

The Dakota Athletic Conference was formed from a merger between the North Dakota College Athletic Conference (NDCAC) and the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC), effective the 2000-01 academic year. Ten schools were a part of the conference in its history, consisting of the following:

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

Chronological timeline

• 2000 – The Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) was founded due to a merger of the North Dakota College Athletic Conference (NDCAC) and the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC). Charter members included Dickinson State University, Jamestown College, the University of Mary, Mayville State University, Minot State University and Valley City State University from the NDCAC, and Black Hills State University, Dakota State University, Si Tanka University–Huron and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology from the SDIC, beginning the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2005 – Si Tanka–Huron left the DAC after the school was declared to cease operations after the 2004–05 academic year.
• 2006 – Mary left the DAC to join the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) after the 2005–06 academic year.
• 2011 – On July 1, 2011 Dakota State announced they were leaving the DAC to become an NAIA Independent.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Additionally, member schools Black Hills State, Minot State and South Dakota Mines also left the DAC while in the process of transitioning to NCAA Division II as NCAA D-II Independents: (Black Hills State would later join the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and Minot State would later join the NSIC during the 2012–13 academic year, while South Dakota Mines would later the RMAC during the 2014–15 academic year), all effective after the 2010–11 academic year.

• 2012 – The DAC would cease operations as an athletic conference at the end of the 2011–12 academic year; as many schools left to join their respective new home primary conferences: Dickinson State left for the Frontier Conference while Jamestown, Mayville State and Valley City State became NAIA independent schools (though they would eventually join the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA); Jamestown, Mayville State and Valley City State as part of the charter members during the 2013–14 school year, alongside former DAC conference member and NAIA Independent Dakota State; and Dickinson State followed suit during the 2014–15 school year coming from the Frontier).

Member schools

Final members

The DAC ended with four full members, only one was a private school:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	JoinedTemplate:Efn	LeftTemplate:Efn	Subsequent conference(s)	Current conference
Dickinson State University	Dickinson, North Dakota	1916	PublicTemplate:Efn	2,572	Blue Hawks	2000	2012	Frontier (2012–14)	North Star (NSAA) (2014–present)
Jamestown College	Jamestown, North Dakota	1883	Presbyterian Template:Small	900	Jimmies	2000	2012	NAIA Independent (2012–13) Great Plains (GPAC) (2018–24)	North Star (NSAA) (2013–18, 2024–Present)
Mayville State University	Mayville, North Dakota	1889	PublicTemplate:Efn	780	Comets	2000	2012	NAIA Independent (2012–13)	North Star (NSAA) (2013–present)
Valley City State University	Valley City, North Dakota	1890	PublicTemplate:Efn	1,220	Vikings	2000	2012	NAIA Independent (2012–13)	North Star (NSAA) (2013–present)

Notes

Former members

The DAC had six former full members, only two were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	JoinedTemplate:Efn	LeftTemplate:Efn	Subsequent conference	Current conference
Black Hills State University	Spearfish, South Dakota	1881	PublicTemplate:Efn	4,739	Yellow Jackets	2000	2011	D-II Independent (2011–12)	Rocky Mountain (RMAC)Template:Efn (2012–present)
Dakota State University	Madison, South Dakota	1881	PublicTemplate:Efn	2,282	Trojans	2000	2011	NAIA Independent (2011–13)	North Star (NSAA) (2013–present)
Minot State University	Minot, North Dakota	1913	PublicTemplate:Efn	3,851	Beavers	2000	2011	D-II Independent (2011–12)	Northern Sun (NSIC)Template:Efn (2012–present)
Si Tanka University at Huron	Huron, South Dakota	1883	Nonsectarian	N/A	Screaming Eagles	2000	2005	Closed in 2005
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology	Rapid City, South Dakota	1885	PublicTemplate:Efn	2,345	Hardrockers	2000	2011	D-II Independent (2011–14)	Rocky Mountain (RMAC)Template:Efn (2014–present)
University of Mary	Bismarck, North Dakota	1959	Catholic Template:Small	2,758	Marauders	2000	2006	Northern Sun (NSIC)Template:Efn (2006–present)

Notes

Membership timeline

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Period = from:2000 till:2026

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         id:line value:black
         id:bg value:white
         id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
         id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
         id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
         id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only
         id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference
         id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used

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 bar:1  color:Full from:2000 till:2011 text:Black Hills State (2000–2011)
 bar:1  shift:-1 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2012 text:D-II Ind.
 bar:1  color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:end text:Rocky Mountain

 bar:2  color:Full from:2000 till:2011 text:Dakota State (2000–2011)
 bar:2  color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2013 text:NAIA Ind.
 bar:2  color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2025 text:North Star
 bar:2  color:OtherC1 from:2025 till:end text:Frontier

 bar:3  color:Full from:2000 till:2012 text:Dickinson State (2000–2012)
 bar:3  color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2014 text:Frontier
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 bar:4  color:OtherC1 from:2018 till:2024 text:Great Plains
 bar:4  shift:-8 color:OtherC2 from:2024 till:2025 text:North Star
 bar:4  color:OtherC1 from:2025 till:end text:Northern Sun

 bar:5  color:Full from:2000 till:2012 text:Mayville State (2000–2012)
 bar:5  shift:-3 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2013 text:NAIA Ind.
 bar:5  shift:5 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2025 text:North Star
 bar:5  color:OtherC1 from:2025 till:end text:Frontier

 bar:6  color:Full from:2000 till:2011 text:Minot State (2000–2011)
 bar:6  shift:-1 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2012 text:D-II Ind.
 bar:6  color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:end text:Northern Sun

 bar:7  color:Full from:2000 till:2005 text:Si Tanka-Huron (2000–2005)

 bar:8  color:Full from:2000 till:2011 text:South Dakota Mines (2000–2011)
 bar:8  color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2015 text:D-II Ind.
 bar:8  color:OtherC2 from:2015 till:end text:Rocky Mountain

 bar:9  color:Full from:2000 till:2006 text:Mary (2000–2006)
 bar:9  color:OtherC1 from:2006 till:end text:Northern Sun

 bar:10  color:Full from:2000 till:2012 text:Valley City State (2000–2012)
 bar:10  shift:-3 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2013 text:NAIA Ind.
 bar:10  shift:5 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2025 text:North Star
 bar:10  color:OtherC1 from:2025 till:end text:Frontier

 bar:N color:red from:2000 till:2012 text:Dakota Athletic Conference
 bar:N color:blue from:2012 till:end text:Post-DAC

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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.