List of defunct college football conferences

This is a list of defunct college football conferences in the United States. Not all of the conferences listed here are truly defunct. Some simply stopped sponsoring football and continue under their current names; others changed their names after minor changes in membership.

Disbanded Conferences

Conferences whose charter no longer functions:
*Big Eight Conference (also called Big Six and Big Seven) (1907-1996)
**All eight members, along with four from the Southwest Conference, formed the Big 12 Conference under a separate charter.
*Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1931-1962)
** Four members joined the new WAC, while three became independent.
*Freedom Football Conference (1992-2003)
** Members split between the Empire Eight, New England Football Conference, New Jersey Athletic Conference, and the Liberty League.
*Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest (1892-1893)
**Disbanded due to financial difficulties; its four schools became charter members of what is now the Big Ten Conference in 1896.
*Mountain States Conference (1938-1963)
**Though officially named the Mountain States Conference for its entire existence, the conference was better known to the public as the "Skyline Conference" (not to be confused with the modern Skyline Conference, a group of schools in the New York City area). Four of its members formed the WAC and would later become charter members of the Mountain West Conference, while the remaining three became independent.
*Pacific Coast Conference (1915-1959)
**Claimed by today's Pac-10 as part of its history, but had a completely separate charter. All PCC members at the time of its demise except Idaho are now Pac-10 members.
*Southwest Conference (1914-1996)
**The final eight members initially dispersed among the Big 12, WAC, and Conference USA (C-USA); Arkansas had left the conference a few years earlier to join the Southeastern Conference. The schools that initially went to the WAC all moved later, two to C-USA and one to the Mountain West Conference.
*Wisconsin State University Conference (1913-1997)
**This was a men's-only conference that merged with a parallel women's-only conference, with identical membership, to become today's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
*New England Conference (1938-1947), Yankee Conference (1947-1997)
**Changed name in 1947 as the result of expansion outside New England; dropped sponsorship of all sports except football in 1975, absorbed by the Atlantic 10 in 1997 (see below).

Conferences Undergoing Name Changes

Conferences which today exist under the same charter but different names
*Gateway Football Conference (1985-2008)
**This conference was formed after the Missouri Valley Conference stopped sponsoring its hybrid Division I-A (now FBS) and Division I-AA (now FCS) football league. The three I-AA football members in the MVC became charter members of the Gateway Conference, while retaining their MVC membership in other sports. In 2008, the Gateway Conference, by now featuring five current MVC members, changed its name to the Missouri Valley Football Conference to better align itself with the MVC. The two conferences, however, remain administratively and legally separate.
*Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference (1987-1999)
**Changed name to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference after it began to admit schools outside Indiana. Still exists as of 2008.
*Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1969-1992), Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference (1992-2000)
**Name changes the result of geographical expansion. Known as the Great Plains Athletic Conference since 2000.

Existing Conferences That Dropped Football

Conferences which still exist, but which have dropped football as a conference sport
*Atlantic 10 (1975-present)
** Initially formed as a non-football conference. Absorbed the Yankee Conference football programs and began football sponsorship in 1997. Dropped football after the 2006 season when all football members departed for the Colonial Athletic Association.
*Big West Conference (1969-present)
**Pacific Coast Athletic Association (1969-1988) changed name to the Big West Conference in 1988 as it admitted more schools located in the interior West. Dropped football as a conference sport after the 2000 season.
*Missouri Valley Conference (1907-present)
** Dropped football as a conference sport after the 1985 season. As noted above, the Missouri Valley Football Conference is a separate entity from the MVC, although the football conference has a licensing agreement with the MVC allowing it to use an adapted version of the MVC logo.
*Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (1980-present)
** Initially formed as a non-football conference, began sponsoring football in 1993. Dropped football after the 2007 season.