American Rivers Conference

Formerly	Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC)
Association	NCAA
Founded	1922
Commissioner	Marie Stroman (since 2023)
Sports fielded	22 men's: 11 women's: 11
Division	Division III
No. of teams	9 (8 in 2026)
Headquarters	Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Region	Iowa,Nebraska
Official website	rollrivers.com
Locations

TheAmerican Rivers Conference (A-R-C) is anintercollegiate athletic conference that competes in theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)Division III. From 1927 until August 9, 2018, it was known officially as theIowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) and commonly as theIowa Conference.

Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association began in 1890.^[1][2] The A-R-C dates back to December 8, 1922, when representatives from 12 colleges from theIowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association merged. Charter members wereBuena Vista College,Central University of Iowa,Ellsworth College,Iowa Wesleyan College,Luther College,Morningside College,Parsons College,St. Ambrose College,Simpson College,Upper Iowa University,Western Union College andPenn College.Des Moines University was voted into the conference at that meeting as well.

The first Conference constitution was published in January 1923. Also that year, Judge Hubert Utterback of Des Moines, Iowa was named the first conference commissioner and Iowa Teachers (now known as theUniversity of Northern Iowa) was accepted as a member. Columbia College (now known asLoras College) was admitted in 1926. Ellsworth left the conference in 1927. That spring, the conference's name was changed to the "Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference." After a three-year ban, athletics were reinstated at theUniversity of Dubuque in 1928–29, and it joined the conference in 1929.Wartburg College was admitted to the conference in 1936, beginning competition the following year. Morningside dropped out in 1936 because of inactivity. William Penn was suspended from the conference in 1949 for using ineligible players. The school was back in the conference in 1951, though it did not compete in football until later. In 1951, St. Ambrose and Loras dropped from football competition.

The Iowa Conference reorganized in 1953, effective with the 1954–55 school year. Nine schools remained in the conference: Buena Vista, Central, Dubuque, Iowa Wesleyan, Luther, Parsons, Simpson, Upper Iowa and Wartburg. William Penn was re-admitted to the conference in 1960, effective in the spring of 1962. Parsons left the conference around 1963, while Iowa Wesleyan left effective June 1, 1965. Loras re-joined the conference in 1986, increasing the conference membership to nine schools, which continued until 1997 when Coe and Cornell left the Midwest Conference to join the IIAC. The Conference was at 11 schools until its 80th-anniversary year (2001–02) when William Penn decided to leave and switch its affiliation from the NCAA to the NAIA. The IIAC became a nine-school conference when Upper Iowa reclassified toNCAA Division II prior to the start of the 2003–04 academic year and fell back to eight schools with Cornell's return to the Midwest Conference following the 2011–12 academic year.

The conference expanded beyond the borders of Iowa in 2016 with the addition ofNebraska Wesleyan University.^[3] On August 9, 2018, the league changed its name to theAmerican Rivers Conference to reflect its current makeup.^[4]

• 1922 – On December 8, 1922, the American Rivers Conference was founded as the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association (IIAA). Charter members includedBuena Vista College (now Buena Vista University),Central University of Iowa (now Central College),Des Moines University,Ellsworth College (now Ellsworth Community College),Iowa Wesleyan College (later Iowa Wesleyan University),Luther College,Morningside College (now Morningside University),Parsons College,St. Ambrose College (now St. Ambrose University),Simpson College,Upper Iowa College (now Upper Iowa University),Western Union College (later Westmar University) andPenn College (now William Penn University), beginning the 1922–23 academic year.
• 1923 –Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) joined the IIAA in the 1923–24 academic year.
• 1926 –Columbia College of Iowa joined the IIAA in the 1926–27 academic year.
• 1927:
  • Ellsworth left the IIAA after the 1926–27 academic year.
  • The IIAA was rebranded as the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the spring season, beginning the 1927–28 academic year.
• 1929:
  • Des Moines U. left the IIAC as the school ceased operations after the 1928–29 academic year.
  • TheUniversity of Dubuque joined the IIAC in the 1929–30 academic year.
• 1935 – Northern Iowa left the IIAC fully align with theNorth Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NCIAC) after the 1934–35 academic year.
• 1936 – Morningside left the IIAC to fully align with the NCIAC after the 1935–36 academic year.
• 1937 –Wartburg College joined the IIAC in the 1937–38 academic year.
• 1949 – William Penn was suspended for two seasons by the IIAC after the 1948–49 academic year.
• 1951 – William Penn was reinstated back to the IIAC in the 1951–52 academic year.
• 1954 – Loras, St. Ambrose, Westmar and William Penn left the IIAC after the 1953–54 academic year.
• 1960 – William Penn rejoined the IIAC, beginning the 1962 spring season of the 1961–62 academic year.
• 1965 – Iowa Wesleyan left the IIAC after the 1964–65 academic year.
• 1986 – Loras rejoined the IIAC in the 1986–87 academic year.
• 1997 –Coe College andCornell College joined the IIAC in the 1997–98 academic year.
• 2001 – William Penn left the IIAC for a second time to join theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and theMidwest Collegiate Conference (MCC) after the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2003 – Upper Iowa left the IIAC to join theDivision II ranks of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as anNCAA D-II Independent (which would later join theNorthern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) beginning the 2006–07 academic year) after the 2002–03 academic year.
• 2012 – Cornell left the IIAC to rejoin theMidwest Conference (MWC) after the 2011–12 academic year.
• 2016 –Nebraska Wesleyan University joined the IIAC in the 2016–17 academic year.
• 2018 – On August 9, 2018, the IIAC was rebranded as the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) in the 2018–19 academic year.
• 2026 – Luther will leave the A-R-C to join the MWC after the 2025–26 academic year.

Buena Vista

Central

Coe

Dubuque

Loras

Luther

Nebraska Wesleyan

Simpson

Wartburg

class=notpageimage|

Map of current members
full
departing

The A-R-C currently has nine full members; all areprivate schools:

Notes

The A-R-C had 11 former full members, all but one wereprivate schools:

Notes

 Full member (all sports)  Full member (non-football)  Associate member (football)  Associate member (sport) 

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cheer &Dance		Y[A]
Cross country	Y	Y
Football	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Swimming &Diving	Y[A]	Y[A]
Tennis	Y	Y
Track & field (indoor)	Y	Y
Track & field (outdoor)	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y
Wrestling	Y	Y[A]

Notes

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Wrestling	Total A-R-C Sports
Buena Vista	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Central	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Coe	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Dubuque	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Loras	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Luther	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Nebraska Wesleyan	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Simpson	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Wartburg	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10

Notes

School	Basketball	Cheer & Dance[A]	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Volleyball	Wrestling[B]	Total A-R-C Sports
Buena Vista	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Central	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Coe	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N[C]	11
Dubuque	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Loras	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Luther	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	11
Nebraska Wesleyan	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	11
Simpson	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Wartburg	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11

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